Main Cast: Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine, Burt Young, Madge Sinclair
Release Year: 1978
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
The CB (citizen's band) radio fad had nearly run its course when this feel-good action film was made by director Sam Peckinpah. In the story, based on C.W. McCall's song "Convoy", a group of struggling truckers (who stay in touch by CB) run into a situation which ignites their indignation. They arrange to form a truck convoy under the leadership of the man whose CB nickname is "Rubber Duck" (Kris Kristofferson). He is the most aggrieved of the bunch, having been harassed beyond the point of endurance by Lyle Wallace (Ernest Borgnine) a blackmailing traffic cop who pursues him ever more frantically through several states after he fails to submit to the phony speed trap he had set up. As news of the truck convoy spreads, unexpected allies join the line, and the now-gigantic illegal protest becomes the subject of national news reports. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Review
It's hard to believe that Convoy is the work of Sam Peckinpah, one of the cinema's most interesting and singular directors -- and indeed, if oft-repeated stories are true, it indeed hardly is Peckinpah's work. Apparently, the director was not in good enough shape throughout much of the shooting to actually be in charge, and a wide range of second unit directors -- along with actor James Coburn -- are alleged to have filmed the majority of the film. One certainly hopes this is true, as it would at least explain why Convoy is such a mess of a movie. It would not explain, however, why Peckinpah undertook the project in the first place. True, the basic idea of an outsider forced into the role of hero resonates with the director, and the film did provide plenty of opportunities for action, often rendered in the director's trademark slow-motion style. But the action is simple-minded and lacks depth, the story surrounding the action is trite and dull and the whole thing is clearly just an attempt to cash in on the song that gives the film its name and on the "redneck" success of Smokey and the Bandit. The cast tries hard, and the presence of Kris Kristofferson and Ernest Borgnine is helpful, especially in comparison to the non-performance of Ali Mac Graw. But, despite the protests of diehard Peckinpah fans who insist that there's more to Convoy than meets the eye, the truth is that it's a shallow and surprisingly boring misfire. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Franklyn Ajaye - Spider Mike; Brian Davies - Chuck Arnoldi; Seymour Cassel - Gov. Haskins; Cassie Yates - Violet; Walter Kelley - Hamilton; John Bryson - Texas Governor; John Gill - Jack - Garage Attendant; Thomas Huff - Lizard Tongue; Whitey Hughes - White Rat; Allen Keller - Rosewell; Stacy Newton - Bubba; Spec O'Donnell - 18 Wheel Eddie; Tom Runyon - Runyon; Jorge Russek - Tiny Alvarez; Bill Foster - Old Iguana; Herb Robins - Mechanic Bob; Don Levy - Senator Myers; Stephen Bruton
Credit
Dennis Washington - Art Director, Francis Lombardo - Art Director, Lynn Stalmaster - Casting, Carol James - Costume Designer, Clifford C. Coleman - First Assistant Director, Newt Arnold - First Assistant Director, Tom Shaw - First Assistant Director, Richard Wells - First Assistant Director, John M. Poer - First Assistant Director, Pepi Lenzi - First Assistant Director, Sam Peckinpah - Director, James Coburn - Second Unit Director, Walter Kelley - Second Unit Director, Graeme Clifford - Editor, Garth Craven - Editor, John Wright - Editor, Michael Deeley - Executive Producer, Barry Spikings - Executive Producer, Chip Davis - Composer (Music Score), Bill Fries - Songwriter, Stephen Abrums - Makeup, Fernando Carrere - Production Designer, Harry Stradling, Jr. - Cinematographer, Robert M. Sherman - Producer, Frank Lombardo - Set Designer, Marcel Vercoutere - Special Effects, Candy Flanagin - Special Effects, Steve Maslow - Sound/Sound Designer, Bill Randall - Sound/Sound Designer, Don Mitchell - Sound/Sound Designer, Bill L. Norton - Screen Story, Bill L. Norton - Screenwriter, C.W. McCall - From Musical by, C.W. McCall - Short Story Author
Truck driver Martin "Rubber Duck" Penwald (Kristofferson) comes into conflict with Sheriff "Dirty Lyle" Wallace (Borgnine). Rubber Duck and his trucker friends, Pig Pen (Burt Young), Spider Mike (Franklyn Ajaye) and Widow Maker (Madge Sinclair), get into a fight with Wallace and his deputies at a truck stop. After handcuffing Wallace to a barstool, they decide to head for the state line to avoid prosecution. Melissa (MacGraw), a photographer whose car has broken down, agrees to ride with the Rubber Duck, and the pair soon fall in love.
The truckers drive across Arizona and New Mexico, with Wallace in belated pursuit. Additional independent truckers join them to form a mile-long convoy in support of the Rubber Duck's vendetta against the abusive Wallace. The truckers communicate with each other via CB Radio, and much of the jargon associated with the CB craze is sprinkled throughout the film. The trip touches on social empowerment issues of class, race and gender as well as the place of the law in society. As the rebellious truckers run from the police, Rubber Duck becomes a reluctant folk hero.
It becomes apparent the truckers have a great deal of political support and the Governor of New Mexico, Jerry Haskins (Seymour Cassel), meets Rubber Duck. At about the same time, Wallace and Alvarez, a brutal Texassheriff, arrest Spider Mike, who left the convoy to be with his wife after giving birth to their son. Wallace's plan is to trap Rubber Duck. A janitor at the jail, unaware of the plan, messages by CB radio that Spider Mike has been arrested and beaten. Various truckers relay the message to New Mexico.
Rubber Duck ends the meeting with Haskins and leaves to rescue Spider Mike. Several other truckers join him and head east to Texas. The truckers eventually destroy the jail and rescue Spider Mike. Knowing they will now be hunted by the authorities, the truckers head for the border of Mexico.
The film culminates with a showdown near the United States-Mexico border where Rubber Duck is forced to face Wallace and a National Guard unit stationed on a bridge. Firing an M60 machine gun on top of a M42 Duster, Wallace and the Guardsmen destroy the truck causing it to plummet from the bridge and crash into the churning river.
The movie concludes with a public funeral for Rubber Duck, in which Haskins promises to work for the truckers by taking their case to Washington, D.C. Disgusted with the politics of the situation, Pig Pen abruptly leaves the funeral. A distraught Melissa is led to a school bus with several "long-haired friends of Jesus." There she finds Rubber Duck in disguise sitting in the back. He asks, "You ever seen a duck that couldn't swim?" The convoy takes to the road with the coffin in tow, abruptly ending the politicians' speeches. As the bus passes Wallace he spies the Duck and bursts into laughter.
During this period of Sam Peckinpah's life, it was reported he suffered from alcoholism and drug addiction. His four previous films, Cross of Iron (1977), The Killer Elite (1975), Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia (1974) and Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), had struggled at the box office and the director needed a genuine blockbuster success.[2] Unhappy with the screenplay written by B.W.L. Norton, Peckinpah tried to encourage the actors to re-write, improvise and ad-lib their dialogue, with little success.[3] In another departure from the script, Peckinpah attempted to add a new dimension to the film by casting a pair of black actors as members of the convoy including Madge Sinclair as Widow Woman and Franklyn Ajaye as Spider Mike.[4] The director's health became a continuing problem, so friend and actor James Coburn was brought in to serve as second unit director. Coburn directed much of the film's footage while Peckinpah remained in his on-location trailer.[5]
The picture finished 11 days behind schedule at a cost of $12 million, more than double its original budget. Surprisingly, Convoy was the highest-grossing picture of Peckinpah's career, notching $46.5 million at the box office. But his reputation was seriously damaged by rumors of increasingly destructive alcohol and cocaine abuse. Peckinpah would make just one more film, The Osterman Weekend in 1983, before his death the following year.[6]
The famous scene where the tanker truck goes off a bridge and explodes was filmed in Needles, California, on a one-way bridge over the Colorado River between Arizona and Needles. The Needles City Fire Department provided fire protection during this scene. The bridge was soon thereafter removed as a new span connected the two sides of the river.
Peckinpah has a cameo as a sound gaffer during an interview scene.[7] Rubber Duck's truck is generally represented in the movie as a 1977 Mack RS786LST[8].
