Boxcar Bertha (1972)
Barbara Hershey plays "Boxcar" Bertha Thompson, a transient woman in Arkansas during the violent times of the Depression of the early '30s. She meets up with rabble-rousing union man "Big" Bill Shelly (David Carradine) and the two team up to fight the corrupt railroad establishment.
Although directed by Martin Scorsese, this Roger Corman production feels like Scorsese directing a Corman film rather than Corman producing a Scorsese film if that makes sense. Mainly due to the excessive exploitation (nudity and bloody violence) that Corman was known for as well as a somewhat fractured way of telling a story.
Both Hershey and Carradine give their all and show no inhibitions in what must have been difficult roles for young actors and they are well supported by Bernie Casey as their gun toting accomplice.
As an exploitation piece from the Corman stable this is fine and fits in well with the likes of Bloody Mama (1972) as well as non-Corman exploiters such as Jackson County Jail (1976) but as a Martin Scorsese picture it's somewhat lacking. At 84 minutes it's watchable enough.
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