Motion Pictures Thunder Road on TCM this coming Sunday (15th) @ 10:00 am.

Shelly Winters was a real dish when she was younger.... LOL. And liked to have a good time according to the gossip.

I watched it Saturday night. What I found particularly interesting was how much of it came from Mitchum's mind. This wasn't the usual Hollywood movie of the era.

 

You can't help but wonder what happened to the '50 Ford from that film. Where did it come from and where did it end up after the movie was finished?

 

It was a 51, with a 49 hood, and a 50 grille, according to this article.
The Story Behind The Car
December 9, 2015 ·
‘Thunder Road’ Hero Car – 1951 Ford V8 2-door sedan

Thunder Road is a black and white 1958 drama/crime movie about running moonshine in the mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee in the late 1950's. It was directed by Arthur Ripley and starred Robert Mitchum, who also produced the film, co-wrote the screenplay, and is rumored to have directed much of the film himself... he also co-wrote the theme song, "The Ballad of Thunder Road". The film became a cult classic and continued to play at drive-in movie theaters in some Southeastern markets right through the 1970s and 1980s.

Korean War veteran Lucas Doolin (Robert Mitchum) works in the family moonshine business, delivering the illegal liquor his father distills to clandestine distribution points throughout the south in his souped-up hot rod. However, Lucas has more problems than evading the U.S. Treasury agents ("revenooers"), led by determined newcomer Troy Barrett (Gene Barry). Lucas is concerned that his younger brother Robin (James Mitchum), who is also his mechanic, will be tempted into following in his footsteps and becoming a moonshine runner. The role of Robin Doolin, Lucas's younger brother, was originally written for Elvis Presley as per Mitchum's request. Mitchum personally submitted the script to Elvis in Los Angeles... and the singer was eager to play the role, but his manager, Colonel Tom Parker demanded Elvis be paid an enormous sum of money, more than the entire budget for the movie, which ended negotiations so Mitchum's son James got the part, which worked well due to the close physical resemblance.

In the film, Mitchum drove a “souped-up” 1951 Ford 2-door sedan running flathead V8 with triple carbs. It also had a custom tank in the back for moonshine. The '51 Ford was modified with a '49 hood and ‘50 grill and front bumper as well as the rear 1951 taillight trim was removed and 1949/1950 taillights were installed. The film's dialogue refers to the car as a '50 but it is not, although in at least one exterior shot, when the car spills oil on the road, it shows the trunk of a '50?... during the "oil spill" scene it is revealed that a series of nozzles, attached to a pipe hidden by the rear bumper, is controlled by a switch under the dash.

Reportedly, the 1951 Ford, the 1940 Ford coupe & the 1949 Olds coupe in the movie had been "real" moonshine cars bought from real North Carolina moonshiners for the movie. The ’51 Ford was a serious car made for the business of hauling moonshine and this was apparently how the car was bought from the moonshiner, minus the movie "re-paint". Observations have also been made that a car carrying as much whiskey as shown in the film would have its rear bumper nearly dragging the road. Of course, Police of the time looked out for this so... while a bootlegger might install extra-heavy duty springs, it could make the car more noticeable when the trunk was empty so, they often used “helper springs”... that didn't contact the stock springs until the tanks were loaded with shine.

Rumoured to be loosely based on the life of real Mooshine Runner, most of the scenes were filmed in and around Asheville, North Carolina ... some with actual local moonshine drivers shot with a camera mounted on a pickup tailgate...’
Well, so much for that article, it says it had a Flathead with triple carbs. I do think he got the body parts correct.

 

I've loved the movie since I was a kid growing up in East Tennessee and likely have seen it a hundred times. Moonshiners and haulers were pretty common in that area of my youth. It was widely known who was involved in the trade, neighbors, even family members. Known haulers would buy new cars often, but I never saw one with a tank. That would have been a high volume dealer. Most were just locals trying to make a living and hauled Mason jars, sometimes dozens of them tucked under seats, in the trunk and wherever space allowed.

The movie helped foster my life-long love of '40 Fords.

 

Buy this book, a great piece of fiction about a Korean War vet who continues to run 'shine after he came home from the war. The title is "Gods of Howl Mountain" by Taylor Brown.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34964885-gods-of-howl-mountain

 

There was another good film about this subject that I watched a while back, cannot remember the name of it. It was a true story about 1930's Moonshine running.

 

I can't deny that Shelly Winters a good-looking woman but what does she have to do with Thunder Road? She's not listed in the cast credits anywhere I've found.

 

Someone may be confusing this film with "Night of the Hunter", which starred them both.

 

It's crazy how much he and his brother look alike....His son looks just like him too. He was in that surf movie, Ride The Wild Surf.

 

One of my all-time top 10. Seen it at the drive-in, early 60s (and many times since) family outing. Made me a Mitchum fan for life. I was already a confirmed moterhead even at that early age, this movie sealed it....

Thanks for bringing it up Don!

 

I talked to a older guy at the Dawsonville Moonshine Festival years ago who was sitting with an original shine runner 40 coupe that was found and dragged out of a junkyard.
57 Caddy with 2-4’s, LaSalle trans, overload transverse rear spring, truck radiator, and 6 ply tires.
He said that he was convicted and served prison time for running shine.
When I asked about the tank vs. glass Mason and gallon jugs, he said neither. (!)
The tank was too heavy loaded and took too long to pump out (movie not withstanding) and the glass containers would inevitably break, leaving a liquid trail behind the car, not something you would want noticed by the law.
He said that the solution was one gallon metal coal oil cans.
They were wrapped in thin tree bark, secured by a couple wraps of bailing wire. Four to a box.
No noise, no breakage, easy to unload and move on to the next honky tonk.
Necessity is the mother of invention. Wish I could find my pics.

 

Mr. Mitchum & Miss Winters were both busted earlier for smoking marihuana ...