Moonrunners

Moonrunners
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGy Waldron
Written byGy Waldron
Produced byRobert B. Clark
StarringJames Mitchum
Kiel Martin
Arthur Hunnicutt
Chris Forbes
Narrated byWaylon Jennings
CinematographyBrian W. Roy
Edited byWilliam Chulack
Avrum Fine
Music byWaylon Jennings
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • May 14, 1975 (1975-05-14)
Running time
110 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Moonrunners is a 1975 action comedy film starring James Mitchum, about a Southern family who runs bootleg liquor. It was reworked four years later into the popular long-running television series The Dukes of Hazzard, and the two productions share some similarities. Mitchum had co-starred with his father, Robert Mitchum, in the similar drive-in favorite Thunder Road 18 years earlier, which also focused upon moonshine-running bootleggers using fast cars to elude federal agents. Moonrunners, a B movie, was filmed in 1973 and awaited release for over a year. Its soundtrack reflects the outlaw music boom of the 1970s during which the film was released.

The film was written and directed by Gy Waldron and is based on the life and stories of ex-moonshiner Jerry Rushing, who has a small role in the movie as a heavy at the Boar's Nest bar. It is listed in the book The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time.[1]

  1. ^ Crosse, Jesse (2006). The Greatest Movie Car Chases of All Time. MotorBooks International. p. 60.