Robert Mitchum not only stars but produced and co-wrote this noirish, action-packed tall tale of Lucas, a fiercely independent moonshine runner who is caught between organized crime (gangster Jacques Aubuchon) and the Feds (represented by Gene Barry), both out to quash his transport of illegal liquor through the hill country of Kentucky and Tennessee. Mitchum’s real-life son, Jim, plays his kid brother, a mechanic who wants in on the game when he’s not romancing sweetheart Roxanna (Sandra Knight). With a rare appearance by singer Keely Smith as Lucas’ nightclub chanteuse girlfriend, Francie. Punctuated by some spectacular car chases for the time period and an appropriately fiery finish. So popular in the South, the film reportedly still regularly played drive-ins throughout the 1970s.
A History of Violence screenwriter Josh Olson talks Thunder Road for Trailers From Hell
