Convoy was described by populist critic Leslie Halliwell as ‘a virtually plotless anthology of wanton destruction.’ Alternatively, one could see it as Peckinpah’s most light-hearted tribute to individual liberty. A truck driver known on the citizen-band wavelength as ‘Rubber Duck’ (Kris Kristofferson) heads for the state line after falling foul of Sheriff Lyle Wallace (Ernest Borgnine). He is joined by a freelance photographer (Ali MacGraw) and a convoy of fellow truckers who share his spirit of adventure and anti-authoritarianism.

A modern western on wheels, Convoy also finds time for a dig at the media and the politicians hitching themselves to what they mistakenly construe as a ‘protest’ bandwagon; and Peckinpah’s sense of the variety of human nature is evident not only in his customary collection of religious weirdos but also a deputy sheriff who announces ‘I hate truckers’ as if it were a mandatory qualification for the job. And uniquely for a Peckinpah film — it even takes the characters by surprise — nobody dies.