C.B. Hustlers 1976

Along the sun-warmed stretches of the I-5 expressway in southern California, a married pair operate under the aliases Dancer (John Alderman) and Scuzz (Jacqueline Giroux), running a two-van operation that travels up and down the highway to recruit travelers and truck drivers. They employ a trio of loose young women, the C.B. Hustlers (Janus Blythe, Uschi Digard, and Catherine Barkley), who set up encounters at rest stops and truck depots, charging $25 for a sexual favor. Dancer and Scuzz take 40% of the Hustlers’ profits, while the three young women keep the rest, creating a sharp, repeatable cycle of sale and secrecy.

Communication is orchestrated through CB radios, using coded talk to arrange appointments and keep ahead of the authorities as truckers radio ahead warnings of the police, known in the crew’s slang as “smokies.” The operation relies on constant vigilance and a practiced routine, always one step ahead of law enforcement as they weave through the regional traffic.

Public appearances are carefully crafted: Dancer and Scuzz present themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Turner, maintaining the façade with the three young women presented as their daughters to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

In the local town, Sheriff Elrod P. Ramsey (Bruce Kimball) can’t seem to catch the Hustlers in the act, so he hires two men to investigate and bring the operation into the open. Boots Clayborn (John F. Goff) and Mountain Dean (Richard Kennedy) run the town’s newspaper and are tasked with uncovering the scheme. Mountain sees the pursuit as a potential career-making story, while Boots grows increasingly drawn to one of the Hustlers and attempts to help her stay one step ahead of the law amidst the escalating cat-and-mouse game.