Boxcar Bertha

Boxcar Bertha
Theatrical release poster.
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Roger Corman
Written by	Book: Ben L. Reitman Screenplay: Joyce Hooper Corrington John William Corrington
Starring	Barbara Hershey David Carradine Barry Primus
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date(s)	June 14, 1972 US release
Running time	88 min
Language	English
Budget	$600,000

Boxcar Bertha (1972), director Martin Scorsese's second film, is a loose adaptation of Sister of the Road, the fictionalized autobiography of radical and transient Bertha Thompson as written by Ben Reitman. One of producer Roger Corman's famous exploitation films, the movie was made with a modest $600,000 budget and taught Scorsese how to make films quickly and economically.

Plot

Besides the name of the heroine and her freight riding, very little of the film bears any resemblance to the original story written in Sister of the Road. The film tells the story of Bertha Thompson (played by Barbara Hershey) and "Big" Bill Shelly (played by David Carradine), two train robbers and lovers who are caught up in the plight of railroad workers in the American South. When Bertha is implicated in the murder of a wealthy gambler, the pair become fugitives from justice. While this story adheres to certain conventions of exploitation narrative, it also offers a surprisingly frank look at race and gender issues in the 1930s.

Cast

• Barbara Hershey as Boxcar Bertha
• David Carradine as Big Bill Shelly
• Barry Primus as Rake Brown
• Bernie Casey as Von Morton
• John Carradine as H. Buckram Sartoris
• Victor Argo as First McIver
• David Osterhout as Second McIver
• Grahame Pratt as Emeric Pressburger
• 'Chicken' Holleman as M. Powell
• Harry Northup as Harvey Hall
• Ann Morell as Tillie Parr
• Marianne Dole as Mrs Mailler
• Joe Reynolds as Joe Cox

External links

• Boxcar Bertha at the Internet Movie Database
• Boxcar Bertha at AllRovi
• Boxcar Bertha at the TCM Movie Database
• Boxcar Bertha at Rotten Tomatoes