Convoy (1978 film)

Convoy is a 1978 American roadaction film directed by Sam Peckinpah from a screenplay by Bill L. Norton, and starring Kris Kristofferson, Ali MacGraw, Ernest Borgnine, Burt Young, Madge Sinclair and Franklyn Ajaye. The film is based on the 1975 country and westernnovelty song "Convoy" by C. W. McCall. The story initially concerns truck drivers being extorted by a sheriff in Arizona. One of them punches the sheriff during a brawl. Several rebellious truckers then attempt to cross the state line to New Mexico, while being pursued by the police. They also make plans to rescue an ally who is held captive in Texas, and who has been the victim of police brutality.

The film was first released in Japan on June 10, 1978, and it was released June 28, 1978 in the United States by United Artists. It received mixed reviews from critics; however, it was the most commercially successful film of Peckinpah's career.

Convoy was made when the CB radio/trucking craze was at its peak in the United States, and followed the similarly themed films Moonfire (1970), Duel (1971), Deadhead Miles (1973), Hijack (1973), White Line Fever (1975), Smokey and the Bandit (1977), La Menace (1977) and Breaker! Breaker! (1977).