During the Depression, Bertha Thompson (Barbara Hershey) is left with nothing after her father dies in a crop dusting accident, sending her into the arms of charming activist railroad worker Bill Shelly (David Carradine), with whom she becomes lovers. When his attempts to unionize draw the ire of railroad magnate H. Buckram Sartoris (John Carradine), who seeks to crush his efforts, Bill is forced into the life of an outlaw and begins to rob trains with the help of Bertha, down-on-his-luck gambler Rake Brown (Barry Primus), and former mechanic Von Morton (Bernie Casey). As the level of risk involved in their criminal exploits begins to escalate and the romantic relationship between Bertha and Bill deepens, it becomes clear that this wild ride is hurtling towards a tragic end.
Roger Corman is a prolific film producer and director who, during the height of his career in the 1970's, was famous for producing low-budget exploitation films, each with the requisite sex, violence, and explosions. Though you might be inclined to dismiss his work as low-brow fare, Corman is also credited with helping launch the careers of several modern filmmakers who got their start working on his films, including James Cameron, Ron Howard, and Francis Ford Coppola. Martin Scorsese is one such filmmaker, with Corman handing him the reins to Boxcar Bertha based on the strength of his first feature film, Who's That Knocking At My Door. With his cast and crew assembled, a $600,000 budget, and less than four weeks to shoot on location in Arkansas, Scorsese went out and shot his second feature film, one that would be ignored by most film critics after its release as a double feature alongside 1,000 Convicts And A Woman.
I went into Boxcar Bertha with very low expectations, knowing it was an exploitation film and that it wasn't a film Scorsese necessarily wanted to make so much as one he had to make in the interest of furthering his career as a director. And while I wouldn't rank Boxcar Bertha among his best works, it is a much better film than it should be, thanks in large part to the directorial touch of a future master filmmaker learning to honing his craft. In addition to the Christ-like image of a character being crucified with railroad spikes on the side of a boxcar, which is an almost too-obvious nod to the themes of Catholicism from his previous film, Boxcar Bertha is a film about a group of social pariahs trying desperately to survive in their own little niche in the corner of the world. Bertha and her ragtag group of bandits form a surrogate family, like J.R. and his cronies from Who's That Knocking At My Door, but rather than finding contentment through drunken antics and juvenile behavior, this band of train robbers operate under as modern Robin Hoods, stealing from the rich and giving to themselves, the less fortunate. When exposed to to outside logic, this illusion collapses, as the forces of law and order close in and tear their reality apart at the seams.
While Bertha might be the title character, the most interesting person in the film, at least for me, was Bill, the railroad worker who is a reluctant criminal, taking more pride in an honest day's work than in stealing the valuables of a train's wealthy passengers. Bill feels forced into the life of an outlaw, as his attempts to push back against his employers to better his co-workers' compensation are crushed with violence, often from bull-headed police officers acting on behalf of people much more powerful than Bill. Bill refuses to label himself an outright criminal, even as his actions continue to chart a tragic downward spiral and his criminal activities go from robbing a bank to holding a railroad magnate for ransom. More powerful forces might've forced him to exist on the fringes of society, but Bill does nothing to better his situation and his ultimate fate is as much a result of his own unbreakable pride as it is a product of his enemies' dogged pursuit.
I'll admit that Boxcar Bertha was much better than I expected it to be, but I think that the following anecdote (per IMDB.com) provides a better final coda than I ever could:
After he finished this film, Martin Scorsese screened the film for John Cassavetes. Cassavetes, after seeing this film, hugged Scorsese and said, "Marty, you've just spent a whole year of your life making a piece of shit. It's a good picture, but you're better than the people who make this kind of movie. Don't get hooked into the exploitation market, just try and do something different."
Evenings With Scorsese will continue now with Scorsese's breakout film, Mean Streets. Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back again soon!
