Las Vegas Hillbillys

In THE LAS VEGAS HILLBILLIES the great Connie Smith sings close to the camera and she looks very beautiful, but her physical beauty is surpassed by her voice and singing abilities which are the best ever recorded by any female singer. She is not very famous today because she quit show biz in 1980 to raise her kids.

The other singers in THE LAS VEGAS HILLBILLIES are very good especially Del Revees when he sings "Women Do Funny Things to Me." This is an honest movie because it delivers what its name implies: good sixties real country music inside of a silly movie.

The music in THE LAS VEGAS HILLBILLIES is wonderful because the music from the sixties came from the people through DJs who could play the music that they liked. In contrast to today where the situation is inverted. Almost all the radio stations are owned by a few giant corporations, and every song aired must be approved by corporate managers. Today singers are selected by the corporations for airplay for their looks and youth and not their ability to sing. At least female country singers back then sang without showing off their belly buttons.

Some of the singers in THE LAS VEGAS HILLBILLIES such as Connie Smith who still retain fully their singing abilities are now trying to get their songs aired and are foiled by the corporate monopoly ownership of radio. Back in the sixties country singers, songs, and fans were for real. They did not put on airs, pretend to be somebody else, or take themselves too seriously. They were even humorous. In stark contrast to most of today's singers who are just corporate products that produce horrible music.

In a sense, LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS is worse than most of the worst horror films. First of all, this movie(an obvious rip on the BEVERLY HILLBILLYS)is so lame, so dreadfully photographed and directed that one feels bad for the audience who paid to see this in the theater. Second of all, one must wonder how desperate Mamie Van Doren and Jayne Mansfield were to get a paycheck to be in this film.

We open with some backwoods moonshiners, including Ferlin Husky, blow up their still accidentally. Then, news comes from Las Vegas that Ferlin has inherited a casino. So Husky and his pals pack up their things and move to Las Vegas. Nevada, that is. Washed-up movie stars, untalented country-western singers. Now all that's missing is Mrs. Hathaway and Jethro.

And some humor. This so-called comedy is so painfully unfunny that I wished I was watching one of those dumb Ernest movies again. Jayne Mansfied shows up as the manager of Husky's casino, and Mamie Van Doren is all but unrecognizable. (although not as bad as she was in THE NAVY VS THE NIGHT CREATURES) And the endless bumpkin music made me nauseaus.

I disliked LAS VEGAS HILLBILLYS because, in the end, you realize how much contempt the makers had for their audience.(By the way, who was the audience for this mess?)

Ferlin Husky, along with Joi Lansing, made a semi-sequel to this film the next year, HILLBILLYS IN A HAUNTED HOUSE. That film is just as dull, pointless, and filled with poor music. If you like one, you're bound to like the other, just for pure awfulness. All others beware, this film is UNCEASINGLY BAD.

One of the worst movies ever made and released. The best redeeming quality of this movie is Mamie Van Doren who has admitted she only did it for the money which was well earned for having to play the love interest to Ferlin Husky (I think I'm about to lose my lunch). Speaking of Ferlin, having to watch him croaking out the same song from the side of his contorted mouth and for no reason kicking his leg up while performing is just unwatchable. Jayne Mansfield looks like a bloated drag queen who raided Mae Wests' boudoir. I also wonder who let her behind the wheel of a car even to operate for 10 or so feet. She was already a trainwreck looking for a place to happen, fortunately that wreck was confined to her performance. Billie Bird, What an immediately endearing character NOT. She looks like a pot belly pig and squeals like one. The sets, sound, scenery and songs also start with "s". The country songs and performers are alright except for Del Reeves who with all his mugging and pseudo yodeling comes in second to Ferlin Husky in the unwatchable category. Oh, and that biker gang. I guess they left their Bigwheels at home. The taxi that drops Aunt Clem off turned in a good performance, I believed it was a taxi. Does this review contain any spoilers? No. You can't spoil something that is already rotten.

Las Vegas Hillbillys is a low-budget B-minus movie in all respects. Of importance to film buffs is the fact that Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren, two rival big blonde bombshells, both star in this movie. Reportedly, the gals disliked each other so much that scenes in which they were both to appear together were shot with doubles so that they would not have to meet on the set.

The plot, if one could call it that, centers around a country-western singer (Ferlin Husky) from Tennessee who inherits a run-down Las Vegas nightclub. Mamie plays Boots Malone, the club manager and Jayne plays Tawny Downs, a Las Vegas entertainer and the dead uncle's "protege", a term used in 1950's movies for a mistress.

My sole intent in watching this battle-of-the-bosoms was to judge for myself, in head-to-head competition, which of the two blonde bombshells was 1.) the better actress, and 2.) the sexier on screen. My task was complicated by the fact that neither of the goddesses were showcased in particularly steamy roles, despite their reputations as among the hottest female stars of their era.

The results of my admittedly unscientific experiment: Jayne sweeps both categories. She wins the better actress category largely by default because Ms Van Doren is so horribly, horribly bad in this film. And in the sex appeal category, Jayne wins by a narrower margin not because of greater attributes, but rather because she simply struts her stuff more effectively. Even us gals who are not blessed with movie star quality looks can learn a lot from Jayne.

A word of warning - I bought this cheapo video as part of a two-pack set of Mamie Van Doren films distributed by Entertainment Programs International (EPI) in Marina Del Ray, California. The video quality was so poor as to almost make the movie unwatchable. They even misspell the film title on the box, which gives you an idea of their dedication to producing a quality product. You get what you pay for.

Claudia's Bottom Line: Painful to watch, but worth it if you care to catch a glimpse of two of Hollywood's biggest sex symbols of the 1950's and 1960's.

Mamie Van Doren is so attractive, this silly film is worth the watch with the added bonus of Jayne Mansfield. Nothing to write home about, this goofy romp with songs is a strange combo of Beverly Hillbillies humor and rockabilly-type music. Ferlin Husky as the slow-witted lead and a whole slew of strange character actors.

A 4 out of 10. Best performance = Mamie Van Doren. The color is this is very strange and there many skin-crawling performances, but Mamie as Boots Malone is terrific. It's hard to describe this, but it's a fun time if you like Gilligan's Island. Jayne Mansfield had sure come down a lot in her career, but people have to work.