I get more respect for director Raoul Walsh with every film of his I see. In this one for Warner Brothers he does an excellent job with a strong cast telling a story about California Long Haul Truckers in the late 1930's. The realism is there all the way through.
This is one of George Rafts better performances, and Ida Lupino is excellent as the woman he scorns. Ann Sheridan is very good as the woman he loves. Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role is very good as Rafts brother. Alan Hale Sr. does a fine job as Lupinos husband.
The film gives the viewer a very strong flavor for what the early long haul trucking was like before World War 2. With the roads the way they were in that era, Long Haul in this is shorter than today & trucks were really just getting started, the railroads still dominated freight then in the US.
The story while more predictable than Dark Command which Walsh had just finished, still does a good job of pulling in the viewer with Raft & Bogarts characters flying on the edge of failure early in the film. The accident sequences are done crudely but this was in a day when the special effects were still developing. The main action in this film is truck accidents & a couple of fist fights.
This is a very fundamentally sound film as Raol Walsh always seems to deliver. In this case, the truckers deliver a good story.
This is one of George Rafts better performances, and Ida Lupino is excellent as the woman he scorns. Ann Sheridan is very good as the woman he loves. Humphrey Bogart in a supporting role is very good as Rafts brother. Alan Hale Sr. does a fine job as Lupinos husband.
The film gives the viewer a very strong flavor for what the early long haul trucking was like before World War 2. With the roads the way they were in that era, Long Haul in this is shorter than today & trucks were really just getting started, the railroads still dominated freight then in the US.
The story while more predictable than Dark Command which Walsh had just finished, still does a good job of pulling in the viewer with Raft & Bogarts characters flying on the edge of failure early in the film. The accident sequences are done crudely but this was in a day when the special effects were still developing. The main action in this film is truck accidents & a couple of fist fights.
This is a very fundamentally sound film as Raol Walsh always seems to deliver. In this case, the truckers deliver a good story.