when mitchems tag number is called in the first number is 5 which means sullivan county tn which is the bristol,kingsport area.they were always going to either knoxville or north carolina which is where you would go from here, also at the time this movie was being made mitchem was at wcyb-tv in bristol. ive never pinpointed the exact locations but the movie was made here.
shareThey made have - if it was a Tennessee License Plate. 5- was Sullivan County and 3- was Knox County - they have changed that now to the same system as other states. In the song at the beginning of the movie they mention Bearden Hill, which is in Knoxville. They would always mix things up. I know this movie was filmed in Tennessee/North Carolina around Knoxville and Asheville; but I always thought (I haven't seen this movie in a long time, so I could be wrong) that it was implied that it took place in Kentucky.
shareI just watched the movie for the first time last night, however have enjoyed the song "Thunder Road" ("Whippoorwill" in the movie) for many years. It seems like they never played the entire song in the movie, just the first verse and the chorus. From the last verse of the song, it appears the 'final run' starts in Kentucky, and ends in Knox county Tennesee. It goes:
Roaring out of Harlan, revving up his mill,
he shot the gap at Cumberland, and screamed by Maynardville.
With G-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead,
That mountain boy took roads that even agents feared to tread.
Blazing right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike,
then right outside of Bearden there they made their fatal strike.
He left the road a ninety, that's all there is to say,
the devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day.
On a road atlas, you can find all of these places, except for Bearden, which appears to be a southwest suburb of Knoxville. For Bearden, I located "Kingston Pike" on Mapquest, and followed the road!
From the movie, on the last run, he was on his way from Harlan, KY to Memphis, TN, which seems to mesh with the routing in the song.
"On a road atlas, you can find all of these places, except for Bearden, which appears to be a southwest suburb of Knoxville. For Bearden, I located "Kingston Pike" on Mapquest, and followed the road!"
Yeah, I used to live in Knoxville - they say Bearden in the song, but it's really Bearden Hill - it's a small knoll inside a slight curve on Kingston Pike that has a old mansion on top of the hill. There was suppose to be a real moonshiner, that was being chased by the police, that went into that curve at 90 mph and wrecked, in April of 1954. The last time I drove by there (about three years ago) they were cutting into the hill to make a shopping center.
I've heard it was filmed on hwy 129. It's known as "The Tail of The Dragon". 318 turns in 11 miles and is in both Tennessee and N.C. It's now a motorcycle mecca.
Lowell
when they are chasing him they said "5j...then 74" then one other,but i cant rember...sorry....its on right now i was listening for u! :(
"SAY IT IF IT'S WORTH SAVING ME"
"WE ALL WANT SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL
I WISH I WAS BEAUTIFUL"
I have done extreme amounts of research on Thunder Road and talked with older locals in Asheville and have verified many locations where it was filmed in Asheville and Weaverville and have recent photos to prove it. I have a program on my computer where i can actually capture a still scene from the DVD and print it. I've recently went to various locations where it was filmed and taken photos and created an album with the "then and now" pictures. The lady that plays Robert Mitchums mom in the movie is actually a resident of Asheville and amazingly is still living. She is 94 now. Anyone wanting to know info, feel free to get in touch.
shareThis is not a comment on locations. If you have done a lot of research on the movie, perhaps you could tell me the color of the 57 Ford. i would really like to know
shareWhen i talked with Mr. Green about 3 years ago who had done some behind the scenes work with the filming said as he could best remember, it was the willow green and colonial white. Wish i knew for sure myself but all the photos i could dig up including the hot rod article in a '58 magazine i have are in black and white.
shareThank you very much. I really appreciate your time. If you find that it was another color, please put an answer under my question about the color of the 57. I check this site every a week or two.
Terry
hi. how are you. im a big fan of thunder road. I live in Toronto Canada.love your info on locations of shoot of movie. that ledbetter store . is it still there .could you send me now and than pictures of film locations at [email protected] .ive got an old hot rod book telling about movie . by for now
shareI'm watching it now on TCM on the 50th Anniversary weekend....the tag number was 5J-3174
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