Hell Drivers - TPTV

TRUCKIN' HELL!

Brilliant tense film with MANY stars of the future :-

Stanley Baker Herbert Lom Patrick McGoohan William Hartnell Wilfrid Lawson Sidney James Jill Ireland Alfie Bass Gordon Jackson David McCallum and last but not least Sean Connery.

And I wouldn't mind betting that this was the film that David McCallum and Jill Ireland got together - later of course she ditched him for Charles Bronson. McCallum was devastated apparently. She looks frumpy and a bit of a shrinking violet in this film but blossomed into a very sexy lady.

Ah, I remember seeing this years ago: the one where the lorry drivers have to race, for some reason*, from a gravel pit to the railway sidings or somewhere along country lanes?

I seem to recall it being edge-of-the-seat stuff and McGoohan being a bit punchy (or was it Connery, or both)?

*insane boss, IIRC

Quote: Text Lexus @ 17th July 2019, 9:11 PM

Ah, I remember seeing this years ago: the one where the lorry drivers have to race, for some reason*, from a gravel pit to the railway sidings or somewhere along country lanes?

I seem to recall it being edge-of-the-seat stuff and McGoohan being a bit punchy (or was it Connery, or both)?

*insane boss, IIRC

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This is one of my favourite films and it involves a gang of lorry drivers making lengthy trips to and from a quarry and having to do a great many trips per day in order to earn good money - and also keep their jobs.

The tough-guy foreman (Patrick McGoohan) is himself a driver and, with apparently no fear of death or disaster, has a running offer of a very expensive gold cigarette case for any driver who completes more trips than he does in a day.

Clearly, the footage of the lorries racing along the route is itself speeded up to add to the drama but that's cinema for you!

All in all an excellent film.

I'm guessing McGoohan was the fighty chap then (I'm sure I remember a good punch-up at one point).

I'd certainly watch it again ... in fact I will!

Edit: and yes, now you mention it I do recall the driving sequences having that jittery undercranked look - cf. any number of motorsports movies, including the Herbies :-). If anything I think it suggests the high levels of alertness and concentration of the drivers (who were probably on amphetamines don'tcha know).

Quote: Text Lexus @ 17th July 2019, 9:36 PM

I'm guessing McGoohan was the fighty chap then (I'm sure I remember a good punch-up at one point).

I'd certainly watch it again ... in fact I will!

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Yes, McGoohan is the fighty chap and the punch-up is between him and Stanley Baker.

No spoilers, obviously.

There's an anecdote from some actor (Peter Bowles or someone) in a Making of The Prisoner doc. about how he was supposed to have a brief rough-and-tumble stage scrap with Paddy M in which he was pinned to the ground by the feisty Irishman, only to end up at the wrong end of what appeared to be a genuine attempt to inflict life-threatening injuries.

An odd fellow, by all accounts.

Yes.Wasn't it directed by an American.It has a very gangster feel about it.

Yep, Cy Endfield as it turns out.

The film certainly introduces the viewer to a gritty and scary world that exists somewhat beyond the rule of law and 'normal' society.

Edit: 'gritty', as in gravel ... just seen wot I did there, ho ho.

I've just checked he was "unAmerican"so came to the UK and directed the fantastic Zulu.
Well I never knew that

Ah, a red under the bed, eh?

I'm sure most English people imagine that Mickey Caine directed Zulu :-)

Just watched Hell Drivers and yes, it's a good piece of drama with enjoyable mid-20th Century atmosphere. I'd forgotten far more about it than I'd remembered so it was more or less like seeing it for the first time.

Interesting to note that McGoohan is Number One.

Quote: Text Lexus @ 18th July 2019, 8:47 PM

Interesting to note that McGoohan is Number One.

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Indeed, and somewhat ironic that his greatest career success should come only after he had slipped down the rankings.

Still, such subtlety will do us absolutely no good here.

Let us instead have a look at him and his truck being forced up the curb:

Yes, lets.

I was distracted by a corkscrew during this scene and assumed he was deliberately undertaking to get ahead and hang the danger, but on rewinding he was actually getting one the first tastes of his own medicine, as you say.

Wilfred Lawson's mechanic / instructor is a great turn. Was he meant to be drunk? He mentioned having his licence taken away and always sounded a bit pissed to me, but that might just be how WL spoke. I'm not very familiar with him.

Did McG slip down the ratings though? (I wouldn't want to spoil the ending of the show I was alluding to for anyone - not that he didn't make a dog's dinner of it himself according to many critics).

Quote: Text Lexus @ 18th July 2019, 10:47 PM

Did McG slip down the ratings though?

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He was Number 1 in Hell Drivers but his most iconic role was in a very different production in which, numerically speaking, he was further down the pecking order.

Quote: Text Lexus @ 18th July 2019, 10:47 PM

Wilfred Lawson's mechanic / instructor is a great turn. Was he meant to be drunk? He mentioned having his licence taken away and always sounded a bit pissed to me, but that might just be how WL spoke. I'm not very familiar with him.

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He became known for playing parts like that - slightly two sheets to the wind.