Convoy

(Sam Peckinpah, US 1978, 110 min., 35mm)

Ernest Borgnine. On the short list of feature films based on popular songs—in this case C. W. McCall’s CB-radio themed novelty hit “Convoy”—Sam Peckinpah’s rollicking, proudly lowbrow comedy adventure leads the pack. The blacktop meet-cute of Peckinpah veterans Kris Kristofferson (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid) and Ali MacGraw (The Getaway) may be something out of a screwball comedy, but the film—about a convoy of interstate truckers on the run from a corrupt county sheriff (Ernest Borgnine)—is really a western in trucker drag. It’s rumored that much of the second-unit direction was taken over by actor James Coburn due to Peckinpah’s failing health. Ironically, the film was the most financially successful of Bloody Sam’s career.