... Union leader Big Bill Shelly and young runaway woman Bertha form a small group who stand up to the oppression towards workers and plot their revenge on the management of a new railroad. Boxcar Bertha - (Original Trailer) A union leader during the Depression enlists his girlfriend in a plot to get back at the railroad's evil management in Martin Scorsese's Boxcar Bertha(1972). She then meets Rake Brown, a cardsharper, and becomes his partner. ... (Torn Curtain and Topaz) but after that, they make some decent movies (Frenzy and the underrated Family Plot). Boxcar Bertha Boxcar Bertha is a low budget 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese.It is a loose adaptation of Sister of the Road, a pseudo-autobiographical account of the fictional character Bertha Thompson, written by Ben L. Reitman.It was Scorsese's second feature film. By chance, she meets Bic Bill Shelly, a socialist syndicalist, and makes love with him. Boxcar Bertha is a 1972 American romantic crime drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and produced by Roger Corman, from a screenplay by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington. A would-be Roger Corman/AIP exploitation film, Boxcar Bertha (1972) takes on additional layers of meaning thanks to its youthful director, the just-then-emerging Martin Scorsese. Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? | The film tells the story of Boxcar Bertha Thompson and "Big" Bill Shelly, two train robbers and lovers who are caught up in the plight of railroad workers in the American South. Scorsese makes a cameo in the film as one of Bertha's clients during the brothel montage. Barbara Hershey and David Carradine star as a pair of doomed lovers in the Depression-era American South, turning to train robbery and life on the run. The locomotive in those scenes was 1920 Baldwin 2-6-2 #108, who later saw service on the Conway Scenic Railroad in the late 1970s. Barbara Hershey as Boxcar Bertha; David Carradine as Big Bill Shelly Instead, Scorsese directed Corman's Boxcar Bertha, a 1972 gangster film similar to Bonnie and Clyde. Thomas, Kevin (June 21, 1972). Later still, they get separated and Bertha meets a Yankee dandy at a card game who refuses to speak to hide his accent. ‘Boxcar’ Bertha Thompson, a transient woman in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early ‘30s, meets up with rabble-rousing union man ’Big’ Bill Shelly and the two team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment. Martin Scorsese was hired to direct on the strength of his first feature. Boxcar Bertha is a 1972 crime drama produced by Roger Corman and directed by Martin Scorsese. | Martin Scorsese's second feature loosely adapts the autobiography of Bertha Thompson, portraying the adventures of the Depression-era criminal following the death of her father. Plot– Bertha, an 18-year-old orphan girl living in America during the Great Recession, is looking for a way to survive the 1929 crisis. like alliterative nicknames!). When Bertha is implicated in the murder of a wealthy gambler, the pair become fugitives. 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a transient woman in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30s, meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and the two team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment. Based on "Sister of the Road," the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by physician Dr. Ben L. Reitman, 'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a woman labor organizer in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30's meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and they team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment and she is eventually sucked into a life of crime with him. The film is a low-budget exploitation film produced by Roger Corman. "[9], Arthur D. Murphy of Variety gave the film a negative review, writing, "Whatever its intentions, Boxcar Bertha is not much more than an excuse to slaughter a lot of people [...] The final cut has stripped away whatever mood and motivation may have been in the script, leaving little more than fights, shotgun blasts, beatings and aimless movement. In the 1930's American south, Bertha Thompson decides to live the life of a transient after her crop duster father dies in a crash leaving her alone in the world. She also has a stint working in a bordello. I agree with most of what Scoop said, but will bump my score up to a full C. Anyone who generally enjoys the genre should like this one. After the success of Bloody Mama, Roger Corman wanted to make another female gangster film. [4], Hershey later called the film "a lot of fun even though it's terribly crippled by Roger Corman and the violence and sex. She falls in love with a certain Big Bill Shelley (David Carradine), who seems loosely modeled on the anarchist organizer Big Bill Haywood. I guess hindsight is the only way to know when someone should have gracefully retired. Boxcar Bertha follows in the oft-interrupted tradition, begun at Warners in the thirties, of being both a popular film and one which takes seriously the struggles of unions in America. Boxcar Bertha (1972). "[11] Tom Milne of The Monthly Film Bulletin declared: "Abrasively scripted, stunningly shot, and beautifully acted by David Carradine, Barbara Hershey and Barry Primus in particular, Boxcar Bertha is much more than the exploitation picture it has been written off as (by Variety, for instance) and makes a worthy companion piece to both Bloody Mama and Bonnie and Clyde."[12]. Boxcar Bertha - Movie Review. Change your configuration. Its Depression "types" are historically revealing but not stereotypical, thanks to the stunts required by the plot. Parents Guide. Martin Scorsese's Crime Films Ranked, From 'Boxcar Bertha' to 'The Irishman' (Photos) Martin Scorsese has made 25 narrative feature films, and only eight of … "[8] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "What is most impressive about Boxcar Bertha [...] is how 28-year old director Martin Scorsese, in his first Hollywood venture, has managed to shape such familiar material into a viable film. The prologue from Martin Scorsese's Roger Corman quickie, Barbara Hershey (title character) gazing skyward at her crop-dusting dad, with mechanic Von (Bernie Casey), Big Bill (David Carradine) working nearby, opening Boxcar Bertha, 1972. The railroad has its own enforcers however and Bill doesn't meet a just end however. Just click the "Edit page" button at the bottom of the page or learn more in the Synopsis submission guide. Ultimately, she ends up traveling with three others: "Big" Bill Shelly, a laborer who now speaks on behalf of workers' rights and unions; Rake Brown, a gambler not averse to cheating and who carries a gun but is too scared to ever use it; and Von Morton, a harmonica playing black man who worked as her father's mechanic. Tuna says: Boxcar Bertha is one of the better Corman films, in that is has nudity from a future star, interesting characters, great pace, decent plot, and some point. Bill in particular feels uncomfortable with the criminal behavior in and of itself, except for the good he can do for the working class in the crimes. We really had characters down but one tends to not see all that, because you end up seeing all the blood and sex. A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese, The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent, Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women, Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Boxcar_Bertha&oldid=1000228148, Biographical films about Depression-era gangsters, Industrial Workers of the World in fiction, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 January 2021, at 05:53. PLOT SYNOPSIS. The movie is set in a murky Southern territory of sweat and violence, and gives us Bertha as a forthright young girl who a gets involved in violence almost by accident. Both sides the titular character, with her off Screen partner at the Great Depression, Bertha even him! 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