By Ernie Magnotta
Long before his film The Accused (1988) helped earn Jodie Foster an Academy Award and
even longer before receiving Emmy Nominations for his work on TV’s ER, talented producer/director Jonathan
Kaplan made some very entertaining drive-in/exploitations films. His first, a 1972
sexploitation classic called Night Call
Nurses, was done for the immortal Roger Corman’s legendary New World
Pictures. The last of Corman’s “Nurses Trilogy”, Night Call Nurses, which was
made for a measly $75,000 and brought in over a million at the box office,
jumpstarted Kaplan’s filmmaking career as Corman immediately offered Kaplan The Student Teachers; a movie with
basically the same formula as the “Nurse” films (except with schoolteachers).
Released in June of 1973, Teachers
was another huge success for New World, so, impressed with Kaplan’s newest work,
Corman’s brother, Gene, hired him to direct the Jim Brown-starring heist/prison
flick The Slams (also 1973). This led
to Kaplan being approached by legendary production company American
International Pictures to helm the enjoyable 1974 “Blaxploitation” film Truck Turner starring the late, great
Isaac Hayes. Due to the success of this action-oriented film, Kaplan was hired
by Columbia Pictures to direct (and co-write) another actioner which would be
the biggest hit of his career so far: 1975’s White Line Fever, which is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
War hero Carrol Jo Hummer (Jan-Michael
Vincent, Big Wednesday) returns home
to Tucson, Arizona and marries his sweetheart, Jerri (Kay Lenz, Breezy). He then gets a bank loan and
uses it to buy a rig named “The Blue Mule.” Anxious to start a family, Carrol
Jo begins work at Red River Shipping where his job is to haul produce. CJ soon
discovers that he is also expected to haul illegal cargo such as untaxed
cigarettes and slot machines. He refuses and gets his ribs broken by several
Red River employees. Once healed, CJ attempts to find work at other shipping
companies, but, due to being blackballed by Red River, cannot get hired. An
enraged CJ returns to Red River and holds his superiors, Duane Haller (Slim Pickens,
1972’s The Getaway) and Buck Wessler
(L.Q. Jones, The Wild Bunch) at
gunpoint until Buck agrees to let CJ do things his way. The men do agree, but
once CJ goes back to work, he is attacked by more Red River thugs who he manages
to successfully fight off. CJ eventually discovers that Red River is owned by a
huge corporation called Glass House which is not only run by a man named Cutler
(Don Porter, TV’s Gidget), but also
has ties to organized crime. The more CJ tries to do what’s right, the more
he’s attacked, with devastating consequences to his friends and family. Enraged,
CJ grabs his shotgun, jumps inside the Blue Mule and heads for Glass House. But
can one man stand up to the corrupt corporation and win?
Directed with a sure hand by Kaplan, White Line Fever is not only a modern
western with trucks instead of horses, but, according to the director, a Sam
Peckinpah-influenced western which, beside the fact that they are fabulous
actors, would explain why Peckinpah regulars like Slim Pickens, L.Q. Jones and
R.G. Armstrong (Pat Garrett and Billy the
Kid) are in the film. (Peckinpah would soon direct his own action/trucker
film; 1978’s enjoyable Convoy.) A
well-done addition to the revenge/man against the system formula, White Line Fever, as stated by co-writer
Ken Friedman (Cadillac Man), is similar in story/structure to Phil
Karlson films like Walking Tall or The Phenix City Story except with a
major twist at the end. The well-made film also benefits from some wonderful
cinematography by the Oscar nominated (for Patton)
Fred Koenekamp as well as extremely well-written, multi-dimensional characters
and terrific, believable performances from Jan-Michael Vincent, Kay Lenz, Slim
Pickens, L.Q. Jones, Sam Laws, Don Porter and R.G. Armstrong; not to mention an
early appearance by the always welcome Martin Kove (Steele Justice) as one of the Red River thugs and, last, but
certainly not least, the legendary Dick Miller (A Bucket of Blood, The Howling, Gremlins) as one of CJ’s fellow
truckers.
White Line Fever has also been
released as a Region-Free Blu-ray by the German video label Explosive Media and is
presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The beautiful transfer is sharp,
colorful and has perfect sound. The disc also contains two theatrical trailers
(one in English and one in German); a still gallery which features the film’s
posters and lobby cards; an introduction by director Kaplan and an almost hour-long
featurette with co-writer Ken Friedman who reminisces about many different
aspects of the film including working with screen veterans like Slim Pickens
and Don Porter as well as discussing the film’s darker, more realistic ending. The
Blu-ray can be ordered from Amazon Germany.The film is also streaming for free on YouTube (with advertisements.)
If you’re looking for a well-made,
enthralling and realistic trucker movie, White
Line Fever is definitely the way to go.