Watch Boxcar Bertha For Free

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

You won't be disappointed!

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

One can tell from the start, this early, pre Dillinger gangster pic, based loosely I would assume, on a real life woman robber, and her small criminal posse, during the depression, was shot on a stringent sparing budget. This, you can tell quite greatly affects, which could of been a better movie. Signs of life in this, is Hershey, a great actress, who really oozes sexuality, and carves out her role beautifully, while Carradine, and Primus, especially, lend great, and impressive support. We even see a familiar train driver from Tough guys, as well as a few Scorsese regulars, a very young Victor Argo, in particular, who later went on to play an even number of good and bad as**s. Frank violence provides some effectively bloody moments, but this, is quite a forgettable gangster pic. It's great to see father and son Carradine's, square off in some scenes, and the movie has it's moments, but seriously Hershey is the best thing about this. She's an actress who should be wonderfully acknowledged for her great body of work. It's quite frightening to imagine what this film would of been like, hadn't she done this film. She gives a sexy and exhilarating performance, in a film, which disappoints in some stretches of film. Worth a watch though, definitely.

Before Martin Scorsese trolled the dark alleys, bars, cabs, and pool halls of the seedy New York City Districts, he made a project that was a little less personal when he shot Boxcar Bertha in 1972. That's not to say that it's a bad film. In fact, it's darn good. It just feels like it wasn't exactly his dream picture. You can see little tidbits of his signature style laden throughout even though it sometimes feels like an all out action flick. There's a lingering notion that he just had to make this thing in general in order to get more opportunities to flex his directorial wings. It's also a small film developed by a B movie producer. However, it's alive, ambitious, violent, cynical, and edgy. Taking a sort of Bonnie and Clyde approach, "Bertha" is no doubt a good old fashioned American movie. From the opening title sequence, you can immediately sense a rush of urgency and an aching need for a budding, genius filmmaker to get out.Taking place in the 1930's and based on an autobiography entitled Sister of the Road, Boxcar Bertha is an account of Bertha Thompson (Barbara Hershey) and her lover Big Bill Shelly (David Carradine). They meet, become active train robbers (with the help of some other buddies), and reluctantly get involved in a murder of an important, wealthy gambler. The film chronicles their intersecting lives as fugitives for a quick, fast paced 90 minutes. On a side note, "Bertha" is also an exercise that finds ways to make radical statements about race and gender issues. What's the point you ask? Well, from what I read about this vehicle's background, the railroad south relayed this culture throughout the aforementioned decade.As far as casting goes, Boxcar Bertha is significant in my mind because it's one of those movies where you'd think that everyone in it would later go on to become A-list actors/actresses. One in particular, is Barbara Hershey. She gives a risky, fearless performance that should have catapulted her into superstardom. Yes she's been a working actress for the last 40 years but has never quite equaled her potential here. Watching "Bertha" you sense that she was wise beyond her years (she was only in her early 20's when filming began) not to mention adorable in every singular frame. Along with her, you have solid portrayals of vagabond robbers in David Carradine, Barry Primus (Rake Brown), and Bernie Casey (Von Morton). Again, these are respected actors that have hung around for a long time, just not entirely broken through.Something of note: No one is a bigger fan of Martin Scorsese than me. But I'll never figure out why there is never any controversy over his excessive use of racial slurs and overall lapses of racial bigotry in his films (Boxcar Bertha has a handful of it). When other directors make an attempt at it (Quentin Tarantino comes to mind), they get a lot of criticism from other film critics and even their peers. Scorsese somehow gets a pass. Now this is not a knock on the famed director. It's just one of the great mysteries of his work that I'll never quite understand. Another note: Two actors that share a solid amount of screen time in "Bertha" (Harry Northup and the previously mentioned Carradine) are featured later on in Scorsese's classic, Mean Streets. What's strange is that they make unbelievably small appearances in that film. It's as if they got demoted (ha ha). No really, I'm not kidding. They literally have no lines whatsoever.Overall, Scorsese's second feature film has style and it's far from boring. This flick enthralls you from the get-go. I'd call it the movie equivalent of a sleeve of firecrackers. So to be honest, I'm not sure if a lot of you have taken in "Bertha" (I could be wrong). If you've viewed it, disregard the last comment. If you haven't, then give it a look-see. Oh and if you're wondering whether or not the world's greatest living director shows off with the camera (aggressively I might add), don't worry, you'll get that here. Boxcar Bertha is experimental, exhausting, and full of jump start energy (be aware of the ending though, it's not for the faint- hearted). The tagline for its poster reads, "Life made her an outcast, love made her an outlaw." What can I say; I guess this movie "made" me a fan.

In only his second feature as a director, Martin Scorsese showed tremendous promise in his style and skill with a camera, yet Boxcar Bertha feels very thrown together at the screenplay level. Perhaps it is because producer Roger Corman was looking for a simple, straightforward exploitation film complete with some gratuitous kill shots, some conventional nudity and sex to boot.Regardless of all this, it is surprising to see one of the great directors of all time starting out slowly and methodically in learning his way around a film set. After seeing his first two features, this and Who's That Knocking at My Door, I am amazed at Scorsese's ability to control and direct the story despite there being various scenes that have little or nothing to pertain with the overall story arc. Nevertheless, the film resides in history simply as a tale of a Depression-era group of homeless people who begin robbing trains to make ends meet. By this point, Bonnie and Clyde is ripped off and eventually the story lapses into a simple matter of the guys with the bigger guns winning.All in all, the film is less than memorable. Yet, since we know what Scorsese would become, it is important to see where he came from. It makes his masterpieces look that much more impressive.

Boxcar Bertha was based on the life of times of Bertha Thompson, during the depression era in the 1930s. After her pilot father is killed right before her eyes in a plane-crash, Bertha leaves the family farm, unable to support herself alone. Bertha takes to the road, and soon meets-up with Big Bill Shelly. Bill is a union organizer, who's determined to exact justice from corrupt railroad barons. Bertha and Bill fall in love, and travel together via hopping trains across the south. The two turn to criminal activities, to survive.Barbara Hershey gives a light-hearted, yet also poignant performance as Bertha. David Carradine conveys the conviction and passion, evident in Big Bill Shelly. His on-screen chemistry with Barbara Hershey, is palpable. Bernie Casey gives a strong, if understated performance as Bill's partner-in-crime, Von Morton. The morality angle of this film, like many made in the 70s, is ambiguous. The viewer knows that the characters clearly commit criminal acts. Yet there's also a sense of righteousness in their lawlessness, due to their quest to overthrow the cruel railroad men.This is one of the more interesting 70s nostalgia films, and one of the very few to revolve around a strong female character. It is a bit too slow in spots, and could've used more exciting get-a-way scenes. But it makes-up for these minor flaws, by having characters with more emotional depth, than the usual crime drama. Boxcar Bertha is a fine film, that works very well overall.