Robert Mitchum in Thunder Road (1958) is One of the Best Kinds of Southern Protagonist

If you’ve ever chatted with me about movies or witnessed my harebrained Twitter screeds, you probably know I’m very much into a particular niche subgenre: Hicksploitation, baby.*

Most people would (reasonably) assume that this niche label applies mostly to horror films where rednecks are the villains. Films like Deliverance, Wrong Turn, The Hills Have Eyes, etc. And sure, that’s a big part of it. But there’s so much more to this subgenre than spooky hillbillies. In fact, one of the most celebrated hicksploitation films of all time is one you’ve probably seen: Smokey and the Bandit. Which is a terrific movie that I may write about in the future.

But today I’d like to preach to you about one of Smokey’s ancestors that presents one of my absolute favorite protagonist archetypes. That film is Thunder Road.** And that protagonist archetype is “the guy who gets ahead by breaking dumb laws.”

Now, when I speak of “dumb laws,” I’m not speaking of jaywalking or marijuana possession or anything like that (although those laws are pretty dumb). Reader, I’m talking about alcohol. And I’m talking about Lucas Doolin, one of the badassest moonshine runners you’ve ever seen (played by Robert Mitchum, one of the badassest dudes to ever grace the silver screen).

There are lots of hicksploitation films about moonshine runners, the (mostly) boys who would skirt around the sights of Johnny Law to transport their family’s livelihood across state lines, or even to towns nearby. And we, as tried and true Southerners, support them with all our hearts. Sure, what these boys are doing is illegal, but it’s illegal for no good reason. Our common sense outweighs our legal obligations, and we support these heroes with our whole hearts.

Doolin is one such protagonist, and this cat is cooler than a catfish doing the backstroke at the shallow end of the kiddie pool.*** We admire him when he risks his life to support the family business. We envy him when rides around town in his hot rod and romances a local night club singer. And we empathize with him when he pleads with his younger brother to choose a better life instead of following in his footsteps. (Even though of course he wants to follow in his footsteps.)

I’m tempted to label Doolin as an antihero, seeing as he’s a very obvious scofflaw, but there’s no “anti” about it. Especially when viewed through a modern lens—hell, it’s been more than 60 years—we don’t find any moral qualm with what he’s doing. (Unless you’re an uptight narc weirdo, in which case get a life, loser.)

The events of the film are said to be rooted in fact too. According to the Metro Pulse, a now-defunct weekly newspaper in Knoxville, the famed Tennessee author James Agee is said to have witnessed an incident on Kingston Pike in 1952 that he passed along to Mitchum, which went on to inspire the climax of Thunder Road. Whether or not that’s true is beside the point, I think.

Hicksploitation, at its core, is all about Southerners being outsiders.**** And of course in the eyes of a coastally biased studio system that means spooky hillbillies. But I think those likable outsiders—the ones willing to do “the wrong thing” in order to do the right thing—deserve a little bit of the shine as well.

* If you’re curious about what qualifies as “hicksploitation,” some Canadian guy named Jarrett made a really comprehensive Letterboxd list of all(?) the hicksploitation films that were released up until 1989.

** In case you’re wondering, Bruce Springsteen has said that the title of his classic song was indeed inspired by this film—but just the poster, actually, because he hadn’t seen the film when he wrote the song. You’re a wild one, Boss.

*** Pauly Shore said this in the comedy classic Jury Duty and I just think it’s great.

**** For years now, legendary TV horror host and film critic Joe Bob Briggs has been doing a traveling lecture called “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood” that is all about this, and I implore you to go and see it if he comes to your city.

Thunder Road is now streaming on The Criterion Channel, Hoopla, and Amazon Prime, and it’s available to rent on Amazon.