The Great Smokey Roadblock

source: The Great Smokey Roadblock

A slight but amusing second rate comedy, not quite the low points it could have been for veteran actor Henry Fonda had he not had the support of a great cast including Eileen Brennan as his love interest (a roadhouse madam), Susan Sarandon and Valarie Curtin (as two of her girls), John Byner (as a religiously obsessed hotchhiker) and Dub Taylor (as a small town sheriff), and plenty of wacky situations. Fonda plays a truck driver dealing with a terminal illness, determined to get one good ride in before he makes that final journey, dealing with his truck having been taken away due to debts. But that's a minor plot, as the bulk of the film deals with him and Byner aiding Brennan in getting her girls to their new home in South Carolina. Certainly not the classiest of comedies, but up there with some of Burt and Clint's trucking comedies as far as entertainment is concerned. Other familiar faces in the large ensemble include Austin Pendleton, Gary Sandy and Melanie Mayron. Sarandon, not quite the big star yet (even after "Rocky Horror") does make a nice impression with her limited role, and it was odd to see her name pop up twice in the credits, first as a member of the supporting cast, and later as one of the producers. Brennan is always a treat, her big hearted character a delight, and Byner gets to be eccentric and weird without being obnoxious. Fonda may have just walked through his part, but it is hardly noticeable as Jr fakes enthusiasm pretty good. Not up there with his many classics (including one yet to come), but still fun.

A dying trucker (Henry Fonda) throws caution to the wind by stealing back his repossessed semi and venturing his last haul across the country with a Bible-spouting sidekick (Robert Englund), a madam (Eileen Brennan) and her six girls. "The Great Smokey Roadblock" (1977) was originally titled "The Last of the Cowboys" and was presumably changed to take advantage of the success of "Smokey and the Bandit." While this one focuses on a trucker and a band of prostitutes, it's just as entertaining as that more popular road farce and maybe a smidgen more. The movie repeatedly points out that Fonda's character is 60 years old, but he was actually 71 during filming and looked it. Don't get me wrong, he looked good for his age and had his usual charisma, but he didn't look 60, unless he had lived a very hard life. Curvy Daina House is the highlight on the feminine front, but I strangely found grumpy Alice (Mews Small) notable too. Susan Sarandon is also on hand before she made it big. Actually the entire female cast is entertaining because they're fleshed out as individuals. The geography is disingenuous as Northern California is passed off for places like Missouri, the Smokey Mountains and the Carolina coast. Yet even big budget movies back then did this, let alone small flicks like this one. The film runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot in Oroville, California. GRADE: B-

Elegant John (Henry Fonda) is a terminally ill truck driver who steals his old rig to make one last great cross country run, but this time has the law on his tail as who pursue his 18 wheeler across State lines. Along the way he picks up an odd assortment of hitch-hikers and passengers, including a band of evicted prostitutes, the madam (Eileen Brennan) being his old flame. A rather odd film cheaply shot by a one time director John Leone that pre-figures the CB radio craze and such popular road movies as SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT (1977) and CONVOY (1978). This odd curio did become a cult favourite following the CB radio craze and with the emergence of the home video boom. A curious film for Fonda that one would suspect was not quite the film he thought it was going to be. Some of the band of followers, from the odd Robert Englund character to the band of prostitutes that includes Susan Sarandon; Sarandon was also a co-producer on the film.

I saw THE LAST OF THE COWBOYS under the re-titling of THE GREAT SMOKEY ROADBLOCK in order to tie it into the Burt Reynolds series. It's nothing like that film, although it does star Henry Fonda as a truck driver. Sadly this is a tired, low budget affair that goes all-out in its attempts to be a comedy but pretty much falls flat every time. Most of the running time is set inside a cat house with lots of boisterous behaviour and character interaction, but little in the way of solid plotting or engagement. The most fun you'll have here is seeing a seedy Robert Englund as a fellow trucker and Susan Sarandon in a small role.

After being admitted to a hospital in California for a terminal illness, a truck driver named "Elegant John Howard" (Henry Fonda) has his big rig repossessed by the finance company. But rather than stay there and die he decides to retake his truck and drive it one last time on a trip across the country. On the way he picks up a hitchhiker near Cheyenne named "Beebo Crozier" (Robert Englund) who wants to go to Florida. Unfortunately, neither he nor Beebo have enough money to pay for the food and fuel necessary to get there. As luck would have it, however, while driving near Laramie, upon stopping to visit an old friend named "Penelope Pearson" (Eileen Brennan)-who happens to be the madam of a brothel--he discovers that she and six prostitutes desperately need to get to South Carolina. Needless to say, with their ability to make money, combined with his need to fund one last cross-country trek, both Elegant John and Penelope reach a business agreement of sorts to accomplish their respective goals. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining and light-hearted drama which kept me interested from start to finish. Admittedly, it is a bit dated but I thought it definitely managed to capture that particular period of time quite well. In any case, although this isn't the best "trucker film" ever made, I thought it was well worth the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Any henry fonda film is worth a look ...gary sandy shows what a real moron acts like when put on the big screen and embarrasses himself ... the women were delightful, and daina house was especially beautiful and bountiful ... loved eileen brennan too

According to the Films of Henry Fonda from the Citadel Film Series, The Great Smokey Roadblock was on the shelf for two years before being released. After that I suppose the producers decided this one was strictly for the red state drive in trade. I certainly don't remember it being exhibited in Brooklyn at the time. It's not a bad film, it was the kind of thing that Fonda did during that last decade, mostly films strictly for the paycheck and no strain on any ability. He's a typical red state hero, a hard working truck driver who because of a prolonged hospital stay was unable to keep up payments on his big rig and the bank repossessed it. Not something you do to Fonda who steals the truck back and goes looking for a last big load. And what a load it is. A favorite place of Fonda's a cat house that caters to men of the road has been shut down and Eileen Brennan and her girls have been told to cease and desist. But she's got a new location in South Carolina so she moves bag and all the baggage with Fonda from Wyoming. The film has a few laughs but some serious flaws as well. Try as I might I could not understand why the eyes of a nation should be focused on Fonda and his plight. Nor could I understand why he could not get a legitimate load for his vehicle even if it was stolen in the eyes of the law. Why should those shipping if he's got a good reputation care? And the villain of the piece drugstore cowboy truck driver Gary Sandy was hostile to Fonda for reasons that were never made clear. And Robert England's character of a hitchhiker Fonda picks up along the way is never really any kind of coherent. I did enjoy sheriff Dub Taylor and how the women got around him after he jails Fonda and them. And the women do have a good way for paying for gas, food and lodging. Young Susan Sarandon had a bit role as one of Eileen Brennan's girls. The Great Smokey Roadblock while not great was better than a lot of what Fonda was in during his last decade.

An old gear jammer want to do one more run before he is asked to run the streets of gold. This movie is o.k. To run his last run, an old timer hauls a cat house from somewhere in frontier country to somewhere in the southeast. I was unaware the 53' trailers has sunrooves. In the dance scene,Elagant John has a "What the heck am I doing here" look on his face". Henry Fonda drove the Kenworth 18 wheeler. Henry Fonda was a permanent A list actor. Eileen Brennan,Melanie Mayron,Mews Small,Diana House,Leigh French,Susn Sarandon, and Valerie Curtain are hot!! erldwgstruckermovies.com

I was the Production Accountant on this movie, and I also got to do some voice-over work on it, so I'm not entirely unbiased, but if it were awful, I would say so. I thought it was a fun film, not a critically acclaimed masterpiece, by any means, but there were plenty of laughs along the way. The Bible states that laughter does good like a medicine, so watching this movie could be good for your health. So many of the actors in this picture hadn't yet reached their peak at the time we made this film. Susan Sarandon, of course, is one who has since gone on to much greater fame. Melanie Mayron was seen on TV on a weekly basis as a photographer in the "Thirty-Something" TV drama series. Robert Englund later became known as Freddie Krueger, still haunting people's dreams. One of my personal favorite actors on this show was Dub Taylor, who played the sheriff. He was an excellent comedic actor, and a truly nice, sincere person. We all had fun working on this show, and I think that fun comes through.