Screening

About Boxcar Bertha

Rating:

R R

Year Released:

1972

Genres:

Drama

Metadata:

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Based on an autobiography of Bertha Thomson, Martin Scorsese directs this tale of a destitute Arkansas woman (Barbara Hershey) who falls for a union organizer named Big Bill Shelly (David Carradine) and takes to the road. Along with other men, they rob trains and plan a kidnapping. Set in the Depression era, the film was conceived to be a Bonnie and Clyde-type story, with Bertha and Bill working trains instead of banks. Of course, stories like these are destined to end badly. Produced by Roger Corman, the film takes a grittier, more violent approach to the story, perhaps foreshadowing what was soon to come from Scorsese. (35mm presentation)

Hollywood Rebels: The Art and Legacy of Roger Corman Roger Corman’s sixty-year career has built a legacy that is unparalleled. Throughout the 50’s and 60’s he set the pace to become Hollywood’s most prolific filmmaker. He was the youngest director ever to be honored with retrospectives at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, the BFI and MoMA. Along with directing more than 50 feature films, producing 400 films, running 2 production and distribution companies and earning a Lifetime Achievement Oscar, he helped launch the careers of many of the New Hollywood filmmakers of the 1970’s. Among many others, Martin Scorsese, Frances Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, Joe Dante, James Cameron, Ron Howard, and Jonathan Demme all ascended from the ‘Corman Film School’ of filmmaking. Tickets