release dateMay 1958director Arthur Ripleystarring Robert Mitchum
Gene Barry
Keely Smithrun time1h 32mfun fact Inspired Bruce Springsteen’s song of the same namewhere to watch Amazon Prime

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Thunder Road was arguably the first honest look into the post-war moonshine culture that gave birth to NASCAR. If you want a pretty good idea of how NASCAR started, look no further than Thunder Road, released in 1958 and starring Robert Mitchum.

This gem not only stars Mitchum, but he also wrote, produced, and penned the lyrics for the theme song. The supporting cast features Gene Barry as the obsessed government agent, Jacques Aubuchon as a rival bootlegger, and Keely Smith as one of Mitchum’s love interests. Robert’s real-life son James Mitchum plays his kid brother, Sandra Knight is another love interest of Mitchum, while Peter Breck is a fellow moonshine runner. After its initial success, Thunder Road became a cult fave and continued to play at drive-in movie theaters in some southeastern states through the 1970s and 1980s. 
Thunder Road Synopsis

Lucas “Luke” Doolin (Robert Mitchum) is a Korean War veteran who now works as a runner in the family moonshine business. In his souped-up hot rod Ford, he delivers the illegal li...