Hell Drivers (1957)

[Gerby]

Hell Drivers is probably my favourite british film directed by Cy Enfield.

An excellent thriller about a bunch of working class macho idiots who work for a corrupt haulage company driving trucks containing ballast across the countryside at dangerously silly speeds to collect bonuses and the chance to win a solid silver cigarette case worth a fortune if they manage to do more loads than the foreman Red (awesomely played by Patrick McGoohan).

It features an amazing cast including Stanley Baker, Sid James, Alfie Bass, David McCallum & a young Sean Connery.

I love this film! Anyone else like this one?

[Walker]

Yes, a good one for sure! Great cast as you say.

[batman]

If you have a search (there is a facility for this at the top of the page) around the site Gerby you'll find lots of threads related to Hell Drivers .... locations, performances, dvd releases etc etc. It's one of my favourites too ... a terrific film.



ps - welcome to Britmovie!

[Moor Larkin]

I managed to get to the quarries they tossed the trucks off, in Sussex, a few weeks ago. I don't believe any of the acting was done there though, just second unit stuff. The other Threads Bats mentions have oodles of info and interesting facts. A chap/chapesse called Biffo was especially knowledgable..........

[Automotivehistorian]

I included a series pf COMMERCIAL MOTOR shots of short-haulage tippers in VINTAGE ROADSCENE issue 104. One shot included Kew Dodge tippers, around 1955, and three drivers were women! I have never seen any other photo like it. It was taken at TARSLAG's quarry in I think Stirchley, Salop.

[Walker]

TARSLAG's

What a fantastic, and even, dare I say it, apposite name!



This is a tease tho. Please post the photo!

[Automotivehistorian]

Sorry to say but copyright issues require me to suggest buying a magazine or the print. It's worth buying the print as the guys are sitting around having a 'fag' or union meeting and the gals are working! Priceless!!

[Rick C]

...and here's an advert on real paper to go with it. To introduce a bit of culcha into the proceedings, the original illustration is by Angelo Cessela one of the creative Italian poster artists in Britain during the 1960's.

[Carl V]

Hell Drivers is probably my favourite british film directed by Cy Enfield.

An excellent thriller about a bunch of working class macho idiots who work for a corrupt haulage company driving trucks containing ballast across the countryside at dangerously silly speeds to collect bonuses and the chance to win a solid silver cigarette case worth a fortune if they manage to do more loads than the foreman Red (awesomely played by Patrick McGoohan).

It features an amazing cast including Stanley Baker, Sid James, Alfie Bass, David McCallum & a young Sean Connery.

I love this film! Anyone else like this one?

Yes, me too. A classic in my opinion, and you're right it has a great cast. I like William Hartnell's role here, a few years before he became Dr Who. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's on BBC2 tomorrow (Mon 15 June).

[Rick C]

Yes, me too. A classic in my opinion, and you're right it has a great cast. I like William Hartnell's role here, a few years before he became Dr Who. If I'm not mistaken, I think it's on BBC2 tomorrow (Mon 15 June).

Yes it is. 1.15 pm on BBC-2. There's a discussion on the DVd release of the picture on that named thread, and you get a copy of the of original 1957 advertisement on there too!

[Rick C]

Incidentally, "Moviegoods" has quite a selection of photo press cards. None appearing with William Hartnell though, but can do a photo myself of WH in the film but it's not the part of the week yet that I get opportunity to travel to my poster/cuttings collection.

[Husky]

I'm ashamed to admit that I had never seen this film before, but caught it on BBC2 today (actually I missed the first 30 mins), but must agree that it's a cracker. I was pleased that it was presented in widescreen.

[paul clifton]

I have the original UK poster for this film which i bought years ago. Value is about £400-500 quid now. Super film

[Dr. Schreck]

I love the movie - have it on video somewhere. Sadly, I don't have a working video player anymore. =_=;



I've never seen any posters or stills from Hell Drivers for sale and only purchased one single publicity photograph years ago for less than two pounds. I still think it's a great portrait of McGoohan, though.

[Automotivehistorian]

I have a print taken of the cast next to a truck, and I have a copy of a still of Stanley Baker next to a truck line-up.

[Moor Larkin]

The movie even got released in the Soviet Union.



Boy, I would so love to hear Red espousing the merits of dialectic materialism..

[AdrianTurner]

I saw this for the first time last night - I'd wanted to see it for some time, having watched its steadily growing cult status. Firstly, I was struck by how much like an American film noir it was - Cy Endfield being a Hollywood refugee from blacklisting - and also how much it owed to movies such as They Drive By Night, La Bete Humaine and, most obviously, The Wages of Fear. The story operates in a bizarre enclosed world of its own - real life only intrudes with Baker's trips to see McCallum - and England only exists in country lanes and family cars that get in the way of the trucks. It's a story about outsiders (like Endfield himself) and machismo and self-respect, a sort of Howard Hawks set-up without much of the joshing and camaraderie. I actually didn't believe a single second of it - I thought McGoohan was a complete joke, a cartoon grotesque completely at odds with the overall style, and I thought the speeded-up driving scenes lacked any excitement or tension because they were so obviously faked. In short, it was rubbish, but because of the extraordinary cast and other elements I can see why some people find it so fascinating.

[alan gowdy]

I thought McGoohan was a complete joke, a cartoon grotesque completely at odds with the overall style, and I thought the speeded-up driving scenes lacked any excitement or tension because they were so obviously faked. In short, it was rubbish, but because of the extraordinary cast and other elements I can see why some people find it so fascinating.

Hard to disagree with either point. But then, his character was clearly psychotic so might be expected to behave in a singular manner most of the time.



On the point about the ludicrous under-cranking... I made a similar observation in a much earlier H.D. posting. It was almost risible.

[kelp]

For fear of repeating what has already been done to death as it were, but here I go anyway...Just been on Youtube and put in "HELL DRIVERS Look In On", and came up with parts One and Two of a very interesting piece from behind the scenes. Chats with Alfie Bass and Stanley Baker, as well as Cy Enfield, and the writer too. Scenes of filming on location at the sandpits etc:.

Sorry if I'm playing catch up.

[Minbari]

I think it's an absolutely brilliant film, first saw it when i was a kid, it's just a really exciting film to watch...........great stuff BTW is it available on DVD, as i'd love to add it to my collection