The Big Wheel

This movie screened today on BRIZ31 (Brisbane Community Television)

1949, Indianapolis 500 was in it's 33rd year. Mickey Rooney played the hard ass carby engine driver to a T! Sure, the backdrop of the great race track was exactly that, with Rooney walking around as if he was actually there, but let's face it, SFX was still 5-6 years away. :-) The story was fast paced and believable. Tough nut owners and their equally tough nut drivers. Punch ups were the way to settle an argument. Never mind a quiet talk.

An enjoyable yarn, with typical Rooney happy ending. 8 stars of of 10 from me.

In this one, Mickey Rooney reunites with two of his "Andy Hardy" series castmates: Spring Byington who played his mother there as Mrs. Emily Hardy in the first entry-A Family Affair-and plays his mother here as well. And Lina Romay who was in Love Laughs at Andy Hardy singing a couple of songs there and sings one here as well as also dance with Mickey here as she did in that Hardy movie a few years before. It also has a couple of stars from Gone with the Wind: Hattie McDaniel whose last feature film appearance this was for her and Thomas Mitchell who, as I always like to cite in these reviews, was also in my favorite movie-It's a Wonderful Life. I'll just now say this was quite an entertaining racing picture. Oh, and the leading lady is a Mary Hatcher whose mostly dressed as a mechanic with a cap covering her head but in one scene, she's dressed glamorously thinking she's on a real date with Rooney but the latter was thinking of something work-related during that time!

Mickey Rooney gets a character well-suited to his abilities, and the good atmosphere at garages and auto racing tracks also helps make this a solid B-melodrama. The story follows a familiar pattern, but the setting is different enough to make it interesting.

Rooney plays the son of a race driver who wants to establish a racing career of his own. The character goes through a number of changes as his fortunes ebb and flow, and Rooney makes him believable at each stage. He had the ability to be sympathetic when necessary, and he also had the knack of making a character turn abrasive in a believable fashion. Here, it helps to flesh out a familiar plot.

Most of the other characters are one-dimensional, and are only there to give Rooney something to play off of. An exception is Thomas Mitchell, whose skill at playing seemingly simple roles makes the garage owner into a believable character in his own right.

The auto racing settings are interesting, and although the racing sequences rely on stock footage, they are still enjoyable. The story takes Rooney's character from hot rods to midget racers to the Indianapolis-style cars. It was set in what was then the present, and race fans in its audiences probably could have spotted some familiar cars. Now, it is also of interest as a decent recreation of the Indy racers of its day.

A look at the world of Grand Prix auto racing concerning about Billy (Mickey Rooney) , a young man bursting with raw energy and talent , he is hired by a garage owner named Carrell (Thomas Mitchell) as a mechanic . But Billy gets employment as a speedcar driver and quickly slipping in the rankings . He must learn to deal with his partners and he gets Indianapolis car race where his dad died long time ago . Meanwhile , he is emotionally involvement with attractive girls (Mary Hatcher, Alicia Romay) .

This is a tale of speed and love where Rooney battles competitions , he has his own demons including a horrific , nearly deadly crashing where dies a pilot , being he blamed , besides the mummy fears his death . Car crashes abound and Rooney tempers flaring . There appears uncredited Denver Pyle , Monte Blue and Hattie McDaniel's last movie . The film is developed in top competitors circle , the world's most famous racing circuits as Daiton , Culver city and of course the home of ¨500 miles Indianapolis¨ . It's almost all over the road . The movie belongs to car racing sub-genre with numerous known titles as ¨Grand Prix¨ (by John Frankheimer) ; ¨Le Mans¨ (Lee H Kazkin) in which Steve McQueen does his own driving ; ¨Winning¨ (James Goldstone) where Paul Newman does equally his own driving ; ¨Days of Thunder¨ with Tom Cruise and ¨Driven¨ (Renny Harlin) . Here Mickey Rooney doesn't drive but there are documentary style race footage . The motion picture was well directed by Edward Ludwing . The flick is strictly for those who like cars racing round and round although nowadays dated ; including a brief drama and a good acting by Mickey Rooney .

Not a bad film... the three central characters are played by talented, convincing actors. The plot focus is on Mickey Rooney's character Bill Coy who follows in his father's footsteps for good and for bad. No other characters are developed- all the emotion and story energy is on the cocky, proud star racer/mechanic who does some mellowing under life's hard knocks... the final indy race is an exciting high-point in the action. This picture recently became available on DVD in a MADACY Mickey Rooney Triple Feature Movie Marathon series...