Convoy (1978): How a Hit Song Became Sam Peckinpah's Biggest Hit

0:02 Screwing it down a bit runch you boys, Jesus Christ. Hello, I d boys, this is the Papa Bear. Been a long time. It's been six years. Yeah, six years. I should have known that'd be you on the other end of that two way? What two way? The CB cotton Mouth couldn't have been me. I ain't got no CB. Besides, I don't believe in police entrapman. Come on, Welcome to the Cinematic Flashback Podcast. Get ready to hop into the wayback machine as we journey through the wild fold and unforgettable films of the nineteen seventy Each episode we break down a classic movie or forgot Jim, seeing how it performed then and now, and wrapping things up by asking fiddig ruth of the decades or did it lose its feet? I am your host, Chuck Bryan, and today we are reviewing Sam Peckhama's nineteen seventy eight film Convoy, starring Chris Chris Stofferson, Ali McGraw, Ernest borg Nine, Bert Young, and Madge Sinclair. This is our second and final stop in our Keep on Trucking month. Last episode we've followed one trucker taken on the system in white line fever. This time we've got hundreds of trucks, a chart topping country song, a CBE radio in every cab, and Sam Peckham pod trying to steer the whole thing

1:33 down the interstate. Let me let me check here, break breaker, break a breaker one nine. Matt, you got your ears on? Come home back. That's your good buddy. I'm at your back door. You see any bears up there, come on. Back, Roger, that Roger that we got a roadblock up there on the clover leaf and them bears are wall to wall. Have you been my man, I've been fine. This has been a bit of a trip down memory lane with the CBE banter and stuff. You know, it's going through some of that, And I have to tell you I listened to a YouTube series of a local chef. I had to laugh so hard because his dialect is absolutely trucker slang.

2:14 Last episode, we started talking about the CBE radio craze. We kind of shared a lot of our memories and experiences with it and just talked about how big it became during the seventies. But while researching Convoy, I started kind of getting this little nugget of an idea. So here it goes. In nineteen seventy five was CBE radio basically America's first social media platform. And let me expand just a little bit. People had handles instead of user's name. They talked to strangers they never met, They shared information in real time, they complained about authorities, they spread rumors, and they built these communities around common interest. The technology was different, but the behavior feels surprisingly familiar.

2:59 I think you're on something, But I think the big difference was range. Today a tweet could be heard around the world. Back then, a breaker one nine could on average reach about five miles. If a trucker had a real good set of tuned antenna's, hooked down knights and high on his cab, they might be able to get ten miles. You know, there is a phenomenon called skip you know, you could communicate over many, many miles. That's it was skipping off the IONISA that generally happened in the evenings, not something that usually happens. So you're talking about a pretty limited range of people you can talk to and messages. Now you'll see and even in our movie, we see that by using that little range and then repeating like word of mouth, but over the radio you could reach many miles in front. So a trucker would call ahead or behind saying hey, I just passed a speed trap, and then the truck that's sort of at the edge of that would then pass it to the people behind him and etcetera. So you could reach a pretty big range, but it sort of depended on word of mouth. I think we'd be better off with the five mile range because I think, you know, there's the today's inane blather can reach Antarctica back then just only five miles, and then each person has to decide whether they're going to repeat it or not, which I think was a good thing. Right. Of course, that would also be we wouldn't be making this podcast or every episode would be live.

4:21 Well, Matt, do we have anyone giving us any feedback this week? Yes, we do. This was from our Dirty Harry Encore episode. Listener Chris left us this comment on Spotify. Whoa great episode. I learned to think of two about guns. The best scene in the movie was the stadium where the camera pulls away and you can hear that creepy music in Scorpio's screams as Harry steps on its leg cheers. Thank you Chris for that feedback. We love to hear it, and as always the general population of people who are listening to our podcast, we want to hear from you, good or bad, or some advice. We welcome it all. We know that two dudes in a microphone is not exactly high art, but we love movies and we hope that we can help you discover a forgotten gem or understand a little bit about the time when the movie was released. Don't be shy, be like Chris and let us know how we're doing. Use the comment feature on your podcast listening app, or hit us up on our Facebook page, or go right to our website at www dot cinematic flashback dot com. You know, Matt, I have to really agree with Chris on that episode.

5:24 I think I called you up and just said, hey, Matt, I know you know more about guns than I do. Just you carry that. You know that was definitely nineteen seventies. Guns are featured a lot more, I think in a different light than today. And you know, I think you know things progress, I think in a positive way largely, but yeah, that's the way it happened. So hm, Chuck aw or should they say, why did this movie happen? Well, Well, Matt, Before we get into the production of Convoy, I want to ask a question on my own. What do a bread commercial, a truck driving country singer, a Sam Peckhampalm, and Christmas music have in common? I have absolutely no idea, but I'm hoping it has something to do with Convoy. Yeah, V white stuff.

6:08 I had a jack knife rie it could drove block a slid, had a musty chain and a load of bread for the old home killer. Up and keep on a truck in the Yeah it does. It sounds like the setup to a very bad joke, but it's actually the story of how Convoy got made. And the story begins back in nineteen seventy three, when advertising executive Bill Freese created a truck driving character called c W. McCall for a series of old Homebred mercials. Says you Know what to Say, Cold Truck. The initials c W stood for Country Western, while McCall was inspired by a copy of McCall's magazine that just happened to be sitting on his desk. The character became popular enough that Freeze and musician Chip Davis took c W.

6:57 McCall beyond the commercials and into the recording studios, releasing several albums and took. Off for when you created that thing, did you have any idea at all it would develop into this sort of thing? I had no idea. You write all of this stuff? Yeah, we write all of our own material. I do all lyrics, and a phill named Chip Davis writes the music. Nineteen seventy five, their album Black Bear Road included a little song called Convoy, a breaker on nine. This year's a rubber Duck. You've got a copy on me? Fan? Come on? Convoy became a massive rossover hit, reaching number one on both the country and pop charts. Come on.

7:37 Four then, Yeah, we definitely. EMI Films saw a hit song and a growing trucker craze and decided there was a movie to be made. There was only one problem. The song didn't provide much of a story. It had a convoy, a trucker named rubber Duck, and not much else. The rest would have to be invented. Emi turned to Sam Peckham Pop. He didn't see a truck movie. He saw a western rubber Duck became a modern outlaw hero sheriff Lyle Wallace became the lawman in pursuit, and America's highways became Peck and PA's frontier. But production was difficult. Peck and pause struggles with alcohol and health issues continued throughout the film, and creative conflicts followed the movie into post production. Despite those challenges, Convoy was completed and released in the summer of nineteen seventy eight, and ironically, it became the highest grossing film of Peck and PA's career. The adaptation eventually came full circle.

8:33 CW McCall recorded a revised version of Convoy that incorporated characters and events from the movie. The song became a movie, and then the movie became a song again. And here's one final twist. While Bill Freese was becoming famous as CW. McCall, Chip Davis was also developed he being another musical project called Mannheim Steamroller. In fact, the first fresh air album was released in nineteen seventy five, the same year Convoy became a national phenomenon. Over the following decades, Mannheim Steamroller would become one of the most successful Christmas music acts in America. So that's the unlikely road to Convoy.

9:23 Matt A. Bred commercial created a fictional truck driver. The truck driver became a recording star. That recording star inspired a Sam Peckinpah movie, and the musician behind it all eventually became one of the biggest names in neo classical Christmas music. I am gobsmack about Mannheim Steamroller. Yeah. What sent me down this rabbit trail was the opening credit had Chip Davis's name. Can't be the same guy. But the thing is is, I have friends that studied from Chip Davis, so that name was very familiar to me. And I went and I looked it up and sure enough, this is who it was. So then that led me all the way back to where I realized that c. W.

10:03 McCall was not a real person. You know, I'll be honest with you. Until we decided to record this podcast, I thought c. W. Book all was a real person. Why would you not? Yeah, yeah, so funny, so funny. Well, hey man, we are ready to dive into these production details of Convoy, but first we need to take a step away for a quick break. We'll be right back. It's a cinematic slash back the shop, and it's a cinematic slash back shop. Twenty miles wrong and twenty people wives on the power of ninety thousand boys. Since sorry, it's a beautiful sighting and I held him a arriety. It's a convoy. Well, a man up front is the rubber Duck.

10:48 He's the finest man ever, drove a truck with a tank full of nerve. And a heart full of luck, and he's got a convoy. Now it starts when I'm there. He's as bad as can be, sets his mind on highway robbery with the ducks. Is you better not miss with me? I got a convoy. Well, let's chase his. Own, running night and day, laying tracks clear across the USA five. So if you want to join, you're becoming your way. It's a convoy. Chris christoffers Ally McGraw, Britt Young, mag Sinclair Franklin AJ and Dennis board Nine in Convoy Rated Fiji.

11:29 Welcome back. Let's get into the production details. Convoy was released in the United States on June twenty eighth, nineteen seventy eight, and distributed by United Artists. The film runs about an hour and fifty minutes and was produced by EMI Film with a budget of twelve million dollars. The movie would go on to earn approximately forty five million at the box office, making it, as we said, the highest grossing film of Sem peckham Pause career. It is also worth noting that, as we talked about in The Getaway, Pkimpa was a functional alcoholic. However, by nineteen seventy eight the alcohol and drugs were impeding his work on this film. He brought in his longtime friend James Coburn as a second unit director, earning Coburn his DGA credentials, and by many accounts, there were times when Peck and Pah was just not available and Coburn directed some of the first unit as well. Coburn had starred in other Peck and Pop films such as Major Dundee, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kidd, as well as Cross of Iron. After turning in a rough cut that was reportedly more than three hours and forty minutes, EMI executive Michael Deey lost confidence that Peckham Pah and his longtime editor Garth Craven would actually be able to deliver a commercially viable film in time for its planned summer release, so Deey removed both men from the editing process and promoted Graham Clifford oversee the completion of the film. And just for perspective, Michael Deey was hardly a studio novice. He was one of the key executives behind The Deer Hunter and would later produce Blade Runner. The screenplay was written by Bill Norton.

12:57 Harry Stradling Junior served as cinematographer, while Joe Wright and Garth Craven handled editing duties. The music was composed by Chip Davis. Today, Convoy holds a fifty eight percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes and seventy one percent audience score. And I read from the Leonard Malton edition of his review from nineteen ninety two, he gave it two stars. A Convoy is only as good as the drivers in it. So, Matt, let's take a look at this cast. All right. So we'll first start out with a great singer, very charismatic person with a wonderful history, Chris Christofferson. Why they go get a duck because they rhymes with luck.

13:39 Now, my daddy always told me all to be just like a duck, saynsday, smooth on the service, kind of like the devil underneath. Notice I did not put down acting as possibly his maybe strongest suit. He was a very interesting guy and he is the lead in this movie. He was an amazing dude. I mean he was a captain and a helicopter pilot in the army. Is a Rhodes scholar to Oxford. He actually wrote and performed songs. Sunday Morning Coming Down, sung by Johnny Cash, won the Country Music Association Year Award in nineteen seventy. He wrote, Me and Bobby McGhee, I mean that's classic. Yeah, helped me make it through the night for the good Time. So those are ones I haven't heard as much, but me and Bobby McGee, Oh my god. Oh that's a great song. Yeah, it is, it is. And then he was in a number of movies.

14:25 A Star Is Born, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, as we talked about. That was a Peckinpoff film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. That was Scorsese film Heaven's Gate. That was a Michael Chimino. How do we say that, I never get it right, Michael Chabbino. Yeah, so yeah, So, I mean Chris Christopherson's real powerhouse. I gotta say he's probably he's probably a much better singer than actor. But I'll be honest with you. I'm gonna say he did the most he could with this well writing shotgun. For much of this movie is Ali McGraw as Melissa. What's going on here? Oh Melissa, this is the duck. She needs a ride. What happened to XK?

15:06 I sold it? Bertie Patty to know each other. This is the guy I told you about, the one that told the cop that I was new driving. Oh, I shouldn't have to get you. After his proposition, I send him to the motel of his choice, where I think he's probably still waiting for me. And she enters the movie driving a really sweet nineteen seventy four Jaguar x KE. But the last time we talked about her was in The Getaway, which was nineteen seventy two, also directed by Sam peckham Paw, and I have to say that was the last movie she had actually made. So this is there's a period of six years between these two films. I hesitate to mention it, Matt, but she did star in that little film that pulled Paramount out of the dumpster called Love Story. We also remember that she was married to the head of Paramount at one point, Robert Evans, but their marriage hit hard times when he was focused on The Guy Father and she was working with Steve McQueen.

16:02 I think you might want to word that around again and say their marriage hit hard times when he was working on the Godfather and she was focused on Steve McQueen. I think you just said it, everybody. Oh man. That also brings us to actually my favorite actor in this film, who is Bert Young. And when I saw him come up on the credits, I'm like, no, it's Pollie. Yes, it's Pollie. That's a big tempocal buddy. That's Spider Mike, get your back door. My head is love Machines. Can I want a Kobe Little Machine, Father fox Out, you call it TV. I got a big ball sitting right behind it.

16:44 I'll hit this a walm waa wana bit all the Preacher comfort trient. Hey, love Machine, you ain't a holler on go go girls, are you? Yeah? Dude, that's just what he's hollid. And the close up to did you notice his hit the Trucking Company? I did the side of Unsure. You mentioned it in the notes here, and I looked back at it in this laugh. That is so funny because who we're talking about is the is the ultimate character actor Bert Young, who played Polly in the Rocky movies all of them, and everybody sort of loves to hate him. He was kind of the thing. But in this movie he's actually kind of a hero. He's kind of a good guy. I have to say. He plays this character. I think his name is the love Machine, but since he was hauling hogs, they renamed him pig Pack. Yeah.

17:38 He said he earned that nickname. Yeah. Well, they asked him if he earned it with the Go Go girls. Thought he was hauling a bunch of girls. That's right, that's what they call That's what they call hogs, and they're doing it. So I will say that he delivered a pretty good performance in here. He was funny. He was really cringey when he was to talk to the girls, which was perfect. So, I mean, it was fun. It was definitely fun to have him in this film. In my opinion, a real shocker because I did not even remember him in this film and I did see Convoy back in the day. Yeah, can I make an observation. I don't want to let the cat out of the bag too soon. But I'm going to say that I think I enjoyed the supporting cast more than the main camp. Right, is that fair?

18:28 I think that's absolutely fair. And I think I know you want to talk about our next actress. I'm very impressed with this next actress, and her name is Madge Sinclair. But I'll let you take the information on her. Sure. I have to admit when I watched her the first time, I walked away just loving her match Sinclaire who played widow Woman in this movie. So I go and I start looking at her IMDb, of course, because you're just trying to see what else has she's been in. I knew that I recognized her vaguely because she is the captain of the USS Saratoga from star Trek for the Voyage. Home Starfleet Command. This is USS Saratoga patrolling Sector five Neutral Zone. We're tracking a probe of unknown origin on a parent trajectory to the Terran Solar System. Attempts to communicate with the probe have been negative on all known frequencies.

19:18 Continue tracking Saratoga. We will analyze transmissions and. Advice Roger Starfleet Saratoga out. That would have made her the first female Starfleet captain be seen in the history of Star Trek. She also appeared in the TNG seventh season episode Interface as Captain Sylvia LaForge, who was the mother of the USS Enterprise's engineer Jordie LaForge. She's probably though, best known as the mother of Prince Aquim in Coming to America and if you have a good ear, you'll recognize her as the voice of Queen Sarabi in The Lion King. I recognize her for both those things. Coming to America's name one of my dirty I don't know, secret pleasures.

20:02 I love that movie. It's so healty pleasure, guilty pleasure. Yeah, it's so funny, and she's great in it. She's so great in that movie. Really has that queenly regal carriage when she performs in that movie Coming to America. And then as you mentioned it about the voice, I'm like, yep, that's exactly who you know with the queen was in The Lion King. It's so awesome. In spite of my calling it duck, say duck, I just got a skip from my home twenty My old lady's about to pop you talking to a damn near daddy, can you dig it? Hey, that's great news, Mike. I'm gonna have to split though, so uh, you'all take care.

20:42 But what do you know about Franklin a Gi. He was a comedian and he starred in a number of movies and I think when you see the film you will recognize his face. He is a good dramatic actor. In this case, I mean, he's kind of funny. He was in car Wash, Dirt Crazy, Hollywood Shuffle, and The Burbs. He appeared in lots of TV shows like Barney Miller, The Bionic Woman, Chico and the Man. And he was Simuel Fields in Deadwood. And I don't know if any of our fans have watched Deadwood, but that is an amazing show, really good. I went and watched some of his comedy on YouTube, and he appeared a lot on the old late night show called After Midnight. Mm hmmm, yeah. I think a lot of comedians are actually pretty decent actors, and sometimes they're terrible, but most of the time they're actually quite good. And I think it has something to do with their ability to be in touch with that which makes people laugh. They know how to emote, I think maybe, and once and sometimes they're also very deeply thinking people, which I think sometimes makes a great actor.

21:45 I think his character Spider Mike is kind of the catalyst for a lot of the story, especially with his interaction with Ernest Borgnine's character, who played Sheriff Lyle cotton Mouth Wallace also known as Dirty Lyle. Break on one, NYE, Break them one nine. This is the bear in the air, Officer Lyle Wallace, call him the rubber jerk, and. That radmand piece of black crap at your side, Doc, come home. We've talked about Ernest borgnine before from the Poseidon Adventure, and he's just man, this guy, what an incredible career. It would probably take at least five to ten minutes to read everything that he's been in, But just to highlight some of his work, he was in McHale's Navy, The Dirty Dozen, the Black Hole, Escape from New York again has shown up, a Deadly Blessing, and of course the Love Boat.

22:37 Yeah. I really I watched a lot of McHale's Navy, and it always is funny to see Ernest borgnine come up as maybe not such a favorable person. Yeah, but I gotta tell you, you know, I think it must have been Peckinpah or somebody that gave the character the nickname Cotton Mountain. Huh, I mean, honest to goodness, that guy's teeth are a mess. Well, you know, I went and I was like looking at other pictures and it's like he has that back gap, I mean was there. But because Peck and Paw focused on so much more than. You're going, I've never realized had a wicked sense of humor. If you ask me, Oh boy. We've talked about the people behind the wheel. Now, why don't you tell our listeners where the Convoy is headed and what convoy is actually about?

23:25 Sure, this is usually when I read the back of the box, but since we don't have a back of the box, we kind of put together a back in the box. So you'll excuse my announcer voice. So here we go. When the longtime backbone of American cinema, the Western, began to fade in the nineteen seventies, another roadbound hero stepped in to take its place. The Long Haul Trucker. Directed by the legendary Sam Peckinpah and inspired by the chart topping hit song Convoy, this action packed adventure follows Martin rubber Duck Penwald. After a clash with the grifting dirty Sheriff Lyle Cottonmouth Wallace and its deputies, rubber Duck must flee to the New Mexico border along with a ragtag bunch of fellow truckers. They broadcast their progress against the evil lawmen over the Cbee Radio, eventually forming a massive convoy that stretches for miles across the Arizona Highways.

24:27 Fueled by diesel frustration and a shared distrust of authority, the convoy rolls towards the freedom of the border. The film features Chris Christofferson in a dramatic role in a strong supporting cast that includes Allie McGraw, Mad Sinclair and Bert Yng. We've got a lot to say about this one. Stick around. We'll be right back with our thoughts on convoymatic flashback up here. The air smells like old cardboard vinyl records and that slight combination of aquinette and fresh mimeograph. Paper. Boxes are staffed to the rafters with the stuff that raised us VHS tapes that were never rewound game cartridges you had to blow into mixtapes recorded straight off the radio, and the action figures that never survived mint condition. Each time I visit this attic, I'll pull out one specific artifact from days gone but not forgotten, blow off the dust, flip it over and remember what it felt like to hold it, watch it, play it, or just obsess over it.

25:34 So grab your Walkman, game boy or whatever ancient tech you're still clinging to, settle in and let's see what forgotten gym we unearthed each time we visit gen Xer's Attic, because some things are worth saving from the garage sale of history. Coming soon. New podcast, gen x ER's Addict. Listen to and download wherever you get your podcasts. Flash back the show begin You got rule for one shift, ExHAM, the sure Man, you got the Fat Red and the White Rat. Here and welcome aboard you dump it weep helping.

26:16 Just remember week Figs, six Pools and foul. Owners all the way back. Well, Holley boy, welcome to the Convoy's Welcome back, all right, everybody. From here on out, we're going to talk about our thoughts on Convoy and might inadvertently give some spoilers if you'd like to watch. Convoy is available to rent at all the usual locations and as of the recording we're making right now, you can catch it free on to be Okay, Matt, let's get into it. I think I already heard you say that this was not the first time you watched Convoy. What do you remember about it before? Funny enough, I remember very little about it. Yeah, the question, you know, pop so mine, what do you think of?

27:01 What are you going to see in Convoy? And obviously you're going to see a trucker movie. I got what I expected. I personally thought there could have been more character development. Yeah, unlike White Line Fever right that we reviewed before, there was a real emotional pull about the situation the trucker was in, and we understood it. He had a giant mortgage, he's trying to make his payments. He's trying to make money, and these people are standing in his way and that's not right. So we're really we're invested in this particular movie. You just sort of run into Chris Christofferson playing the Rubber Duck and he's just a trucker with what is it a it's a mack truck. He's on it's a mac with a can or something like that. Yeah, that's basically all you get in background. You have no idea until later in the movie that he you know, he actually has some kids somewhere that he sees occasionally. I mean, I don't know.

27:50 He's not a very variable character in my opinion. They don't make him out to be like a he run. He certainly is well regarded amongst his friends, that's very clear at the beginning. Absolutely, he has a great reputation. Yeah, they're all excited to hear that the rubber Duck is out, and they're in proximity because they're on their CBE radios. The banter between them is very, very friendly, very like longtime friends. And I believe that was pretty much the norm for a lot of long all truckers. They crossed paths with each other quite often. So did you think at all any about the original song when you're watching this movie? And what I mean is that this is a movie that isn't based on literature, it's not based on a screenplay. It's based on a what a three minute song that was very popular in seventy five.

28:37 I have a feeling that the song the song because because here's the thing, and we discussed this before in the podcast, is that the song inspired the movie and the movie inspired a song revision. I believe that I listened to the song revision because when I watched the movie, I'm like, yeah, there's the bear in the air, there's the cab Overpete with the refer on, and a Jimmy Holland hoggs. I mean, it's all from the song, right, And I don't know if all those things were in the original song or not. Well, the original song has them going from one destination to another, and then the revised song definitely follows the same path that these Tuckers took. They mentioned in characters like Dirty Lyle, you couldn't be alive back then and not have heard that song. In the seventies, so remember Spotify is new. Really, where we heard songs, if you didn't go and buy them was on the radio, yep, that's where you heard songs, and they played this one relentlessly.

29:32 But the confusion for me comes from I don't know when I first heard it. I probably heard the first version. Then the movie came out, and I probably heard the second version and never never sort of figured out that they were not the same. Do you know what the biggest surprise this movie had for me because I've seen this film before a long time ago. I had no idea this film was directed by Sam peckham Pop until we started this podcast. Yeah, that was really a surprise to me. I was talking with my buddy Jay, he also was I had no idea that Peckhampa directed this film. It has some of the characteristics of a Peck and Pah movie, so you have a lot of the slow motion. The character of Chris Christofferson is very much a Peckhampas style character Ernest Borgnine's characters. It's kind of a cross between a you know, like Alatii's character and Buford t Justice far better name. And also, you know, this film has a lot of the kind of things that Peckhampa is always talking about. The original song is talking about the truckers rebelling against things like the fifty five mile an hour speed limit, rebelling against the log books that they had to keep because they could only drive for so long and then they were supposed to rest, but the companies that were driving them was having them lie on those books when they would get to a way station.

30:50 Not only would they their trucks be weighed, but those books would be validated. And you noticed that even in this movie when when rubber Duck gets pulled over at the beginning, the first thing they asked for as far as log books. Yeah, so this movie has a lot of material that is very peck and pot issue. I think when you recall sort of the issues that Pechempa was having during this film, you can kind of see through what happened. It's like he started it out. He's possibly making it because he's in a situation where he needs to make a movie. He wants to put a stamp on it, and maybe early on he's kind of able to do what he wants. Things go on, there's production problems, no doubt, his drinking increased, his issues with substances increased, and things got out of hand. And to me, it's sort of the you can obviously see it because there's some parts, like you said, or so pecambis, you know, the crash through the into the air and slow motion and all of that, which is an awesome stunt.

31:48 The big jail escape at the end with the truck's kind of running through everything in going into slow motion, right, that's that's all signature. Yeah, signature peck and paw stuff. So to me, it's sort of one of the ones where it's like it's a little probably very bittersweet for him that this movie, which he basically was removed from, is the one that made the most money in his career, which is, you know, like I said, a bittersweet kind of situation. I can't help. And I know that the two movies came out so close to each other, I don't know how much one influenced the other. When I look at Convoy, I have to think about Smoking in the Bandit Smoking in the Bandit works so well because Burt Reynolds just drips with charisma through the whole film, or as the kids say, the Riz. He's dripping with riz, Thank you so much.

32:39 And to a degree, I think Chris Christofferson doesn't have the same level of charisma. Would be another Burt Reynolds. He could have. I think he could have too. He could have. Again, I go back to the material. I just don't think the writing was there to make him up a character that we won about him too noticed. He's kind of just there. Even when they're getting interviewed by the by the political motivator Melissa's talking to him like, hey, you could do a lot of good things here, and he's just sort of like the go talk to the other people. The second kind of beating their eyeballs out coast and coast, and half of the damn Smokey's whipped. The south front reads damps.

33:20 So you believe in what the rubber Duck's doing is. That it I'm tired of seeing the way black people have to live. Went to Vietnam and got shot for the right to live in a ghetto. I hear from the fat that I hear from them. All money I make, I. Can't afford your big oil companies and raising prices oil and gas. Which gets back to consumer. We got to raise all our prices things at all half. And that's what you hear about the Vietnam War. You hear about Nixon. You're about the Nixon and Watergate. You hear about the gas prices. You hear about the double nickel fifty five miles an hour. Yeah, you know all of that, and these guys are trying to make a living on the road and the country, I mean, you know, to give truckers they're due our entire country's economy runs on over the road truck transport. Now, yeah, we made that sort of switch. In the United States, we really depend on overland trucking and that's just where we are, and that the profit is the cost to move it across the land. That the fuel price is fixed, the equipment costs is fixed at the insurance cost is fixed, tolls are fixed. What is not fixed what you pay the trucker. So that's why it squeezed. And that's what to me, this whole movie should have been about, which was it was not. We never get to the point where if anybody complains about sheriff lyle grifting the truckers by taking bribes. I mean we never even that never even comes up in the press. No one ever says, well, and this guy is bad, he's in another state, he's shooting a machine gun at us, and yet he's the

34:52 guy who caused this whole thing to happen, and nobody is saying a word about it. It's just that to me, was just like, come on, somebody's got to at least it has come up, and some never does. Well. Just remember too, that everything you described about the economy of truck driving in the mid seventies. All of that was responding to the oil crisis, which in this case made everything way more expensive, which put the squeeze even more on the truckers and was rising inflation for everyone. So I think when people went to see this movie, you know, and the reason why long haul truckers kind of kind of started filling in that role of the western cowboy, you know, that was what people were coming in to see. And that one scene where they're doing the whole newscast and they go down to the different trucks and and really the reason why the other guys are there is that they're protesting, and these are the things that they're protesting, except for the one guy who just likes likes to be there, which was great. Just as a quick aside, I sent you a picture last night of Sam peckmpau's little cameo on that truck. He's the guy with the headphones, wearing the blue bandana, operating the sound. That's funny. What did you think of Ernest borgnine?

35:58 You know, I think he did. It good job of playing the guy who definitely is shaking down these truckers, but actually is not one hundred percent maybe dedicated to their demise. I think he kind of sees the symbiotic relationship of the truckers keep rolling, he can keep grifting them, so he's not one hundred percent want to get rid of them. Because we see in the last scenes Ernest Borgnine's attitude maybe towards Rubberick a little bit changes when the last scenes go through, And if you watch the movie you'll see what I'm talking about. But I think Ernest Borgdine as the actor, did a wonderful job with what he was given. But he did a good job. I will say the writing was ridiculous. He's a small town sheriff from some western state and now he's in Texas behind an M sixty machine gun or something. It was ridiculous.

36:46 Yeah. Yeah, he doesn't have any authority at all in another state. He's a sheriff. He doesn't have authority in the next counting. You remember when we were talking about Charlie Verrick. One of the things that I really complimented that film on was I like that they did not make Charlie Verrick cool by making the law look dumb. Yes, right, yeah, And in this one, the different lawmen are painted with very broad rushes. Yeah, if you had a chance to go out to dinner with cotton Mouth or with you for tea Justice, who would you rather go with? View for d justice? If you'd never stop laughing. Another one that jumps out to me Ali McGraw's Melissa and Sally Field's character. To make those characters work, the chemistry and the romance between the two characters, like you know, Sally Field and Burt Reynolds and then Ali McGraw and Chris Christofferson, it has to work. I felt that Ali McGraw and Chris Christofferson had zero chemistry.

37:41 Yeah. Agree, And I'll be honest with you, I am not a big Sally Field fan. The Ali McGraw character Melissa is like she's mostly filled with disdain most of the time, but you compare her character with her last role in The Getaway, The chemistry and the strain between her and Stead McQueen was what drove that film. If Ali McGraw was not in this film, I'm not really sure if anything would have changed. It wouldn't it changed. I will say I love the movie poster from this film. I can't say that I like the music in this film that Chip Davis wrote it didn't know what kind of musical score that it wanted to be.

38:22 Mm hmm. There's a lot of stunts in this movie. Well, it was your favorite. Two things I have on the stunts, One is the one where the car goes through the barn, You through the sign, through the barn, and then keeps going. Yeah, Peck and Pa told the guy, do not do not fall short because I won't. I don't have any kind of shot if you fall short, it's supposed to land in the barn, right, I suppose to land in the barn. Well, he goes way past the barn, which makes it even better. But I'm shocked that. Yeah, he got up and walked away from it, So that's amazing. And then the other thing where they filmed in what I can only assume was a giant field of baking flower. You're talking about where they're taking that little back road path or whatever. Right, they had the trucks in the cars going through this flower. I am positive. The problems with their production was the trucks must have gotten stuck a thousand times. I mean, obviously it's some kind of alkali desert sand or something.

39:16 Yeah, but it was crazy. If you look through the wheels. This powder is just flying everywhere. I would hate to have been an actor filming that. Do you remember the fight scene at the truck stop. Yeah, it took them ten days to film that ten that's great. It took them ten days to film that, and it's on the screen for just a small bit. Of a It went on too long already on the screen. You're not wrong, But there's lots of practical stunt working. Sure. One thing that I thought was a stunt, but it actually turned out to be an accident that they just left in the film and they worked it in what it was when Black Widow she rolled the truck, She rolled the truck, and it turned out though that actually happened. Oh god, that's great. Hey, they got the camera in the air, they got all the coverage. They're like, let's keep it, make it part of the movie.

39:59 Well, it was good in the movie because it was actually very realistic that carry on Casey came around the corner too fast and rolled it. I mean, that's very common. The funniest thing she said. Was junk, I knew I should have bought myself a flat trunk. That's funny, she said, Is it about that time. Yet, I think that it's time to ask the question, Matt, does convoy crash the gate doing ninety eight or does it get left behind. At the way station. Well, ninety five was the rute I was on. It was not the speed limit sign. Listeners who are adept at listening to my intonations might understand that I find this movie maybe not the greatest film ever made, or even at a position where they could see it. I don't think it holds its luster over the years. I think it is a cool movie to see if you want to sort of revisit some seventies andsalgia and some trucker culture. But I think maybe this is one that you might do on a rainy Saturday afternoon when you had absolutely nothing to do and you were recovering from surgery, because there's probably a thousand things brutal you could do that would be more entertaining than this movie. I mean, it's cool to see Chris Christofferson as a young man. It's cool to see Ernest borgnine in a role because he's a great actor. I think this movie cured me of the crush I had on Ali McGrath because of this film. Not for you man,

41:32 so yeah, I think maybe I'm going to give it a bit of a thumbs down this week. I will say that it's always fun to review these films because it puts us in that mindset back in the seventies kind of what was happening, reminds us of the gas crisis, the lines, the rationing long haul trucker being you know, kind of a it really was a lot. It was talked about. It was definitely in the zeitgeist of the time. Is kind of long haul trucking. I remember because we had a good friend of the family who was an avid, kind of fan of truckers, and he knew everything about all the different trucks, and that's where I learned about, you know, what a cab overpeat means, and what a mac truck is, and the idea that these diesel engines have certain capabilities, so they have to have really sophisticated transmissions to transmit that power to moving those loads. So it's good for that in terms of a movie that you can follow characters that you hered of get into.

42:27 I think this falls a little flat, and that's all I'm going to say about it. It's yeah, I don't want to poo poo it too much. I think Sam Packinpau is a very gifted director, and I think he did a lot for this film, but I think it's clear that his issues at the time overrode some of his creative genius. Possibly that's that's my rap. So what did you think, Chuck? Well, Matt, this is going to be possibly the first time you and I both agreed on not liking a movie at the same time. Ah read letter Day. Well, so, my biggest issue with this film is it just feels too much like it's chasing the success of Smoky and the Bandit, and it's missing the things that made Smoking and the Bandit really good. It's missing the fun and this movie can't decide what it wants to be.

43:22 And I have to believe that that happened after Peckham Pah was released from the editing process. You already know Chris Christofferson has to carry this film. I didn't think their relationship between the two characters, Melissa and Robert Duck was really good. I felt that Ernest borgnine was the Kmart Sheriff buffort T Justice version. I just he was so broad that it became cartoonish in a way. That wasn't funny. It was more like a wiley coyote, you know character, whereas I thought Beaufort Justice was just flat out funny the entire time. What I loved about the film was that the supporting cast in this film is what carries it for me. Whether it's Franklin at Jai match Sinclair or Bert Young, all of them were great.

44:09 I thought all of the other truckers who fall in line, they all had small roles to different degrees, but they were all interesting and I really would have loved to have seen more of that. I was hoping that I would be more engaged with the film, but I wasn't. I thought the first half of the film really dragged. It didn't really pick up for me until after they go down that dirt back road, and then the show began to got to get a little bit more fun, and I think that's where the Peck and Pah influences came in. And you see that again in the scene where the news car kind of comes up beside them. I have to give so much credit to the stunt work at Billboard Crash alone. If I was to recommend anybody to watch this film, I'd say either watch the film for that billboard crash, or just go and look up on YouTube where the stuntman talks about doing that done. Yeah, in the end, I can see why audience embraced envoy.

45:05 I think it's a product of the time, and I think having someone like Sam Peckinpah as the director makes it even more of a curiosity. So if I'm gonna be honest and true, I'm gonna have to pull over at the way station on this one. I think you're I think you're right on the supporting cast. They really do carry the film, and you're right about even the supporting truckers were funny. They I think they picked a lot of really unusual guys, guys whos aren't to care for the ride, and then the Jesus freaks, which they had to put in because it was in the song, you know. But they were funny and they were they were, they were. It was pretty funny. So you know, if they had written something to make you care about the rubber duck and tied in Ali McGrath's character with that conflict or whatever, right I mean in in White Line Fever, it was his wife. They were married, they're newly married, she's pregnant. I mean, there is a big tie in of care. To me, it was like that's what was lacking as there was I had no I did not care what happened to the rubber Duck.

46:09 I did not care. Yeah, but you cared what happened to Jan Michael Vincent in White Lafe Fever. Absolutely, although you know, at the end it was a little heavilier about how his wife suffered in the other star got killed, but nobody did until Jan Michael Vincent got dusted up a little bit, you know. So yeah, it was a little ridiculous, but I did care about him and his family. Yeah. Jonathan Kaplan set out with White Line Fever to make a Sam Peckhampas style Western but with truckers, and he did a good job. And peckham Pah tried to do the same thing with Convoy, and I think whether it was because of studio intervention, whether it was because of issues with substance abuse, I think Jonathan Kaplan has a more entertaining film that I sat down and thought, Wow, I have never seen this film, and I was engaged with it the entire time. Convoy. I found myself checking out and looking at my watch, and you know that's that's it, all right, Matt. That wraps up our keep on Trucking month. So join us in two weeks as we begin our Jaws Floydation month with two films that swam in the wake of one of the biggest box office hits.

47:20 Of all time. First up is Orca from nineteen seventy seven, starring Richard Harris and Charlotte Rampling, a film that asks what might happen if the hunter became the hunted. Then we'll follow. It up with Kiranha from nineteen seventy eight, directed by a young Joe Dante, proving that if Jaws made people afraid of going into the water, Hollywood was determined to make them afraid of every single body of water. We'll talk about the explosion of killer animal movies that followed Jaws, the surprisingly talented filmmakers who worked in that genre, and whether these films are merely cash ins are better than their reputation might suggest. So grab bigger boat and maybe just stay out of the water all together.

48:03 Well, I'm excited to do these two films coming up because I have not seen either one of them. You're gonna like them. Yeah, maybe I'm excited. It should be good. I have not seen either one, so I think it's that time. We want to thank you for taking the time to tune in. If you've seen Convoy, reach out and let us know your thoughts. You can find us at Facebook or leave us a message over at cinematicclashback dot com. Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a rating and review. We really appreciate it, and review just might get red on the air. And if you've been enjoying the show, tell your friends and family about what we still proudly believe is the best podcast dedicated to nineteen seventies cinema. Join us next time as we hop back into the wayback machine and head once again to the nineteen seventy for another classic or possibly not so classic, but always entertaining. Until then, keep the hammer down, keep your ears on, and watch out for Smokey and we'll see you on the flip side.

49:02 Do the test. My name is Bob Brookman, sir, and I hate truckers.