Boxcar Bertha is Martin Scorsese’s second feature film. It’s also one of his most uneven. Despite taking on heavy “issue”-oriented subject matter, the film appears to be as much, if not more, influenced by its producer Roger Corman than it is its director. Part exploitation movie, part visionary cinema, Boxcar Bertha is caught somewhere in between.
Set in the Depression-era south, the film tells the tale of “Boxcar” Bertha Thompson (Barbara Hershey), a young girl who stumbles into a life of robbery, murder and prostitution. After her father is killed in a plane accident, Bertha finds herself in the care of Big Bill Shelley (David Carradine), a left-leaning labourer who’s pretty open about his beliefs. With the law on his tale, both make their way around the south robbing trains, the rich and “the man.” Rake Brown (Barry Primus) and Von Morton (Bernie Casey) make the duo a quartet as the heists and surrounding publicity become increasingly abundant.
It’s never said exactly how old Bertha is in the film. However, given her immature demeanour and inexperience, she is portrayed as young. When her father dies (her mother is also out of the picture), Bertha is forced to grow up but she is still confused and not ready. This is demonstrated not only during Bill’s initial advances on her, but also during the robberies. Even after she has gained some experience with stealing, Bertha still acts like a child. During one of the gang’s later robberies, the dress Bertha wears keeps falling off her shoulders. She’s constantly readjusting the straps as she waves her gun in the air. And as Bertha takes the women’s jewelery and other fashion accessories, she is more concerned with putting them on than she is simply taking the loot and getting away. By the end of the scene Bertha has accessories draped all over her body, flung on with no particular care other than the fact that they’re on. She is not unlike a young girl playing in her mother’s closet on a rainy afternoon.
Bertha does find a father figure in Bill, but this causes confusion for Bertha in how she grows up because they see each other differently. Bill, clearly the older of the two, sees Bertha for her womanhood. He wants to be with her sexually. He also wants to be in control of her to a certain extent. Bertha’s love for Bill appears to be more fatherly. She looks up to him and does whatever she asks. Even when Bill goes to jail, Bertha is not wholly unfaithful to him. She does take up keep in a brothel, but this is out of need, not love.
Boxcar Bertha feels like it’s trying to say something. The name Martin Scorsese is attached to it, so perhaps that is my own expectations. But the film tackles some heavy subject matter with the hero being branded a Socialist. So to that end, it does appear that there is some level of social discussion going on. This discussion is hindered, however, but its constrictions as an exploitation film where it requires x amount of action, x amount of nudity and sex, and x amount of blood.
Perhaps more problematic are the film’s villains. It is never clear who is the main one. Rather, the film introduces several one-dimensional characters ranging from powerful capitalists to hired thugs. All fall under the umbrella of railway employees. I felt as though the film needed one person who was clearly calling the shots. That should have been H. Buckram Sartoris (John Carradine) as he was the ringleader. As the head of the railway, he was the powerful tycoon who sent out the thugs to take Bill out. However, his character is limited to just a couple of scenes, all of which make him out to be rather weak in comparison to his enemies. As a result, there is no standout antagonist in the film other than the catch-all “man”, which doesn’t put much of a face on the matters at hand.
Like all Scorsese films, Boxcar Bertha has a strong sense of visuals. The camera is always in motion and Scorsese’s constantly mixing up the style to make the south just a little bit chaotic for Bertha, Bill, et al. However, without a sense of who to root against Boxcar Bertha doesn’t quite reach the hoped for destination.
Boxcar Bertha Trailer
