Crwthod A lot more amusing than I thought it would be.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Derrick Gibbons An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Hitchcoc When I would hear Robert Mitchum's voice on those beef commercials, he sounded just a bit psychotic. Like he had just slaughtered a steer and was going to hand the meat to you raw. Here he gets caught up in the moonshine business, carting shipments of the home made alcohol to all precincts, facing off against criminals and the police, who were just as bad. He is the centerpiece of this movie, which is, for the most part, pretty predictable, and lacking in real heroism. Mitchum, with his monotone, his sad eyes, and his seeming entitlements (and, I am certain, his sex appeal to women) grinds his way through the forces he must face to get the job done. There are some pretty cool car chases and a fantastic theme song.

Tashtago Because of the low-budget look and no-name cast except Mitchum. This is an overlooked B budget classic. I found the acting to be on the whole very good. Robert's son ,Jim Mitchum has the same physical presence of his father. All he is lacking is the sneer. The brutality of the moonshine business. The danger the shiners faced and how they were viewed as dare devil heroes. The story gives us a vivid picture of all the aspects of what it was to be a moon shiner in the south. The feds are the opposite side of the coin to the mob wanting to muscle in on the business. Feds using tactics almost as nasty as the mob allows us to sympathise with rebel putting it to the man. Mitchum is perfectly cast as the ultimate non-conformist but one who realizes what is he is doing has a short shelf life.Knowing this he discourages others particularly his "brother" (Jim Mitchum) from getting involved in the business. The principles are all excellent and some of moonshiners look like the genuine article. The "Whooperwhill" sung at the credits by Keely Smith is appropriatley haunting.

jjnxn-1 Decent if unremarkable drama of a moonshiner and the feds who are trying to shut him down. A real study in star power with Robert Mitchum commanding the screen with seemingly little effort. An interesting contrast can be made between him and his son James, making his screen debut here, their appearance is so similar that you would think their performances would have a hint of the same similarity. The senior Mitchum owns the screen with an easy charm and magnetism while the young Mitchum is stiff with a vacant stare. Keely Smith contributes a couple of terrific numbers sung in her unique style but she also comes across as uncomfortable and mechanical in any scene which doesn't require her to sing. A huge drive-in hit in its day, it's easy to see why since it has a very laid back, low budget feel.

classicsoncall Hot rods, moonshine and Robert Mitchum - oh baby! - what's not to love about "Thunder Road"? OK, the film gets a little tedious at times with it's dialog and a few scenes that drag, but when it focuses on 'wild and reckless men and illegal whiskey', the picture revs up to a ninety mile per hour pace. And whoa! - long before James Bond - those moonshiners were using gadgets like the oil spray gimmick to run chasers off the road - did that really happen? You have to give Mitchum credit here, not only did he star, but he wrote the story and the title song and produced the picture. He also cast oldest son James as younger brother Robin in the story. It was the perfect part for Mitchum, the perennial bad boy of film in a role that allowed that understated malice and danger to show through.Watch for an obvious continuity goof in that lounge scene near the end of the picture with Lucas Doolin (Mitchum) and Francine (Keely Smith). As they were sitting at the table, a whiskey bottle was positioned at Lucas's elbow. When Francine goes to play a tune at the juke box, she turns around to find Lucas gone, and there are two different non-alcoholic bottles on the table.What would have made the picture better would have been a final showdown between Lucas and gangster Kogan (Jacques Aubuchon). Be that as it may, it's a worthy film that revives a certain nostalgia for those glory days of the Fifties with it's fast cars and sense of imminent danger, best expressed by Kogan when he tried to shake down Lucas with his warning that 'there's no middle way'.