"Boxcar Bertha" is an unusual film. In one of his first films, Martin Scorsese directs a film for Roger Corman. Now this is a problem, as Corman is the king of cheap but successful exploitation films--and Scorsese obviously was trying to make a film better than this genre. The results, though better than you expect, are still not great. This film is much like taking Corman's "Big Bad Momma" and combining it with a less cheap and less exploitational crime film. As a result, it's not quite as silly as this previous film--but the use of lots of nudity and violence betray its exploitation roots.
There really isn't a lot of plot in "Boxcar Bertha". It consists of Bertha (Barbara Hershey) taking off her clothes a lot as well as her and the gang (consisting of David Carradine, Bernie Casey and Barry Primus) robbing banks, trains and the like as well as OFTEN escaping from the police or prison. The only thing that really is unique is the strong populist message, as Carradine's character is often talking about unions and socialism. I found all this mildly interesting but that's really all. In fact, the most interesting aspect of the film is that David Carradine appears in some scenes with his father, John. All in all, a film that is not particularly great or bad--somewhere in the middle. Had the film either tried harder to be sleazy and silly OR been more serious and had greater depth, it would be a film I would heartily recommend. As it is, it's just a time-passer.
There really isn't a lot of plot in "Boxcar Bertha". It consists of Bertha (Barbara Hershey) taking off her clothes a lot as well as her and the gang (consisting of David Carradine, Bernie Casey and Barry Primus) robbing banks, trains and the like as well as OFTEN escaping from the police or prison. The only thing that really is unique is the strong populist message, as Carradine's character is often talking about unions and socialism. I found all this mildly interesting but that's really all. In fact, the most interesting aspect of the film is that David Carradine appears in some scenes with his father, John. All in all, a film that is not particularly great or bad--somewhere in the middle. Had the film either tried harder to be sleazy and silly OR been more serious and had greater depth, it would be a film I would heartily recommend. As it is, it's just a time-passer.