Storyline
'Boxcar' Bertha Thompson, a transient woman in Arkansas during the violence-filled Depression of the early '30s, meets up with rabble-rousing union man 'Big' Bill Shelly and the two team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment. Based on “Sister of the Road,” the 1937 pseudo-autobiography of fictional character Bertha Thompson, written by anarchist physician Dr. Ben L. Reitman.
Directors
Cast
Trailer
Reviews
80
The thoughtful, ironic script by Joyce H. Corrington and John William Corrington thins only toward the middle and the whole thing has been beautifully directed by Mar tin Scorsese, who really comes into his own here.
80
Time Out
Superior formula stuff, injected with a rare degree of life by enthusiastic direction that occasionally tries for virtuosity and succeeds, and by a neat performance from Hershey that avoids the yawning traps in the script (built-in sex sequences, the she-loved-her-man theme in general).
75
Boxcar Bertha is a weirdly interesting movie and not really the sleazy exploitation film the ads promise.
63
Lots of violence, typical of the Corman exploitation mill, but the film still shows the budding talent of Scorsese in his use of moving-camera and period detail.
60
Empire
For exploitation-enthusiasts and Scorsese completists only.
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