Thunder Road (1958)

  • Rated Not Rated
  • 1hr 32m

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  • Trailer 1

Movie Info & Cast

Director:

Arthur Ripley

Producer:

Robert Mitchum, Arthur Ripley

Writer:

James Atlee Phillips, Walter Wise, Robert Mitchum

Release Date:

May 10, 1958

Runtime:

1hr 32m

Synopsis

A veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.

Cast

  • Robert Mitchum
  • Gene Barry
  • Jacques Aubuchon
  • Keely Smith
  • Trevor Bardette
  • Sandra Knight
  • James Mitchum
  • Betsy Holt
  • Francis Koon
  • Randy Sparks

Letterboxd User Reviews

3.2
5.5K
3.1K
1.1K
RATINGS 1 FANS
3.2
  • Jun 12, 2024

    I have never seen this film even though my dad has sung it all my life to me and I do have a sweet spot for Robert Mitchum. So I visited my folks and we put this on and honestly it's pretty low budget, not all the acting is great and it's story is rather loose in the…

    0 Likes
    pirateneckbeard
    pirateneckbeard
    Apr 2, 2015

    "This we've got -- we've got this hour, this night, this rain, this music." The criminal codes shifting due to incoming capital, the balance between recklessness and professionalism, and the time-is-luck romantic narrative all make this seem like a proto-Michael Mann…

    0 Likes
    matt lynch
    matt lynch
    Jul 21, 2018

    Three things about Thunder Road: 1) It's not a top-level Mitchum vehicle, but it's not a disappointment, either. The film has sort of a sprawling, laid-back energy that focuses on character and the world these bootleggers live in. There are some (interesting for the…

    0 Likes
    Jay D 's Watching
    Jay D 's Watching
  •
    Jan 17, 2023

    “You can always tell it’s him when his pipes come rumbling down the road.” Thunder Road was one of my favorite films when I was a wee bairn. When I finally saw it as an adult, I couldn’t believe how boring it is: nothing but talk, talk, talk, and awful dialogue to boot,…

    0 Likes
    noir1946
    noir1946
    Nov 19, 2021

    Thunder Road is the Gone With the Wind of the drive-in. I hope someday I’ll see it as it’s meant to be seen: in two-toned Chevy, sipping from a mason jar, at the Tiger Drive-in up in the Blue Ridge mountains of Rabun County, Georgia. (Naturally, Thunder Road was the…

    0 Likes
    Channing Pomeroy
    Channing Pomeroy
    Mar 17, 2023

    Thunder was his engine! White lighting was his load! My exposure to moonshine runners in popular entertainment up to now, has mostly been random Dukes of Hazzard reruns when I was a kid, and HG Lewis flicks. My bar is low, in other words, but I thought THUNDER ROAD was…

    0 Likes
    Kevin Majestyck
    Kevin Majestyck
  •
    Mar 8, 2025

    Doesn't get much cooler than Robert Mitchum.

    0 Likes
    HalloweenH
    HalloweenH
    Jan 19, 2022

    Thunder Road had a lot of potential to be great. Robert Mitchum basically created this film as a way to make himself look super badass, and in this regard, it is a success. His performance is as smooth and sly as they come. The same can not be said for the rest of the movie…

    0 Likes
    Jerry
    Jerry
    Sep 8, 2026

    By the late 1940's Robert Mitchum was RKO Pictures biggest star, even after his pot bust in 1949, that had saw Mitchum spend 50 days in the Los Angeles County Jail, as well as on a prison farm in Castaic, California. RKO had been good to him, but he'd also been good for…

    0 Likes
    Andy Summers 🤠
    Andy Summers 🤠

Atom Users Reviews

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Metacritic

73
metacritic
Based on 7 Critics
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USER SCORE (0)

There are no user reviews yet
63

The ubiquitously involved star’s charisma can’t completely overshadow a sluggish plot... Nonetheless, its hard-charging chase sequences make it a vintage Dukes of Hazzard-flavored noir.

Metacritic review by Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
80

Cheaply made, disreputable, and blatantly anti-authority, it's a winner all the way, what with a stunningly laconic performance from Mitchum, white-hot night-time road scenes, and an affectionate but unsentimental vision of backwoods America rarely seen in cinema to this day.

Geoff Andrew
Time Out

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is Thunder Road (1958) (1958)?
The movie is 1hr 32min long.
What's Thunder Road (1958) (1958) about?
A veteran comes home from the Korean War to the mountains and takes over the family moonshining business. He has to battle big-city gangsters who are trying to take over the business and the police who are trying to put him in prison.
Who's the cast of Thunder Road (1958) (1958)?
  • Robert Mitchum as Lucas Doolin
  • Gene Barry as Troy Barrett
  • Jacques Aubuchon as Carl Kogan
  • Keely Smith as Francie Wymore
  • Trevor Bardette as Vernon Doolin
  • Sandra Knight as Roxanna Ledbetter
  • James Mitchum as Robin Doolin
  • Betsy Holt as Mary Barrett
  • Francis Koon as Sarah Doolin
  • Randy Sparks as Guitarist
Who's the director behind Thunder Road (1958) (1958)?
Arthur Ripley directed Thunder Road (1958) (1958).
Who produced Thunder Road (1958) (1958)?
Robert Mitchum and Arthur Ripley produced Thunder Road (1958) (1958).