When Convoy & the Rubber Duck came to Belen (Part I)

Belen has been the location of as many as 17 Hollywood movies. “Convoy” is the most memorable because many Belenites got to work as extras, who cheered a convoy of 18-wheelers as they barreled down Main Street on a sunny Saturday, June 25, 1977.

Released the following year, “Convoy” capitalized on a nationwide fascination with big rigs, independent truckers, Citizen Band radios, CB handles (nicknames) and high speed races on the country’s new superhighways like I-25 and I-40.

The trucker craze inspired “Convoy,” a novelty song sung by C.W. McCall in 1975. The movie “Convoy” became a massive hit, reaching No. 1 on both the country and pop charts. The song inspired hit movies like “Breaker! Breaker!,” starring Chuck Norris, and “Smokey and the Bandit,” starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field and Jackie Gleason.

“Convoy” was the next to cash in on the trucker craze that swept the nation. This is the story of its filming in New Mexico, especially for a brief moment in Belen where it is fondly remembered to this day.

The plot

Based loosely on the popular song of the same name, the plot to “Convoy” was simple. A devil-may-care independent trucker, Martin “Rubber Duck” Penwald, played by Kris Kristofferson, and his buddies are caught in a speed trap where they are extorted by a crooked sheriff, Lyle “Cottonmouth” Wallace, played by Ernest Borgnine.

Sheriff Wallace trails Rubber Duck and his fellow truckers to a roadside tavern where a huge brawl ensues. Rubber Duck and his friends win the fight and ride off. Rubber Duck is joined by Melissa, a pretty female photojournalist played by Ali McGraw, who needs a lift because her sports car has broken down.

With Sheriff Wallace in hot pursuit, Rubber Duck and his friends race across the Arizona state line and into New Mexico. The trucks maneuver over rough terrain, crash through roadblocks, smash police cars and send policemen running for cover.

Hearing about the wild chase on their CBs, additional truckers readily join Rubber Duck on his madcap journey. What had started with three or four trucks becomes a grand convoy with as many as 100 vehicles.

The race continues, although Rubber Duck seems oblivious to what it’s all about, no less why he is being followed by so many truckers. When asked about his leadership of the convoy, he claims that he’s not the leader, only the driver of the truck at the front of the line. He was truly a rebel without a cause.

Chaos reigns, especially when Rubber Duck and his buddies rescue a Black trucker, who has been unjustly arrested and tortured in a small Texas town.

Rubber Duck and his Mack truck are ultimately blown up on a bridge, but he somehow survives and rides off into the sunset with Melissa, the pretty photojournalist, just like in a Western movie.

In fact, “Convoy’s” whole plot is like one of his Western movies with truckers replacing cowboys, trucks replacing horses, Rubber Duck playing the cowboy hero, Melissa playing the heroine and Sheriff Wallace playing the typical bad guy, except that he wears a white hat.

Starring roles

“Convoy” was filmed with a cast and crew of more than 200 men and women, including some of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In addition to acting, Kris Kristofferson was a popular singer and songwriter in the 1970s. His contract allowed him to continue his singing career by playing in concerts in cities such as Dallas and Salt Lake City on the weekends. He often flew to filming sites by helicopter after completing his weekend concerts.

Ali McGraw, the star of romantic flicks like “Goodbye, Columbus” and “Love Story,” played Melissa who rode with Rubber Duck from the beginning of the great chase to nearly the end. “Convoy,” her first movie in four years, gave her an opportunity to restart her acting career in a less-than-demanding role.

Ernest Borgnine played the “bad cop,” a new role in his long career of serious roles, like “Marty,” for which he won an Academy Award, Westerns, like “The Wild Bunch,” and comedies, like “Bunny O’Hare,” filmed earlier in Belen. He is probably best remembered as a gruff but affable naval officer in the 1960s sitcom, “McHale’s Navy.”

Borgnine admitted he took the role of Sheriff Wallace because serious scripts were hard to come by. He never took the movie seriously, simply saying, “It’s a picture with many laughs for everyone.”

Sam Peckinpah directed “Convoy.” Always controversial, his previous movies usually featured a combination of rugged loners, raw violence and general chaos. One critic called him the “master of mayhem.”

Peckinpah had worked well with Kristofferson, McGraw and Borgnine in previous movies and thought he could do so again, despite his worsening addiction to drugs and alcohol on and off the set.

Locations, including Belen

“Convoy’s” cast and crew stayed at the old Hilton Hotel at University and Menaul boulevards in Albuquerque. The New Mexico State Fairgrounds served as the movie’s headquarters and the location of several important scenes.

Other scenes were shot in 10 New Mexico cities and towns plus a “town” that was built simply so the convoy’s trucks could demolish it in one of the movie’s longest, most senseless scenes.

Peckinpah often chose locations on the spur of the moment, as when he chose Belen for a scene in which Rubber Duck and Melissa lead the convoy down a street lined by cheering fans.

Having chosen Belen and set up local headquarters at the Valencia County Fairgrounds, Larry Hamm, director of the New Mexico Film Division, appeared on KARS Radio to announce that the movie company planned to hire over a hundred extras for a scene in “Convoy.”

Enticed by a chance to appear in a movie and make $25 ($132 today) for one day’s work, an estimated 500 Belenites gathered at Anna Becker Park. After some impatient jostling by those waiting in line, the movie company hired about 150 extras and gave them their brief directions.

Lawrence Kaneshiro, a former News-Bulletin photographer, took many photos of the cheering extras who lined North Main Street to welcome actors Kristofferson and McGraw as they entered Belen in the lead truck.

Taking place about one hour into the 1 hour and 51 minute film, the scene in Belen is one of only a few in the entire movie that was not tainted by mishaps or violence.

If you watch the movie carefully you can see the old Circle K, the old Blake’s Lotaburger and the old Sprouse Reitz. An aerial shot shows downtown Belen.

People waved signs and yelled at the top of their lungs. Kids rode skateboards and bicycles to try to keep up with the passing convoy of trucks. Additional extras were hired along Main Street, each receiving a $5 bill distributed from a bag of cash carried by a movie company employee.

Extras enjoyed the excitement, at least initially. As the hours passed, people grew bored as many takes were filmed and the summer day grew hotter.

Again and again, the convoy left the Valencia County Fairgrounds, traveled south down Main Street to the southernmost entrance to I-25 and sped back to the fairgrounds to retrace the same route for the cameras.

At the end of the work day, the movie’s extras gathered at Anna Becker Park, fully expecting to be paid their promised wages. After several hours with no sign of their money, the crowd grew restless and, according to one newspaper, seemed on the verge of a riot.

The paymaster finally arrived about 11 p.m., and the extras were paid. Larry Hamm later declared the situation that evening was the roughest he had ever faced in his career as the director of New Mexico’s Film Division.

Only Belenites who worked on the set at the county fairgrounds had much direct contact with the cast and crew. Working in security, Ross Lovato talked to the stars, including Ali McGraw, a “beautiful girl” as he recalls with a smile. He also remembers all the good food available to everyone who worked on the film.

Business reactions

Businesses along Main Street either liked the movie being filmed in Belen or hated it. A gas station owner complained that the convoy and its crowds blocked access to his gas pumps. The manager of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket said that the crowds blocked his parking lot and prevented customers from doing their shopping.

Gil Sanchez, the owner and operator of Gil’s Bakery complained, “We haven’t sold as much as a donut.” Gil was also upset that the movie crew had had their meals catered by an Albuquerque restaurant rather than by a local one, like his.

Tabet Drugs suffered the most by the movie-making in Belen. While the local police were busy with escort duty on Main Street and crowd control at Anna Becker Park, they did not notice when one or more burglars broke into the pharmacy’s glass front door, stole $1,500 worth of drugs and fled without drawing attention until the following morning when employees came to open the store for business.

The only establishments that appreciated having the movie made in Belen were two bars whose business picked up when crew members dropped by or cheerful extras stopped in for drinks once they got paid.

“Convoy’s” movie makers returned to Belen a few times for extra shots, but without Kristofferson, McGraw and Borgnine and without the need for hundreds of extras who had previously come out to cheer them. Crews worked in Belen until Sept. 29, just two days before all filming ended in New Mexico.

“Convoy’s” crew even took a few shots of cheering crowds, including five high school cheerleaders in Los Lunas.

You can see the old Blake’s Lotaburger and the old Country Inn in the background. A minor accident occurred when a truck backed into an Italian ice truck. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured.

(Part 2 of this story will appear in next week’s News-Bulletin.)

(La Historia del Rio Abajo is a regular column about Valencia County history written by members of the Valencia County Historical Society since 1998.

Opinions expressed in this and all columns of La Historia del Rio Abajo are the author’s alone and not necessarily those of the Valencia County Historical Society or any other group or individual.)