One of the all-time great drive-in movies and probably the best film you’ll ever see about Tennessee moonshiners and their midnight runners, Thunder Road (1958) is an impressive achievement for Robert Mitchum. He wrote the original story, produced the film, and starred in it. He also wrote “Whippoorwill,” (It is performed in the film by Keely Smith, an ex-wife and former singer for Louis Prima and his band), sang the title song “The Ballad of Thunder Road” on the 45 hit single (but not the film – Randy Sparks sings it on the soundtrack) and chose his real-life son Jim to play his brother in the film! One thing Robert Mitchum didn’t do, however, was drive his car into those killer power lines at the film’s electrifying climax. That job fell to stunt driver Carey Loftin.