White Line Fever (1975) User Reviews

You can smell the diesel and road dust

[drmality-1 · 7/10 · 7 September 2005]

This is gritty 70's B-movie action at its best. The CB radio craze was at its height when this movie first came out (I saw it on a double bill with "Jaws" at an outdoor)and the country was fascinated by the lives of long distance truckers. There were also a lot of violent films portraying the "little guy" sticking up for himself against the powers that be. These concepts coalesce in this fast-paced and tough action movie.

Carroll Jo Hummer is an independent long haul trucker whose whole life is tied up in two things: his wife and his truck The Blue Mule. He's no angel but he knows corruption when he sees it. When his greasy boss Duane (good ol' boy Slim Pickens) puts the arm on Hummer to deliver illegal cigarettes and slot machines, Carroll Jo refuses to go along. In doing so, he becomes an inspiration to other wildcat truckers looking to buck the system but he also becomes the target of a vicious campaign of intimidation endorsed by the corporate slimeballs in their ivory towers.

There's fist-fighting, road racing and down and dirty dialog galore as Hummer's war with his enemies escalates to "Walking Tall" levels. The concluding image of the Blue Mule smashing the glass emblem of the corrupt corporation is iconic.

This is a B-movie for sure and no Oscar contender, but the lives of the truckers are portrayed with some grit and realism. There's some breath-taking footage of cross-country journeys, particularly in a snowy Utah, and there's hardly a dull moment. Jan-Michael Vincent does fine as Hummer and it may be one of the best roles of his career (he did all his own stunts).

And how can you go wrong with a 70's cast that includes L.Q. Jones, Dick Miller, R. G. Armstrong, Don Porter, Kay Lenz, Sam Laws and Slim Pickens? Only obvious signs of sloppiness were a couple of shots where the boom mike or its shadow are visible. That's a minor quibble. If you're looking for a hell-raisin' bare knuckled story that pits a tough man against the odds, chances are this is what you are looking for.

Tough times faced by independent truckers.

[AgLawyer · 6/10 · 21 June 1999]

My dad took me to see this movie in the theater in 1975. I was around 7 years old. I guess I remember it most because it was one of the first movies my dad took me to see. It is definitely a tough guys movie. The violence portrayed in the film stayed with me for years. Especially the scene where Slim Pickens is thrown in front of a speeding semi truck. I've seen the movie many times on television since 1975 and have grown to appreciate it more. Not being close to the trucking industry, I don't know how accurate a picture it paints for today, but I believe it hits pretty close for 1975.

"It better not end like this"

[buddybickford · 7/10 · 20 June 2007]

So I said "It better not end like this" and it did, a very disappointing end but towards the finish of the movie you could see the directors panic as he struggled to find an ending so I was aware that a 'bail out' was on the cards. To be fair even I half way through the movie I thought how on Earth are they going to end this.

A unique trucker movie inasmuch as Trucker movies are usually a lot lighter this has some very dark and heavy moments which in turn keeps the viewer unsettled which is only a good thing in an action drama.

But the Director needs to look up the word 'Revenge' in a dictionary or at least ask Charles Bronson (Once upon a time in the west) how it's done.

The entire cast put in a good performance and the script and pacey direction keep things moving. JMV was great.

Plus some nice old seventies American Trucks.

Very Watchable- Fast Paced

[vfuess · 4 August 2004]

This movie gave a slightly glamorized (and dirty) view into the world of the American trucking industry circa 1973-75. Without crossing over into making a film only truckers and their kin would enjoy, they kept the story and the action fast-paced yet clear as to what is happening unseen. It's not a "CB Fad" movie. A very "Americana" type film which gives a terrific look at the middle American fighting for himself and his ideals. Even though it is a semi-cheesy "B" movie by any standard, the characters are easily related to and the storyline is easy to get involved with, and the action is fun without getting too excessive (gee- a trucker who isn't a gravity defying martial artist!).

Jan-Michael Vincent is at perhaps his best, with Kay Lenz as the perfect naggy whiny trucker's old lady- just cute enough to want to come home to. The musical score is cliché' by today's standards, but dead-on for that time. Some of the old country tunes actually sound pretty good even today (though the twang twang stuff, and the musically reproduced truck horns grew old after while).

Very schizophrenic film, but good JMV role!

[robespierre9 · 7/10 · 2 July 2008]

I think this movie gets better on the second viewing. When I first sat down to watch this, I was expecting a drama. Then it turned into a violent action movie. Then we were back to a drama. Then we were in a labor movie. Then 70's whacka whacka-guitar action moment again. Chase scene through cardboard boxes. Then hospital drama again. Whew!!! Anyway, JMV is great as Carrol Jo Hummer! He's a born action star, and he looks the part in this. His girl friend (Kay Lenz) is adorable. I would have rather had a more basic drama, as these two actors really have great chemistry on screen. Don't get me wrong - the truck chase scenes are great too, but the bad guys in this movie kind of suck. Their wardrobe is horrible, and you don't really know why they are persecuting Carrol Jo so much. There are some pretty violent moments that take you off guard. They kill off a couple of fun characters for no reason. And the end - after the great truck crashing into the sign moment - really makes no sense at all.

Just take this for what it is - a strange 70's action movie with good eye candy in it!

Truckers again the man

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 2 September 2019]

Ironically, this is the first movie where Jan-Michael Vincent discovered coke. Bad joke. It's directed by Jonathan Kaplan, who was behind Night Call Nurses and The Student Teachers for Roger Corman, as well as the much more socially acceptable film The Accused.

Carrol Jo Hummer (Vincent) is an independent truck driver who just got out of the Air Force, where he's considered a hero. All he really wants to do is come home and marry his girl Jerri (Kay Lenz, Tne Initiation of Sarah, House).

Soon, they've bought their own rig, the Blue Mule, and CJ announces on the CB that he's available to start doing jobs. That's when he finds out from his dad's old partner Duane (Slim Pickens!) that the only hauls available are untaxed cigarettes. CJ refuses to do anything illegal, but then he finds out that the cops are in on the crime. He's handcuffed to his truck and beaten nearly to death by Clem (Martin Kove).

CJ soon learns that he's blackballed from working all around Tucson, so he grabs a shotgun and threatens Duane, who tells him that he's only a pawn. He needs to talk to Red River's manager Buck Wessler (L.Q. Jones, The Beast Within), who agrees to let CJ take a load to Dallas with his dad's old friend Pops (Sam Laws, Truck Turner) along for the ride. They fight off some goons, but make the job.

Soon, however, CJ learns that Red River is a front for a corporation called Glass House which is in itself a front for the mob. His efforts to expose them and organize a union lead to him being framed for Duane's murder, which is a pretty harrowing sequence of the older man getting run down.

On their way back from the trial, CJ and Jenni discover the body of Pops - who had been driving the Blue Mule - in their house. The independent truckers all attack the Red River drivers, which leads to a meeting with Glass House. CJ doesn't trust their business practices and declines the offer, which leads to he and Jenni getting attacked in their own bed. She loses their baby and discovers that she'll never be able to have children.

CJ goes insane and tries to destroy the office of Glass House, even taking a bullet to the head before crashing into their big sign. As he leaves the hospital, we learn that all of the other truckers are on strike in his honor.

Leigh French also shows up. She ties into trucker pop culture history not just with this movie, but with her appearance on the abortive TV pilot Goober & the Truckers' Paradise, where Goober from The Andy Griffith Show would manage a truck stop. And as with most movies from Riger Corman alumni, Dick Miller makes an appearance.

Standard fare

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 7 July 2022]

A standard but enjoyable trucking flick of the mid 1970s, this makes up for in action what it lacks in scale and budget. The plot is pretty simplistic, with Jan-Michael Vincent playing a new trucker trying to organise union power with his co-workers and fight the corrupt bosses. Lots of driving, chasing, and some good old-fashioned fighting, and it's all light and harmless with it.

Diesel Power

[kapelusznik18 · 6/10 · 16 August 2016]

***SPOILERS*** The back then, before he messed himself up big time, sturdy & handsome Jan Michael Vincent in one of his most memorable roles as trucker Carrol Jo Hummer as he hums across the screen in his shinny $34,000.00, that's about $175,000.00 in 2016 dollars, rig the "Blue Mule" that he's deep in hock to the bank. That in him trying to make a living trucking produce like apples oranges onions & avocados across state lines. Only to find out that the trucking company-The Red River-that he's employed by is run by a bunch of crooked businessmen that are fronting for the mob! Instead of trucking fruit and vegetables for American families tables Jo finds out he's in fact shipping illegal contraband-Like un taxed cigarettes booze as well as pin ball and slot machines that supplies the mob's cash flow in the state of Arizona.

By not going alone with the program Jo puts himself as well as wife Jerri, Kay Lenz, lives in danger of getting whacked by mob enforcer and president of the Red River Trucking Company Buck "Big Bucks" Wessle, played by 65 I.Q Jones, hoods working for him as truck drivers as well as enforcers. At first blackballing Jo from getting work in paying off the bank loan for his rig he starts to organizes the truckers to demand equal pay for equal work-honest work-that really puts him on "Big Bucks" sh*l or cow manure list. That with "Big Buck" getting the word from his boss corrupt businessman and mob controlled hack Josh Cutler, Don Porter, to put the squeeze on the rebellious young man and get him into line or in the hospital with a pair of broken legs if not worse. This besides getting worked over a number of times and having his rig damaged Jo is later framed for his friend Duane Haller's, Slim Pickens, murder who was crushed to death by one of "Big Buck's" drivers in a hit and run homicides. The frame-up against Jo was so phony and ridicules that a grand jury threw it out before they had their first coffee brake.

****SPOILERS**** It's when Cutler promised Jo that he'll cease and desist any more trouble for him and Jerri he back stabbed him by having one of his goons break into Jo's home under the cover of night and set it on fires as well as cause Jerri, who's pregnant, to lose the couple's soon to be born baby by whacking her with a lead pipe across her abdomen. Noew all fired up and ready for action Jo and his rig go on a tare as he heads straight for Cutler's headquarters the "Glass House" in an effort to spoil his birthday party that he's throwing there. Ducking a barrage of bullets by Cutler's security guards Jo smashes through the gates and smashes the "Glass House" sign and even worst of all disrupts a party that Cutler is throwing for his crooked business partners! Shot up but still alive and breathing Jo in the end united the truckers to form a union and not be screwed around by the likes of Cutler as his lackey "Big Bucks" as well as the mob that their in cahoots or in bed with!

let's Rambo it up

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 28 July 2018]

Carrol Jo Hummer (Jan-Michael Vincent) returns home from the Air Force to marry Jerri (Kay Lenz). He borrows money to buy an used truck to be an independent trucker. He seeks work from his late father's partner Duane Haller (Slim Pickens) but he finds the business corrupt. Carrol Jo is unwilling to haul contrabands and gets beaten up by thugs. He is blackballed and decides to fight back.

It's a little ridiculous that he gets a load from Buck. It would be easy for them to call the corrupt cop and plant something on him. This gets geared up quickly. The danger starts high and has trouble going higher. They can't start with violence, corrupt cop, and a powerful cabal, then scheme a setup. The setup could have been great but they let him off too easily. Carrol Jo is not particularly smart. Once the killings start, it's time to go Rambo. There is a potential for this to be Rambo but the movie can't let him kill. It's a little infuriating. This should be about a lone driver being driven to take revenge on his tormentors. Instead, this insists on a man of the people movie. There is an obvious edit decision. When he's the lone Rambo at the end, Pops is riding shotgun in one of the action scenes. That's obviously from the earlier ride. His final rampage is not nearly enough and again he's not allowed to kill. This story is begging for revenge but it insists on justice.

A working man who's had enough!

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 18 September 2014]

Jan-Michael Vincent, at the peak of his charisma and movie stardom, registers strongly as good, honest young man Carrol Jo Hummer, fresh from a stint in the Air Force. He gets a loan, which he uses to pay for his own diesel truck, which he dubs The Blue Mule. Initially thinking of working for family friend Duane Haller (Slim Pickens), he ultimately decides to fight corruption in the transport business, making enemies out of slimy people like Buck Wessle (L.Q. Jones) and Cutler (Don Porter). Kay Lenz plays Jerri, the wife who stands by his side.

The prolific director Jonathan Kaplan, who at this time was firing off one entertaining B picture after another, wrote the script with Ken Friedman. Like so many other young directors during the 70s, he'd gotten his start working for Roger Corman, and was able to hone his craft. Here he creates an adequately paced, sometimes pretty serious (but never overly melodramatic), gritty little movie. It gets a lot of mileage out of its time honoured premise of one good man at war with a corrupt system.

Carrol Jo must do battle both on the road and off, and proves himself capable of handling himself in a number of scraps, which are often instigated by swaggering bully Clem (Martin Kove). The action in "White Line Fever" is well executed, and the photography, by Fred J. Koenekamp, is simply gorgeous. One sequence with Carrol Jo on the road as he makes his way to snowy Utah is breathtaking. This is overall very slickly made and engagingly written and performed.

A bright-eyed and earnest Vincent is extremely well supported by the lovable Lenz, ever amiable Pickens, and an effectively sleazy Jones. The cast features other familiar faces such as the ever reliable Dick Miller, and R.G. Armstrong as a prosecuting attorney. Sam Laws, Leigh French, and Kaplan regular Johnny Ray McGhee also appear. Cinematographer Jamie Anderson ("Piranha" '78) has a rare acting role here as Jamie, and Ann Dusenberry of "Jaws 2" is seen briefly as a barmaid.

David Nichtern does the flavourful score for this solid entry into the trucker cinema genre of the '70s. The ending is more low key than the viewer might expect, and may not be totally satisfying to some people.

Seven out of 10.

Gun-totin' redneck thrills...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 30 May 2021]

Jan-Michael Vincent gives his usual forthright performance as an honest Arizona trucker (named Carrol Jo!) who refuses to transport stolen goods and is blackballed by the local racketeers running the produce-hauling industry; he's forced to take a load by force, but the head honcho calls out his goons to stop him. Meanwhile, back home, Vincent's wife just found out she's pregnant... Redneck thrills for the drive-in crowd has lots of wrasslin' and gun-toting action...and, if that's not enough, there's also Slim Pickens as a slimy worm in a white cowboy hat (who does get an outlandish exit!). Director Jonathan Kaplan barrels through his and co-writer Ken Friedman's screenplay without regard to logic or credibility, but fans of trucker flicks won't mind. Good supporting cast includes Kay Lenz, Don Porter, Martin Kove and Dick Miller, but L. Q. Jones offers nothing new in his repertoire as the slow-talking baddie. *1/2 from ****

A truly terrific 70's drive-in trucker classic

[Woodyanders · 10/10 · 10 January 2006]

One of the earliest -- and hence best -- of a handful of 70's trucker movies, a once quite hot, but now hopelessly passé sub-genre which beget a mixed bag of films which includes the stellar Claudia Jennings vehicle "Truck Stop Women," the not half bad Peter Fonda pic "High Ballin'," the great'n'gritty overlooked sleeper "Road Movie," Sam Peckinpah's excruciatingly stupid "Convoy," the alarmingly atrocious Chuck Norris chopsocky turkey "Breaker! Breaker!," and the sturdy made-for-TV item "Steel Cowboy." Jan-Michael Vincent, whose career in the Me Decade was all over the map, peaking with "The Mechanic" and "Big Wednesday" and hitting a wonderfully wretched all-time low with the gloriously godawful post-nuke sci-fi atrocity "Damnation Alley," here gives one of his strongest, most convincing and engaging performances to date as Carrol Jo Hummer, an earnest, moral, youthful independent Diesel driver who finds out that his employers are crooked bastards who sell illegal contraband on the side. Greatly appalled by this discovery, Hummer decides to blow the whistle on the entire unlawful business, becoming a modern-day folk hero in the process and subsequently putting both himself and his plucky wife Jerri (a stand-out portrayal by the always fine and assertive Kay Lenz) in considerable jeopardy.

Director Jonathan Kaplan, who was then on a real B-movie roll churning out such kick-ass exploitation flicks as "Night Call Nurses," "The Student Teachers," and "Truck Turner" on a regular basis, hits a brisk, solid groove at the very start of the film and masterfully sustains it to the thrilling end, expertly milking the forever effective and appealing "one lone little man against the big, bad system" populist hero subtext in Ken Friedman's tightly efficient script for maximum socko entertainment. Kudos also to the exceptional supporting cast ridden with familiar film faces: the late, great, ever-delightful Slim Pickens as corrupt truck stop manager Duane Haller, L.Q. Jones at his most sublimely slimy and serpentine as head heavy Buck Westle, Martin Kove as one of Westle's thuggish goons, R.G. Armstrong as a shifty, manipulative prosecuting attorney, veteran character actor Don Porter as the smug CEO who's running the whole no-count operation, frequent Kaplan pic co-star Johnny Ray McGhee as an angry black trucker, Sam Laws as McGhee's rascally lovable ol' coot pop, and the irreplaceable Dick Miller as fidgety, peppery gear-jammer R. "Birdie" Corman. Further enhanced by Fred Koenekamp's crisp, inventive cinematography, David Nichtern's stirring score, and Valerie Carter tearfully warbling the marvelously mawkish country-and-western weeper "Drifting and Dreaming of You" all of three times on the soundtrack, "White Line Fever" gets a hearty ten-four from your good buddy film critic as quintessential 70's drive-in cinema at its most bluntly exciting and unpretentious best.

Great trucks, fantastic Arizona landscape, the plot? A three dollar bill!!

[elo-equipamentos · 6/10 · 12 December 2023]

The director Jonathan Kaplan also signs this hideous screenplay aimed for suckers and less enlightened concerning the harder life of truck drivers, I coming from a long generation of these tough road workers, I know how it works, this picture tries by all means establish a clash between the powerful ones against the poorest truck drivers, what world they living anyway? There are not any matter between them that the movie tried hard implied, as not mentioned regarding the low pricing of shipment should be the main matter, whereof never was allowed to argue on the far-fetched plot.

I saw the glorious and classic Blue Mule in great shape, another fabulous trucks appears on the picture, what brute ones, a breathtaking and might Arizona landscape portraits on movie including rarely seen a snowy monument valley, worthwhile see for it plenty, however the plot looks like a three dollar bill as cited in my title review, what a wasting of gift actors as the Slim Pickens well portraits as true Arizona's boss, the womanizer L. Q. Jones, the skinny Kay Lens, the amusing joke teller Sam Laws and the forthcoming star Jan Michael Vincent, a bit naïve guy who bursts the GH's sign on glass tower headquarter, aside Convoy that is really is emblematic trucks movie, White Line Fever is among the best as action picture only, forget the contrived and phony storyline.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1984 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-Youtube / Rating: 6.

It gets stuck in 1st gear

[pmtelefon · 3/10 · 22 January 2021]

After a promising start, "White Line Fails" fails to deliver the goods. It goes from one ridiculous situation to another. After the first fifteen minutes, nothing in this movie rings true. It's actually gets annoying after a while. The biggest crime this movie commits is that it wastes a very good cast. This movie does look good with terrific location photography. Other than that, "White Line Fever" is the pits. Honorable mention: a dreamy Kay Lenz.

One of the best trucker-oriented movies ever made

[mikeparkhurst · 4 June 2000]

This film catapulted Jan-Michael Vincent to stardom level for awhile, and contained a lot of good, exciting action scenes as well as politically correct assessment of some of the problems of independent truckers at the time. Of course, it contained some action and fighting scenes that are somewhat unbelievable, but in the context of the story, they work. Kay Lenz is the believable, not too lovely hero's wife who downplayed her attractiveness displayed in later films. There are lots of eye-pleasing shots of trucks and highway mayhem, and, of course, from a trucker and real-life perspective, lots of technically inaccurate scenes, but, all in all one of the very best trucking movies ever made -- and I've seen 'em all! Good cast, good flick. This $2 million film went on to be a big grosser.

Totally fabricated movie with great truck driving scenes.

[lightninboy · 6/10 · 26 April 2005]

This came out with the CB fad and is really a vintage film now. Is it a classic? Well, the truck driving scenes are classic. The other stuff like the plot and ending are apparently fabricated just so we could have a place for the great action. Where else can you see someone climb from the cab of a moving truck onto the van trailer's roof? Where else can you see a semi hit a bobtail truck tractor in the tandems and spin it off the road? Where else can you see a diesel truck burn? Where else can you see a truck tractor jump through the air? Jan-Michael Vincent shows us he can actually back a semi to a loading dock, too. White Line Fever gets the point across that truck driving is a great way of life. Then why was it so hard for him to make a living at it? Couldn't he just sign up with Mayflower Van Lines or something?

David Vs. Goliath . The Trucker's Edition!

[Coventry · 7/10 · 6 August 2011]

I love 70's cult cinema, I adore trucker movies and I absolutely worship Jan-Michael Vincent whom I consider to be one of the few genuine dukes of coolness amongst B-movie actors. In other words, the chance of me personally disliking anything about "White Line Fever" were very slim! So if you're looking for a natural and 100% unbiased review, perhaps it's better to read someone else's because I truly love this type of exploitation trash. This is one of Jan-Michael's better performances, for sure, and also one that perfectly fits together amongst some of his other contemporary and sadly underrated gems like "Shadow of the Hawk" and "Vigilante Force". Vincent's character Carroll Jo Hummer returns home from the Vietnam war and intends to pick up his family life again. Just for fun's sake, try to compose a list of ALL the 1970's movies that start with the protagonist(s) returning from 'Nam and trying to pick up their lives again! Hummer's father was a respected trucker in rural Arizona, but he died and Carroll Jo wants to continue the family's trucking tradition. He marries his high-school sweetheart Jerri Kane and together they invest all their money in a cool truck named "the Blue Mule". Finding work isn't really a problem, but the Arizona trucking business is being controlled by corrupt and fraudulent big shots who insist on smuggling stolen and illegal goods. When Carroll Jo refuses to be part of these crimes, he quickly finds himself boycotted and in severe financial issues. When he attempts to fight back, along with a chosen few other earnest and old-fashioned truckers, the crooked magnates don't even hesitate to attack his wife and unborn child. Okay, admittedly "White Line Fever" contains rather too many tedious parts simply showing trucks on the road and the screenplay is chock-full of clichés, but the whole ambiance and settings are irresistibly 70's. The action sequences are quite rough and violent, which certainly isn't a point of criticism coming from yours truly, and the climax sequence is a wonderful example of imaginative symbolism. Handsome Jan-Michael also receives excellent support from a nice assembly of reliable B-movie actors like Slim Pickens, LQ Jones and Dick Miller. Many fans of cult and exploitation cinema refer to "White Line Fever" as the best trucker movie ever made. I think they might be right...

Ok. Funny shoot out scene

[bryrold · 7/10 · 9 November 2020]

Overall a good movie. I thought one scene was comedic. When Jan Michael Vincent confronts the goons at Red River with the shotgun demanding a load and then is chased by another truck on the highway. He has his buddy start driving while he get on the roof of the trailer with the shotgun. When he gets on top of the trailer, for some reason he does two flips while holding the gun and going to the rear of the trailer. Then when he starts shooting at the truck behind them, for some strange reason, decides to hang off the side of the trailer while shooting. Why? No good reason but funny

Blue Mule

[kaosdesign · 7/10 · 17 September 2006]

Saw this movie when I was about 7 yrs old and thought it was one of the better truck movies of the 70's. Movies back then were all about stunts, and cool cars and trucks getting trashed big time. Everything else like story lines and character development just got in the way. This film had the best truck crash stunt ever, no special effects then, if you wanted to jump a truck 200 ft through a giant glass structure, you had to use a real truck and a real glass structure. There was a killer chase scene where the Blue Mule and an old Ford Louisville battle it out. The Mule T-bones the louie a beauty at full noise. The producers did a top job on getting the right looking truck for the movie, the Blue Mule was a sharp lookin rig, for a while there.

Loved it as a kid...

[hemisphere65-1 · 3/10 · 17 July 2021]

But it's really awful. Terribly unrealistic situations and glaring continuity errors make this play out like a joke!

At one point, the "Blue Mule" gets trashed by the bad guys, but a bit later it's in perfect condition again. Then, Carroll Jo and Jenny almost get burned to death in their home, only to have the same building be magically restored a scene or two later.

Of course, those pale in comparison to the long dead Pops showing up in the cab with a gun as Bob the cop tries to stop the truck at the end!

Schlocky garbage with a good cast!

A Charismatic truckdriver

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 20 June 2012]

I Saw White Line Fever many years ago when I was doing my weekend warrior thing and this was playing on the post theater in I believe Fort Stewart, Georgia. This is the kind of film that at best had a limited run in New York City, but played I'm sure to big crowds in every small town in red state America. I wouldn't be surprised, but that back in those days Jan Michael Vincent was a number one star there.

It's actually a pretty good film in which Vincent plays a working class hero who stands up to gangsters trying to control the trucking industry. He's an Air Force veteran who marries the girl of his dreams in this case Kay Lenz and buys a big rig which he names the Blue Mule and pronounces himself ready to enter the truck driving game.

Some really nasty people are in control of it though and when Vincent proclaims he won't haul illegal cigarettes and slot machines they come down on him like a ton of bricks. They hurt him in every way possible, even people like Slim Pickens who was once his father's best friend.

But Vincent is a charismatic figure and the independent drivers rally to him. It all comes at a big price.

A nice group of the best character actors around including Don Porter, L.Q. Jones, and R.G. Armstrong are some of the foes he faces as Jan Michael goes up the food chain of villainy.

The film owes a lot to some of Frank Capra's work, especially Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. Thirty years earlier I could have Jimmy Stewart doing the part of Carrol Jo Hummer. Nice country music score moves the action along and sets a red state mood. I could see Taylor Lautner doing a remake today.

Best trucking movie ever ?

[ag510 · 9/10 · 11 November 2006]

I saw this film years ago at the cinema. On the big screen it was fantastic and since then I have been waiting for it to be released on either video or DVD. Its a very simple story about a lone trucker. He's an honest man looking to make an honest living but ends up fighting the corrupt system, a true classic of the seventies. The acting is acceptable, the director resisted the temptation to over play the main characters role. The film rolls along at a fairly good pace and is for the most part quite believable, the finale has the hero driving his truck through a large sign in a highly symbolic gesture. If this film was to be remade today I am sure the acting would be much better, the action scenes much more explosive and I am sure it would have the standard sex scenes. However White Line Fever is a classic of its time and in my opinion a remake would never match the originals simple plot and drama without adding too many unnecessary distractions. There have been very few good trucking movies ever made, so hopefully this one will be re-released.

AH THE RED NECK RENAISSANCE...!

[masonfisk · 6/10 · 17 December 2018]

Jan-Michael Vincent stars in this B-movie from the Redneck Renaissance which has an ex-military man buying a rig to achieve the American dream along w/his doting wife. Corruption rears its ugly head when his unscrupulous owners try to force him to do the wrong thing but w/a granite jaw & a handy dandy shotgun, he prevails. Co-starring 2 Sam Peckinpah regulars L.Q. Jones & Slim Pickens, this breezy actioner is a throwback to a simpler time when CG were just 2 letters that meant nothing.

Great Action Flick

[ega52 · 16 October 2003]

SPOILER ALERT! Great action flick with well-written characters, often compared to "Billy Jack" and "Walking Tall." Fistfights and tough guys galore, Kay Lenz looking adorable, what more could you ask for? Climactic scene of Jan-Michael Vincent's "Blue Mule" diesel tractor truck barreling through a guard shack and becoming airborne is one of the most memorable bits of 70's action cinema. Highly recommended by me.

Long Live the Blue Mule!

[GOWBTW-5STARreviewer · 10/10 · 26 November 2020]

The open road can be a lonely life when you have the highway to yourself. When Carrol Jo "CJ" Hummer(Jan-Michael Vincent, 1944-2019) returns from Vietnam and start a new life with his wife Jerri(Kay Lenz). He would have worked with his in a trucking company, but his father died before the business could pick up. After coming home, the town he once know is filled with people who are less than hospitable. The company is dealing in illegal distribution, and corruption is running rampant. Many of the people working there are about to feel the same way as CJ. All he needed was the Big rig, and his shotgun. I liked the scene when Pops and CJ handled the others. Especially when CJ took out the Green Ford LN 8000. I was mad when the thugs killed Pops, and caused Jerri to miscarry. The final showdown was when CJ drove Blue Mule to the front gate, and crashed the GH sign.

He was like Karen Silkwood and Buford Pusser rolled into one. NO ONE PUSHES CJ AROUND!

A lot of Fords were used in this film. The Ford WT9000 is iconic. The real star of this film was the big rig. I know most of the brands of those trucks. A big inspiration to my creativity.

A major keeper in trucker films. A must see.

5 stars!