Kimberley Jim

If you are a Jim Reeves fan, this is a great movie to see, if only for the music. However, this is the first and only movie that Reeves made, and his acting is, well, about as good as the other South African "actors" is this movie. This movie is so bad that it is good. Very corny, predictable and worth watching. This movie will never rank in the IMDb worst movie list because it is not available for enough people to watch it and rank it. This was released after Reeves died in a plane crash in 1964, and it appears that it was rushed into those booming South African movie theaters in 1964. It was not even released in the US, but can be found on Video -- but not easily. Dare you to get through this entire movie!

This is the first and only movie Jim Reeves made. Sadly he was killed in a plane crash near Nashville in July of 1964. No doubt, had he lived, this wonderful man with a soft, sensual, baritone voice would have made more movies. Our loss. Love his songs and he was a pretty good actor as well. My class is studying Country Music right now. Fortunately I have a copy of this film on VHS. I don't think it is available on DVD though.

The music is surprisingly good: the orchestration done by Bill Walker on the recommendation of Jim immigrated to the USA to become a big force in Nashville. The choice of songs was appropriate, and the performances haven't dated in any way.Jim's performance is more than adequate considering it's his only attempt.Obviously Jim would have gone on to even better material, but in no way is this inferior considering he had six weeks to learn and complete his portion. I highly recommend this film where you don't need a psychiatrist or an interpreter to explain the mumbles in the first five minutes like today's excuse for a film.I remember seeing this first at a midnight showing, with socks off and feet up on the seats, but in no way did it detract from the enjoyment which still is dear to the remembrance of a legend.

I was a fan of J Reeves's singing for about half of the century, but for different reasons never had a chance to see him act in the only movie he made. Now I've seen it at last and I liked it. The movie was just as I expected it to be. Well, even the King Himself - Elvis -appeared in some crazy movies during his Hollywood years. Obviously the aim of the movie was to show Jim on the big screen singing some nice songs at the same time, and that was achieved. Not easy to find the DVD thou, folks. Never got released in the US?

Jim Reeves still has plenty of fans out on the country music ranges, although they are nowhere as numerous or vociferous as they were right up to the close of the 20th century. For a singer who died on 31 July 1964 (in a plane crash), Jim had a remarkable after-death career, unmatched by any other country music artist. As "Kimberley Jim" is the only movie Reeves ever made, it would rank as must viewing, no matter how bad or indifferent it was. But as it happens, it's quite a pleasant film and it ranks as an excellent vehicle for his songs -- and that's the main purpose in watching it anyway! The songs were composed by Taffy Kikillus, Gilbert Gibson, Herbert Friedman, Anton de Waal, Nico Carstens, Brian Buggy, Chris du Toit, and Bill Walker (who was also the music director, conductor and arranger). Herbert Friedman is credited as "music adviser".

OTHER CREDITS: Camera assistant: Koos Roets. Props: Chris Shutte, John Lubbe. Construction manager: Wally Von Alleman. Costumes for Jim Reeves: Primarius. Women's costumes: Cas Nel. Make-up: Nola du Preez. Hair styles: Kurt of Vienna. Construction manager: Wilhelm Esterhuizen. Grip: Daniel Mashilo. Production manager: Ivan Hall. Assistant director: Jans Rauten Bach. Set continuity: Sue Berman. Sound editor: Dave Berman. Sound recording: Bonne Ter Steege, Whitney Walls. Background color: Jack Woolf. Filmed in Scanoscope and Agfa Color (processed by Irene Films).