Noir Alley

[ChiO]

Highway 301 is the special one for me. I wrote about it

here on SSO on May 23, 2014.

Few things are more exhilarating than stumbling upon Noir treasure: HIGHWAY 301 (Andrew Stone 1950). I stumbled upon it about two-and-a-half years ago. It only gets better on the Big Screen.

You know it's going to be good when it opens with a stentorian voice-over narrator introducing the Governor of Virginia, who proceeds to endorse the film's message that crime does not pay. You know it's going to be better when the narrator then introduces the Governor of Maryland, who proceeds to endorse the film's message that crime does not pay. You know it's going to be the best when the narrator then introduces the Governor of North Carolina, who proceeds to endorse the film's message that crime does not pay.

It's the Tri-State gang on a rampage! (Based on a real case, so they say, but who cares.) George Legenza is the brains and the muscle of the gang. He's cold and calculating. His most exercised muscle is in his trigger finger. The body count keeps growing due to his penchant for killing, including women associated with the gang who cross him. The biggest heist in history – $2 million in an armored car – goes awry. Two million, all right...in cut money going to the U.S. Mint to be burned. The botched job leads to a break for the police, and the full force of the law is put into tracking them down. And they are tracked down and fall, one by one.

The Warners backlot has seldom looked so nightmarish. Legenza, portrayed by real-life Bad Boy Steve Cochran with intensity that is a cross between George Raft and Lawrence Tierney at their most malevolent, exudes a pervasive menace. Every encounter he has convinces you that someone – and probably not him – is about to die. Stone's direction is crisp, not flashy, but with a few nice jarring touches (thank you, Carl E. Guthrie) – alternating close-ups of Legenza and one of the women, with the faces filling the screen as he tries to convince her that she has nothing to worry about from him (don't believe it, sweetheart!), and filming Legenza through the cracked windshield of an overturned car as he tries to evade the police. Again, thank you, Carl E. Guthrie, for the menace of the night.

Stone also wrote the screenplay, which is very nicely hardboiled. What a directing career trajectory he had…fluff to STORMY WEATHER (1943) with the incomparable Lena Horne…to more fluff…to the ‘50s whereupon he discovered the dark underbelly we now lovingly call film noir. HIGHWAY 301, with the incomparable Steve Cochran, was the first of his ‘50s tough movies. Then to…well, I haven’t seen them, and I don’t think I want to.

This would make a swell double feature with GUN CRAZY, which was released shortly before, and is its inversion. But the intermission might be a problem. Annie Laurie Starr would sneer at the gals hanging with this gang, and Legenza would probably plug Bart Tare in the back (after reassuring him that they're in it together for keeps).

For those who really like their boys bad, this one would either cure you from the affliction or truly tickle your fancy (just before the slug hits you in the back or the back of the hand hits you in the jaw).

You cannot be kind to congenital criminals like these. They would show you no mercy. Let them feel the full impact of the law. The End.

I've watched it a few times since, and included it in a class on under-appreciated film noir of the '50s. It only gets better.

[ziggy6708a]

[ElCid]

US Highway 301 runs from Delaware to Sarasota FL. I can remember travelling over parts of it in S.C. and GA when I was a kid. And later when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC (Fayetteville).
Of course, the movie takes place in VA area.

[jameselliot]

I've seen Thunder Road a few times. A good movie but it's a six-lane stretch to call it a noir.

[ElCid]

I've seen Thunder Road a few times. A good movie but it's a six-lane stretch to call it a noir.

As Eddie Muller has said before, he sometimes selects movies that stretch the noir definition and may not even be noir. That is why it is informative to listen to his intros and outros.
Having seen Thunder Road several times (have the DVD), I think it does have some elements of noir.
Of course listening to Robert Mitchum sing the song he wrote or co-wrote is pretty interesting as well.

[Cinemaspeak59]

A Brief Documentary on Decoy (contains spoilers!)

Decoy was very enjoyable. Sheldon Leonard as the cop had an air of menace. From the subtext, he was someone who may have crossed the line from time to time, someone with underworld connections, someone with questionable ethics who drew the line when it came to murder, but for minor offenses, well, grease his palm and he’ll look the other way. But the star is Jean Gillie as the smooth femme fatale that ranks up there with the best of noir bad ladies.

[jameselliot]

I've seen Thunder Road a few times. A good movie but it's a six-lane stretch to call it a noir.

As Eddie Muller has said before, he sometimes selects movies that stretch the noir definition and may not even be noir. That is why it is informative to listen to his intros and outros.
Having seen Thunder Road several times (have the DVD), I think it does have some elements of noir.
Of course listening to Robert Mitchum sing the song he wrote or co-wrote is pretty interesting as well.

It's a crime/action film and an interesting one, especially because it delves into the moonshine racket and pits Gene Barry against Thunder Road writer/producer Robert Mitchum. Noir, no. Shoehorning it into the noir genre is of course Eddie's decision. There's nothing noir about the cinematography or the straightforward cops vs moonshiners plot. Mitchum did start the trend of backwoods bootlegging movies that took off big time in the 1970s such as White Lightning with Burt Reynolds. He was ahead of the curve.

[Dargo]

...Mitchum did start the trend of backwoods bootlegging movies that took off big time in the 1970s such as White Lightning with Burt Reynolds. He was ahead of the curve.

Yes, but try as he might, Burt could never quite master the fine art of singing calypso music as well as Bob did.

(...and so there's that anyway)

[ElCid]

...Mitchum did start the trend of backwoods bootlegging movies that took off big time in the 1970s such as White Lightning with Burt Reynolds. He was ahead of the curve.

Yes, but try as he might, Burt could never quite master the fine art of singing calypso music as well as Bob did.

(...and so there's that anyway)

At one time, I had a 45 of Mitchum singing Thunder Road. May have to dig it out and see what was on the reverse. I do have Thunder Road on a CD or two though.
One thing I always found amusing was the song and the movie did not match as far as the cars described. Also, not so sure about the geography as realistic between the song and the movie. But hey, it's a movie.
Regardless, it is still a good little movie. And some nice views of cities as they were at the time.

[jamesjazzguitar]

I've seen Thunder Road a few times. A good movie but it's a six-lane stretch to call it a noir.

As Eddie Muller has said before, he sometimes selects movies that stretch the noir definition and may not even be noir. That is why it is informative to listen to his intros and outros.
Having seen Thunder Road several times (have the DVD), I think it does have some elements of noir.
Of course listening to Robert Mitchum sing the song he wrote or co-wrote is pretty interesting as well.

It's a crime/action film and an interesting one, especially because it delves into the moonshine racket and pits Gene Barry against Thunder Road writer/producer Robert Mitchum. Noir, no. Shoehorning it into the noir genre is of course Eddie's decision. There's nothing noir about the cinematography or the straightforward cops vs moonshiners plot. Mitchum did start the trend of backwoods bootlegging movies that took off big time in the 1970s such as White Lightning with Burt Reynolds. He was ahead of the curve.

While I'm a fan of Thunder Road the only noir scene in the film is when Mitchum goes to the hood's nightclub. That is a classic Mitchum noir scene but other than that there is too much Gene Barry and not enough of the innerworkings of the "good side" of the criminals element (MItchum and the locals carrying what they were taught by their dads).

[ElCid]

While I'm a fan of Thunder Road the only noir scene in the film is when Mitchum goes to the hood's nightclub. That is a classic Mitchum noir scene but other than that there is too much Gene Barry and not enough of the innerworkings of the "good side" of the criminals element (MItchum and the locals carrying what they were taught by their dads).

Interesting perspective. So it is "good" to evade the law, not pay taxes and engage in other criminal activities while making alcohol that was often unsafe to drink? Not to mention the dangerous driving to get it delivered. Just talking here as I like the movie and all parts of it. But it is a romanticized version, just as The Godfather was.

[ElCid]

Error

[ElCid]

Cars of Thunder Road. This is a movie where the cars almost take center stage. Mitchum begins in a 1950 Ford, but changes to a '57 Ford later. Gene Barry is driving or a passenger in a '57 Chevy 210 and never actually catches Mitchum.
IMCDB lists almost 30 different cars of significance in the movie.
Ironically, when the movie came out our family car was a '57 Chevy, but a six cylinder 210 four door sedan.
https://www.imcdb.org/m52293.html