White Line Fever (film)
| White Line Fever | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Jonathan Kaplan |
| Produced by | John Kemeny |
| Written by |
Jonathan Kaplan Ken Friedman |
| Starring |
Jan-Michael Vincent Kay Lenz Slim Pickens L. Q. Jones Don Porter R. G. Armstrong Dick Miller Martin Kove |
| Music by | David Nichtern |
| Cinematography | Fred Koenekamp |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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90 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | CAD 1400000 |
| Box office | $35 million |
White Line Fever is a US movie about truck drivers released in 1975 and starring Jan-Michael Vincent. The film was made during a heyday for trucking in American popular culture.
Sam Hummer was a local truck driver from Tucson, Arizona who worked for a Tucson-based produce-shipper called "Red River". His driving partners were Duane Haller and "Pops" Dinwiddie. Eventually Sam's son, Carrol Jo, is old enough to ride with his father and the two of them then become partners as well. Sam changes the lettering on the trailer of his rig to read "Sam Hummer and Son".
Carrol Jo begins dating Jerri and the two want to be married, but Sam dies and the trucking partnership suddenly ends. As a result, Carrol Jo joins the Air Force and is soon sent to Vietnam. While in Vietnam, Carrol Jo has a successful career and is deemed a hero, but all he wants to do is return home to Jerri. Jerri spends these years waiting for his return and this is the subject of the film's theme song "Drifting and Dreaming" by Valerie Carter. The opening sequence shows Carrol Jo's plane arriving from overseas as Jerri and her brother give him a hero's welcome. We see the two get married and start their life together in humble settings.
Carrol Jo obtains a loan from the bank to purchase a new truck. He and Jerri then visit a local used truck sales lot where he purchases a repossessed 1974 Ford WT9000 cabover rig with a Cummins turbo diesel engine. The salesman throws in a custom paint job to seal the deal and Carrol Jo picks a blue and white paint scheme, highlighted with the words "BLUE MULE". Later, the two are jubilant as they drive their new truck through the deserts around Tucson, imagining the new life that awaits them.
CJ announces to the local listeners on the CB radio that he is in business for himself and is intent on getting as much as he can, so that he can get out of hock to the bank as quickly as possible.
When CJ goes back to work at Red River he finds out that things are very different. Duane Haller informs him that the company is now hauling un-taxed cigarettes and slot machines and that if he wants to stay out of trouble and keep working, he’ll have to keep his mouth shut. CJ gets angry and forces his rig to be unloaded, vowing never to haul illegal cargo. Later, Carroll Jo is pulled over on a lonely highway and discovers that the local sheriff is in on the crooked dealing as well, when he is handcuffed to his truck. Three men from Red River then show up and break his ribs.
When CJ tries to find work at other trucking companies around Tucson, he discovers that Red River has blackballed him as a troublemaker, and he is unwelcome everywhere he goes. Livid, he returns to Red River with a shotgun and threatens Duane Haller. Duane informs him that he is just a pawn in the game and that the person he actually needs to talk to is Duane’s boss, Buck Wessler (L.Q. Jones). Buck is a sleazy, lower-level crook who now manages Red River. Buck agrees to let CJ take a load to Dallas, free of any contraband. Sam Hummer’s old friend “Pops” Dinwiddie decides to come along, to help keep Carroll Jo safe on his trip. En route, they are attacked by men from Red River, but manage to fight them off and continue on their way.
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