4K UHD Review – Boxcar Bertha

Careers must start somewhere, and for so many in the film industry during the 1970s, employment was usually found with producer Roger Corman. The king of frugality was mostly happy to help hungry moviemakers, especially those he didn’t have to pay very much, and part of this roster of stars is Martin Scorsese. Having made his first feature (1967’s “Who’s That Knocking on My Door”), Scorsese was finding his way to Hollywood, eventually attracting attention for his short films, creating a path to make 1972’s “Boxcar Bertha,” which follows a Depression-era woman and her experiences with violent, desperate men. Scorsese and Corman appear to be an unlikely pair, but work is work, and the helmer puts in as much effort as possible for the producer, ready to deliver exploitation for the masses in the B-movie. Cinematic mastery would start to form in 1973’s “Mean Streets,” but Scorsese has his moments here, out to deliver the basics in Corman demands while figuring out his style and fondness for screen intensity. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com