Released after time served in prison
reformed, Tom has made a decision
He'll alter his luck
by driving a truck
and hope he avoids a collision
Hauling gravel, in tons, he must race
while thug-foreman, named "Red", sets the pace
If Tom runs more loads
than Red, through back-roads,
he'll win a prized cigarette case
Run by crooks, this freight business succeeds
through driving at hazardous speeds
any slower than that,
you're sacked--no time flat...
or fall victim to murderous deeds
Stanley Baker and Patrick McGoohan headline the solid British "trucker noir", HELL DRIVERS (1957), directed by Cy Endfield, who had earlier made the noir classics THE UNDERWORLD STORY(1950) and TRY AND GET ME (1950, a.k.a. THE SOUND OF FURY), and later had great success with Baker in ZULU (1964). HELL DRIVERS also stars Peggy Cummins (GUN CRAZY, CURSE OF THE DEMON), Herbert Lom, and small, early roles for Sean Connery and David McCallum. HELL DRIVERS is just one of the many rediscovered films in the Brit Noir film series.
1 comment:
Welcome back, Backthrow! Great epic limerick about a swell action/noir. Is "trucker noir" a genre? All I can think of is Thieve's Highway and They Drive by Night, which is not exactly a noir, but is certainly a trucker film.
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