Boxcar Bertha

From the Editors

During the Depression, a young farm girl travels by hopping trains. She meets and falls in love with a union organizer. They make their living robbing trains and living on the outskirts of the law.<br><b>Genre: </b>Feature Film-Action/Adventure<br><b>Rating: </b>R<br><b>Release Date: </b>11-JAN-2005<br><b>Media Type: </b>DVD
Product Description

Customer Response

Cult classic of depression-era hippie turned outlaw
This is a very early Scorsese effort, so definitely worth a viewing. Indeed, it is a funny disjointed story with the young Barbara Hershey - a flower child from acting royalty - and David Carradine in his prime. Orphaned, she wanders around via train hopping and has a series of misadventures, finding love with a union activist and blithely blundering into crime and prostitution as if it were a game. Hershey kind of acts like a stoned out 60s bimbo, though in fact the aimlessness and subtle despair of her character signals the debut of a very talented actress. She is also at the height of her beauty, truly stunning. The depression era of poverty, chaos, and racism is evoked well, including railroad goon squads, chain gangs, and obscure union halls full of "reds".

Unfortunately, the film is choppy, clearly a low-budget affair in spite of some notable scenes. I remember seeing pix from it in Playboy when it came out, touting the real-life romance that started between Carradine and Hershey. I would not recommend buying this for casual viewers, but rather renting it - you won't want to review it often but it is fun to have if you are collector.

Boxcar Bertha / Martin Scorsese
Great Martin Scorsese movie. Great cinematography, story about 2 lovers fighting for freedom and a railroad boss determined to stop them. A must see for Scorsese fans. David Carradine and Barbara Hershey are excellent.

Boxcar Bertha a Great Movie
Boxcar Bertha, based on the true story of "Boxcar" Bertha Thompson, features a dynamic young cast. Set in the Great Depression, this move shows, if somewhat romanticized, life of the southern railroad unionizer and an young orphan girl who fall in love. And how the unionizer and the girl, along with two other cronies turn to petty crime to survive. The climatic ending must be seen to be believed. Also if you are interested in steam era railroading, there are plenty of steam locomotive and train scenes to satisfy you. Not to mention the 24 year old Barbara Hershey is hot.

Fine film with a strong female lead.
Boxcar Bertha was based on the life of times of Bertha Thompson, during the depression era in the 1930s. After her pilot father is killed right before her eyes in a plane-crash, Bertha leaves the family farm, unable to support herself alone. Bertha takes to the road, and soon meets-up with Big Bill Shelly. Bill is a union organizer, who's determined to exact justice from corrupt railroad barons. Bertha and Bill fall in love, and travel together via hopping trains across the south. The two turn to criminal activities, to survive.

Barbara Hershey gives a light-hearted, yet also poignant performance as Bertha. David Carradine conveys the conviction and passion, evident in Big Bill Shelly. His on-screen chemistry with Barbara Hershey, is palpable. Bernie Casey gives a strong, if understated performance as Bill's partner-in-crime, Von Morton. The morality angle of this film, like many made in the 70s, is ambiguous. The viewer knows that the characters clearly commit criminal acts. Yet there's also a sense of righteousness in their lawlessness, due to their quest to overthrow the cruel railroad men.

This is one of the more interesting 70s nostalgia films, and one of the very few to revolve around a strong female character. It is a bit too slow in spots, and could've used more exciting get-a-way scenes. But it makes-up for these minor flaws, by having characters with more emotional depth, than the usual crime drama. Boxcar Bertha is a fine film, that works very well overall.

Brilliant Director's Early Effort an Appalling Mess
Boxcar Bertha, director Martin Scorsese's second film, is an appalling mess. The acting is terrible, the editing sloppy, the story uninspired and dull, and the directing, dare I say it, is unsure and incompetent. Thank goodness Scorsese was able to learn from his mistakes and move on to the artistic brilliance he showed in his later work.

The entire film really suffers from the Roger Corman production, who often gave his directors only 7 or 8 days to shoot a film, and the editing really needs the sure hand of his future editor Thelma Schoonmaker, who is one of the secrets behinds Scorsese's success as a director. I still think Scorsese is one of the most brilliant directors in the history of film, but sadly, with this dog of a film, he was saddled with a dull story, poor production, and stiff acting. Only recommended if you are a die-hard Scorsese fan and want to watch his entire body of work.

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