I haven't seen this film for a long time but I do remember the car chase sequences and the final run, but I remember the soundtrack with Mitchum singing the song Thunder Road. I bought an LP many years ago (Monument Records) and he sings the definative version of Little 'Ol Wine Drinker Me. much more feeling than the Dean Martin version. In fact, the whole album is excellent. I don't think Mitchum recorded another which is a shame, or did he?
shareMitchum recorded several albums, many of which can still be found on e-bay or amazon.com. Unfortunately he did not sing the title song "Thunder Road" in the movie although he did write it and recored it later making the hit parade in 1958 and 1962.
I loved this movie ever since I saw it in the theater as a kid. The song was one place they screwed up though. In the lyrics to the song Mitchum wrote: "On the first of April 1954, a federal man sent word that he would make his run no more". However in the movie he's driving a 57 Ford two door. Oh well! Bob
shareBob:
For an explanation of the apparent discrepancy in dates, read "Return to Thunder Road-The Story Behind The Legend" by Alex Gabbard. In short the song reflects an incident where a transporter was killed just outside of Knoxville (Bearden) in 1954. Apparently Mitchum wrote the song before the movie was planned. Interesting reading.
WHB
Cool! Thank You I'll get on that. I can still see and hear that old '50 Ford he had to start out. Outstanding!
shareI just watched it again on cable and after the final credits theres a blurb about thanking the feds for the 'facts' (or 'factual' ??) and their cooperation etc. in the making of this movie. Of course this leaves a lot to speculate about but evidently theres some truth to the story ?
I guess it could also mean that they supplied factual details about stills/moonshining or the cars/modifications used rather than the actual chases, character(s) ... it would cool to know what facts they did supply.