Convoy Trivia and Oddities

Convoy Facts and Trivia

We've compiled an ever growing list of oddities,
omissions and trivia from Convoy. These tidbits come
from the original script, storyline, actor and crew
interviews and other assorted credible sources. Don't
get too worked up over 'em, just have fun. These are
not opinions nor are they interpretations. If you have
any others, please e-mail them, along with proof or
source to convoyduel@yahoo.com. Any photos, links
or other electronic media sent to us may be used or
posted on this website unless otherwise noted.

1977 TV Series Roots

Paulie Hauling (Pig Pen’s Truck) – Burt Young was “Paulie” in Rocky

Fly Freight (Spider Mike’s Truck) – Franklin Ajaye played a character named
T.C. in Car Wash that imagined himself being a superhero called “The Fly”.

The actor who played Federal Agent Hamilton is Walter Kelley, who is also
one of the second unit directors.

James Coburn was another second unit director trying to get his DGA card.
He was offered a part by friend Sam Peckinpah, but declined, calling the
script a “real stinker”.

The actor who played “Big Nasty” was a former New Mexico State Trooper
who left the department to pursue a career in acting.

Dennis Hopper spent a significant amount of time with the stars and crew on-
set, including during the filming of the meeting with the Governor in
Albuquerque. He did not appear on film.

The “Church of the Wayfaring Strangers” consists entirely of members of
Kris Kristofferson’s band. The Reverend is Peckinpah regular Donnie Fritts
who is also the keyboard player in Kris’ band.

The Rubber Duck is supposed to be carrying nitromanite to Shreveport, LA.
The tank has a capacity of 5800 gallons, but the manifest reportedly shows
10,000 gallons.

The character name of the Arizona State Trooper who initially stops the
Rubber Duck is named “Rosewell”.

The reason that Love Machine knows Rubber Duck so well is that the Rubber
Duck freed Love Machine from jail by pulling the window bars off with his
truck some years prior to the movie timeline.

Violet the truck stop waitress’ “sorry old man” of a husband is Sheriff Lyle
Wallace.

The Widow Woman got her handle from having buried 4 husbands. The
patches on her jumpsuit honor different husbands for different reasons.

The reason Lyle sets up the initial speed trap catching the Rubber Duck, Pig
Pen and Spider Mike is that Melissa called the Sheriff (Wallace) to report the
speeding truck as revenge for the Rubber Duck saying that Melissa was
driving in the buff.

The Widow Woman’s Brockway crash was 100% unscripted and
unintended. After evaluating options for a few days, it was decided that they
would write it into the script. For each of the next several days, the
Brockway was tipped back over to film the aftermath at the intersection in
Bernalillo. The crash you see is real, as it happened.

Mack trucks initially wanted both Mack and their Brockway subsidiary
represented in the film. The Brockway crash occurred only weeks after
Brockway was closed down over a union dispute. Mack did not want to pay
for the Brockway’s repair and at least one Mack staffer on-site commented
that the crash was both ironic and poetic.

The Chevelle crash through the billboard and barn was a mistake. Stuntman
Bobby Heron was driving the car and it was supposed to crash through the
billboard and land on the barn’s roof. The car was sputtering as he
approached the ramp, so he gave it more gas, sending the car flying much
further and with greater speed. One camera man was able to follow the car
and what you see is a “step printed” shot.

The original site of the barn crash was vandalized and set ablaze, reportedly
by locals. After a couple weeks’ delay, the new site was built up and the
scene was shot.

The “Reverend Joshua Duncan Sloan” is a character from a previous
Peckinpah western.

Comedian Morty Sahl was a good friend of Peckinpah and was cast as the
role of the reporter in the movie. His first day on set, he got into a fight with
Peckinpah and flew back to LA. The role of the Governor’s assistant Chuck
Arnoldi was expanded to include the plot-critical interview on the highway.

There was a near riot in Belen and Las Lunas when the monies promised to
locals as extras was not paid in a timely manner.

The ice cream vendor that falls out of the truck is Bob Visciglia Sr., longtime
Peckinpah Property Master and friend.

The shot of “Chief Stacy Love” that shows up after Pig Pen hits the ice
cream truck was accidentally left in the movie during the final edit. Peckinpah
had inserted numerous characters from the movie into the crowd gathered
around the ice cream wreck and showed them all looking up at Pig Pen and
laughing, including a shot of Pig Pen himself in the crowd. Because of this
and several other oddities in his 3 hour 40 minute director’s cut, EMI fired
Peckinpah and the film was edited down by EMI staff and Garth Craven to
just under 1 hour and 50 minutes.

The entire production was shut down for 4 weeks to allow Kris and his band
to complete a prior tour engagement.

The temperature in Needles, CA was over 115 degrees on each of the 3
days during filming of the final bridge scene.

After the funeral procession, Pig Pen and the convoy of trucks were to
transport the Rubber Duck’s casket to the steps of the US Capitol in
Washington DC until money was appropriated for a monument to him.