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Boxcar Bertha (1972)
Directed by Martin Scorsese.
Directed by Martin Scorsese · Shot by John M. Stephens · Cut by Buzz Feitshans · Music by Gib Guilbeau · 87 min
How it was made
- Roger Corman initially asked Scorsese for a sequel to Bloody Mama, but the project was reworked into Boxcar Bertha after producer Julie Corman found the source material, the book Sister of the Road.
- Made on a budget of only $600,000 over a 24-day shoot in Arkansas, the film's limited funds forced Scorsese to cut down the script and abandon planned filming in Baton Rouge and Texarkana.
- Scorsese rewrote the supporting character Rake Brown so extensively that the character effectively came to represent Scorsese himself.
- Cast and crew joked about the film's parallels to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: Barbara Hershey wore her hair like Dorothy's and delivers a line about not looking behind the curtain in a brothel scene, while David Carradine, Bernie Casey and Barry Primus were nicknamed the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion on set.
- The train scenes used two real vintage locomotives, an 1920 Baldwin 2-6-2 and a 1942 Baldwin-built USATC S160 2-8-0, both of which still survive today on preserved heritage railways.
Behind the scenes
Elsewhere
More by Martin Scorsese
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