Book Review: CONVOY--The Comprehensive Yet Untold Story

 

It seems hard to believe that anyone would want to write a book about the making of CONVOY. The 1978 film inspired by a novelty song with the same title isn't considered a great movie, and some even say that it might be director Sam Peckinpah's worst feature. Dan Bruno & Mike Siegel have, however, taken the tempestuous background of the film's production and turned it into an intriguing, if sad, tale, called CONVOY--The Comprehensive Yet Untold Story. 

Dan Bruno is an American trucking enthusiast and expert, while Mike Siegel is a major Sam Peckinpah historian. The two have combined to detail the full history of CONVOY, from the creation of the song that inspired the project to the shooting of the film in 1977 New Mexico. 

Bruno starts off the book with a quick background of the American trucking history and the national interstate highway system, and the advent of the CB radio craze in the 1970s. Those three factors combined to achieve a cult interest with the American public, and producers Robert Sherman and Michael Deeley thought a movie with box-office clout could be made from those elements. 

The project turned into something different when Sam Peckinpah was hired to direct. By the making of CONVOY Peckinpah's notorious reputation as being almost impossible to deal with was well-known, but the producers thought (mistakenly) that they could handle him. 

As soon as production started, Peckinpah began arguing with the producers, and causing delays with the shooting schedule. The project began to get out of hand, and Bruno & Siegel document this with a day-for-day report of the shoot, and the various complications that kept piling up. 

Eventually Peckinpah was taken off the project during the editing process. The result is that CONVOY (which I re-watched after reading this book) was a disjointed mess, a movie that doesn't know whether it's supposed to be a examination of what working-class Americans go through or a redneck comedy. The film did make a decent amount of money but it is generally looked upon now as a missed opportunity. 

Bruno & Siegel vividly show that it's a miracle that CONVOY was finished at all, with such obstacles as the various trucks and vehicles to be used, unique shooting locations, and the overall personal problems of Sam Peckinpah. When it comes to directors vs. producers, most film geeks will favor the directors every time. Despite the fact that the authors are both huge Peckinpah fans, they don't shy away from detailing that the man's self-destructive habits and iconoclastic attitude hindered the film's production and personally affected many of the cast & crew in a negative way. (At the climax of the book Dan Bruno offers his own analysis and reasons for Peckinpah's behavior.) 

The book has several behind-the-scenes photos taken during the shoot, courtesy of Mike Siegel, and Dan Bruno provides expert info on the many trucks and trailers used during the filming. Bruno also reveals what happened to most of the vehicles after the movie was finished. 

This book truly is a comprehensive and thorough look at a troubled production and the troubled director behind it all. It is also a window into 1970s America (as someone who was a little kid in that era, I can assure you that CB/trucker culture was a big thing, especially in rural areas). I've usually found that movies that are unsuccessful or have problematic shooting histories are more interesting to read about than box-office or critical hits. CONVOY the book is another example of that.