Boxcar Bertha
Movie, 1972, The '70s, Set in The Depression
Boxcar Bertha is #2 of 26 in release order and #2 of 26 in chronological order in the Martin Scorsese.
The story
"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.
Boxcar Bertha recap
Boxcar Bertha (1972) follows Bertha Thompson, an orphan riding the rails in the Depression South, who falls in with a union man and his friends. Barbara Hershey plays Bertha and David Carradine plays Big Bill Shelly, a labor organizer she takes as a lover. Produced by Roger Corman on a low budget, it loosely adapts Sister of the Road, a supposed memoir. Bertha and Bill pick up Rake Brown (Barry Primus), a Yankee gambler, and Von Morton (Bernie Casey), who once worked for her father. Almost by accident the four start robbing trains and banks, aiming much of their anger at the railroad owned by H. Buckram Sartoris. They become wanted outlaws. Rake is shot dead, Bill and Von end up on a chain gang, and Bertha drifts into prostitution until a chance meeting with Von leads her back to Bill. This is Scorsese's second feature, made between Who's That Knocking at My Door and Mean Streets; Corman hired him for it, and John Cassavetes urged him afterward to make something more personal.
Boxcar Bertha ending explained
Boxcar Bertha ends with Bill crucified on the side of a boxcar by Sartoris's men moments after his reunion with Bertha. The train pulls away with Bertha running after it, crying for him. Von arrives too late to save Bill but shoots the railroad men, while Bertha is left holding nothing but the memory of him. The image of a crucified man foreshadows Scorsese's later The Last Temptation of Christ, and Hershey, who gave him a copy of the Kazantzakis novel during the shoot, would play Mary Magdalene in it.
Post-credits scenes
No. Boxcar Bertha has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Boxcar Bertha
Boxcar Bertha is streaming on Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, MGM Plus, and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 6.0/10, Rotten Tomatoes 59%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Who's That Knocking at My Door, before Mean Streets.
- Chronological order: after Who's That Knocking at My Door, before Mean Streets.
Cast
- Barbara Hershey as Boxcar Bertha
- David Carradine as Big Bill Shelly
- Barry Primus as Rake Brown
- Bernie Casey as Von Morton
- John Carradine as H. Buckram Sartoris
- Victor Argo as McIver #1
- David Osterhout as McIver #2
- Harry Northup as Harvey Hall
- Joe Reynolds as Joe Cox
- Marianne Dole as Mrs. Mailler
- Ann Morell as Tillie Parr
- Martin Scorsese as Brothel Client (uncredited)
Directed by Martin Scorsese.