La pista di fuoco

Perhaps the fondest memories of my father's life were those involving his one and only entry in the Indy 500 from 1949, the event chronicled in this movie.

My dad, George Lynch, crashed after the first lap, hitting the wall in the first turn near the camera bay. The event is captured in the film, with the racetrack announcer calling his name. Figures that my dad's one and only Indy mishap is captured forever on film.

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's first film after leaving MGM was this independent production for United Artists, The Big Wheel. This is a racetrack story done with hardly the budget of Le Mans or Grand Prix or even MGM's racing story To Please A Lady that Clark Gable did with Barbara Stanwyck two years later. Still it has a nice cast with good location shooting at various racetracks climaxing of course with Indianapolis 500.

The Mick's got a lot to prove, he's the son of a racing legend who lived a fast life, died at the Indianapolis 500 and left widow Spring Byington to raise Mickey by herself. She's had of late though Thomas Mitchell who was her husband's old mechanic and he's now courting Byington.

Because of his attitude Rooney doesn't win many friends at the racing circuit. When Steve Brodie is killed, a lot of the drivers especially Michael O'Shea blame Rooney. And it comes out a lot of them disliked his father for some of the same personality traits and more.

Mickey's got two girls in this one, Mary Hatcher daughter of race car owner Richard Lane and sultry singer Lina Romay. He has to the end of the picture to figure out which one is really in his corner.

The Big Wheel is not a great picture, but it was better than some of what Rooney was doing after World War II at MGM. For the most part they still saw him as a kid over there. The Big Wheel let Mickey Rooney grow up and for that it should be considered a milestone film in his career.

A strong second-half made this Mickey Rooney film a decent one and definitely one of his historical value if you follow the Indianapolis 500 Race. It was fascinating to go back see footage of racing and the famous oval from 1949. Man, compared to what you see today, both around the outside and inside of the track, it's a shock to look back to see how much has changed. Even though cars average almost a hundred miles per hour faster today than when this movie took place, it is so much safer. Check out what the drivers were wearing.....almost no protection.

Even though the subject is race-car driving, this is not an untypical movie of Rooney's. You'll know what I mean if you watch the film. Rooney plays the cocky little guy (a la James Cagney) whose self-assuredness gets him far but not without periodic bouts with humility. By the way, Rooney, the following year, was convincing in a film noir called "Quicksand." Rooney could (can) act in about any genre. He is amazing when you consider his career, which is still going at the age of 90!!! I mean, the man's been in more than 300 movies and he's almost always very entertaining.

The actress who played a woman who had a crush on "Billy Coy" (Rooney), Mary Hatcher ("Louise Riley"), was a pretty and wholesome-looking actress, the kind you don't see too much today on screen. She had a short movie career but was a success on Broadway and had a fine singing voice. She doesn't sing in this film, just play the faithful grease-monkey, a girl who pines for him but he's too stupid - most of the time - to see what he has in her.

Meanwhile, the only actual romance where something happens, is between two "old" folks, played by veteran screen stars Thomas Mitchell and Spring Byington.

For a film made 50 years ago, the driving scenes in here were very good, not just a stock footage filmed background. It actually looks like, in some scenes at least, there is a car just ahead of these driving filming the action, like you'd see in modern movies. Then they'd cut to a fake closeup of Rooney but, overall, it was done well for the time period. At the end, with the big race at Indy, they even had real aerial shots from some recent (late '40s) actual Indy race.

In all, not a bad little flick. If you can stay with it through the first half, you'll be rewarded with a strong finish and interesting race finale that is not clichéd.

"The Big Wheel" is not a bad movie. However, the plot is very, very familiar and although I hadn't seen this movie before, it sure felt that way as MANY films made during the 1930s, 40s and 50s had similar themes. So the film certainly won't get any kudos from me for originality. But, it is moderately engaging and isn't a bad time-passer.

Mickey Rooney plays Billy Coy--the son of a very famous race car driver that was killed years ago at the Indy 500. He's intent on following in his father's footsteps--well, as least as far as being a racing champ! But he's a bit too cocky and young and folks around him think that he's a bit too eager. However, it turns out he is very talented and has what it takes to win--provided he doesn't sabotage himself. In addition, his father's old pal (Thomas Mitchell) is intent on wooing the widow Coy (Spring Byington). What's to happen? See the film...or not.

Rooney and the rest of the cast were just fine in this film. There were some other similar films before it and the plot about a guy who alienates everyone but eventually learns humility and makes good is possibly one of the oldest clichés in films! Fortunately, the racing sequences are competently made and the film has enough going for it that you won't hate it. Not exactly a glowing endorsement, huh?