The 1956 "Overnight Haul", a part of the Fox Movie Channel's "Hour of Stars", a part of their "film restoration project" (see link), airs again on Wednesday.  It features Richard Eyer, about whom imdb says, "Mainstream audiences may remember Eyer best as the youngster who runs "afowl" of the nipping goose in director William Wyler's "Friendly Persuasion" while sci-fi fans will recall that he had star billing and the title role in "The Invisible Boy ," producer Nicholas Nayfack's independently-made follow-up to MGM's popular "Forbidden Planet."

I felt this was a very moving, excellent 45-minute show, albeit very "'50-ish", in the "jerk dad discovers the errors of his ways" category. Warning: spoilers follow, though I believe its the type of film where "spoilers" wouldn't "ruin" it at all.  Since most probably won't ever be able to see the program:

Richard Eyer plays Billy, a 10-year-old with a loving mother and a distant, verbally abusive ("Learn to stand-up for yourself!  Face it like a man!"  ) truck-driving step-father, whom the boy tries desperately to connect with.  The dad reluctantly agrees to let Billy ride along and to drop him off at a Summer camp, grumbling all the way, not even getting it when Billy says he wants to be a truck driver "No you don't!  It's a crummy life!  And stop calling me sir!"  They stop at a diner, where Billy orders only a glass of milk.  "You need to order something that sticks to those skinny ribs!" Exiting the diner early, an 8-year-old gets the better of Billy.  The dad pushes Billy to go fight again, and is disgusted that the 8-year-old gets the better of him again.

Out on the road again, they take a short cut on a narrow dirt road, the truck gets a flat, the dad jacks it up, Billy's dog (hey, we all took our dogs to Summer camp, right?) crawls underneath the truck, Billy crawls underneath to get him, the jack slips, and Billy in pinned (but not hurt). The dad tries everything to get him out, including unloading the 20 tons of cargo, with no success; the jack just slips, digs down if he tries adjusting it.

The dad decides to walk a mile back to a service station he saw, with a "twilight-zonish" series of events taking place.  He can't awaken the station attendant (it's night), so he tries breaking into the garage, succeeds, finds a jack and a truck with keys in it; but the breaking-in woke up the attendant and his wife, and klunk, the dad gets it over the head with a tire iron (?).  He awakens with a nasty wound in jail, acting like a lunatic, causing the sheriff to think he's quite imaginative with his "son pinned under a truck" story, given he has no driving credentials (they are in the jacket he used to cover his son to keep him warm) -- he can tell it to the judge in the morning.

The black guy in jail with him suggests he fake passing out, and that when the sheriff comes in to check on him "doing what he has to do."  But the sheriff is just grateful for the peace and quiet.  The cellmate (in for having had one too many) takes a bottle of booze hidden in his sock (???) and begins to imbide, loudly acting drunk.  The sheriff, of course, notices, unlocks the cell to confiscate the booze, at which point the "unconscious" dad escapes, locking in the sheriff.  Back at the garage, the keys to the truck are now gone, and seconds later the attendant appears with a shotgun.  "Go ahead and shoot me, but my son is trapped under my truck."  "Sure he is."  A struggle ensues, the shotgun goes off -- getting the father in the leg, but giving him control of the shotgun and, then, the attendant's keys, truck, and jack.

Writing this might make it seem like too many coincidences, but, honest, it works on-screen: Half-way down the dirt road the truck runs out of gas.  The dad tries to lug the heavy floor jack the rest of the way but collapses (head wound/leg wound), gets up, struggles on, and frees Billy, verbalizing what he now realizes is important in life. "I love you Billy. Son."  Sirens.  Sheriff, attendant, deputies in hot pursuit.  Flashlight on embracing father/son (last capture), they realize the error of their ways.

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---I thought the producer had a name that would be good for a laugh:

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(Edited by wwaabbiitt at 10:23 pm on June 15, 2003)