Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar

When I was growing up in Greenville SC in the late 1950s and the early 1960s, I was somewhat familiar with what used to be known as "Country & Western" music as my family had a friend, a former pro football player, who worked as a DJ at one of the local radio stations that focused on country music (actually several did). He used to drop by the house with promotional copies of many of the singles that the station played. We only listened to them when he was around because neither of my parents were fans of country music but they were too polite to say no (besides you didn't argue with a former pro football player). I was also quite familiar with and actually a big fan of the old BOWERY BOYS movies as the local CBS affiliate ran them every Saturday right after the evening news. I must have seen every one at least three times and I even tape recorded a few (this was long before video recorders).

Right after the TV station had stopped running the films, this opus showed up at one of the local drive-ins and I went to see it not for the country music but because it featured the two primary Bowery Boys, Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall. In fact the film was billed in some ads and posters as a reuniting of the two. As it turned out, after the first third of the film they basically disappeared except for a few very brief appearances and the country music took over which was very disappointing at the time. I knew who several of the performers were (Little Jimmy Dickens, Faron Young, Bill Monroe, Del Reeves, and of course Minnie Pearl) but I was unable to really appreciate them at the time. Flash forward almost 50 years, I saw this listed on amazon at a good price and I had to buy it. It turned out to be a trip down memory lane in more ways than one.

Now I can see how old and tired Leo Gorcey & Huntz Hall were (Gorcey was 48 at the time, Hall 45) and how tired their comic routines were and how sad it was to see them playing the same characters they had since 1937. After a 7 year hiatus I'm sure they were glad just to be working again but why two New York characters were thrust into a movie set in the country music world of Nashville is puzzling to say the least. Also the portions with them and Arnold Stang and his wife look as if they were shot at a local TV studio for about $1.98. Once the musical portion of the movie begins, it offers a different kind of nostalgia as you realize just how much country music has changed in half a century (the recent CMA awards are a testament to that). Today watching these acts and their staging is like watching reruns of THE LAWRENCE WELK SHOW on public television. If you don't enjoy old school country music than stay away from this movie.

Despite the extremely low budget and the fact that this is basically a series of country music videos, there is old time country music talent here to burn. Today's country fans will only recognize a couple of names and while the presentation style looks as if it came out of a time warp (which it did), those of us who remember these performers will have much to enjoy. The print utilized by Time-Life for this DVD release looks a lot like the drive-in movie I remember seeing (faded color, lines in the print, and very evident reel changes) back in 1965. I'm actually amazed that they were able to find a print of it all as country music movies, then in vogue thanks to THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, quickly disappeared as tastes changed. It was good to visit SECOND FIDDLE again after all these years as I can now fully appreciate the musical talent on display and I can remember how much I enjoyed the antics of Gorcey and Hall when I was younger...For more reviews visit The Capsule Critic.

If you like old country music, 1960's style, and don't mind a little country ham thrown in, then you have got to see this! Musicly, it is really well done! Some well known stars and some not so well known but in this movie the less known ones put on just as good a show!! Hats off to the sound guys---even though it is mono it has a really high quality sound that has to be heard to be beleaved!!! Check it out, you won't be sorry!

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar IS NOT the last teaming of Leo & Huntz in Bowery Boy persona; 1970's The Phynx was the last, though only in cameo roles.

If this film ever gets any distribution on video or DVD, it should become well-known as it features the one and only reunion of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall in their Bowery Boys characters AND the most incredible line-up of talent I've ever seen in any 1960's country music film, and I've seen (and reviewed some here) most of them. Country music fan Arnold Stang (who is very funny here--kind of in the Harry Langdon vein)'s wife, played by the lovely Pamela Hayes, hates country music and plans to put on a big opera benefit for her snooty friends. At the last minute, the opera company can't make it, so she turns to Arnold to put together a country music show in its place, and of course she gets converted to country music. Gorcey and Hall play the stagehands at the theater and get a lot of comic scenes in before the concert starts, and then they do comic relief backstage after every few acts. Reuniting Gorcey and Hall would be enough to get me to own this film, but it has an incredible country music show that lasts almost 90 minutes and features wall-to-wall REAL country music, with steel guitar and early 60's echo. I wrote down the names so I wouldn't forget any. Many of the artists do TWO songs, not just one: Little Jimmy Dickens, Carl and Pearl Butler (I hope their amazing clothes are in a museum somewhere--their music is especially good, so it's a shame they are not that well-known anymore), Lefty Frizzell, Bill Monroe, Dottie West, George Hamilton IV, Pete Drake and his infamous "talking steel guitar", Sonny James, Minnie Pearl (who does comedy AND sings a version of "Careless Love" that I won't soon forget!), Billy Walker (fantastic!), Connie Smith, Homer and Jethro, Johnny Wright (of Johnnie and Jack fame), Kitty Wells (Mrs. Johnny Wright, of course), fiddler Buddy Spiker, Del Reeves (whose second song after Girl on the Billboard is a parody of Heartbreak Hotel sung in a Walter Brennan accent!), Faron Young, and Webb Pierce, with a final singalong on "When The Saints Go Marching In" led by Sonny James. The whole show is hosted by Merle Kilgore, best known to those under 40 for his relationship with Hank Williams Jr.'s business empire. Kilgore's speaking voice is so rich and musical, I just wish the producers had had him sing. He made many great records in the 50s. By the way, the musical director for the film was Audrey Williams, but don't worry, she doesn't sing! This is a gem of a little film, shot in vibrant color. Any country music fan or Bowery Boys fan should track down a copy.

Final outings of comedy teams have not always met with success. Take Laurel and Hardy, with Utopia(1951) or the Three Stooges and Kook's Tour(1970). Both were sad farewells. Here it is more of the same for the two leads of the Bowery Boys. While it is good to see them one more time(and perhaps many fans have never had a chance to see this film), it doesn't seem like they were given any written dialogue, but instead were told to add lib. Huntz Hall comes off best, although he seems to be stuck on the word, "peasant". With Leo Gorcey, it seems the time off had hurt his acting skills. There are no close-ups on him and it's almost as if this were on purpose. For some reason he almost shouts out all his dialogue. What is most upsetting, is that they disappear before the end of the picture. You kept on expecting them to pop up again but they never do! There is one saving grace, though. The producer or director was wise enough to let them have some exchanges with the legendary Minnie Pearl. It was as if Hee Haw Meets the Bowery Boys! Arnold Stang is a joy, particularly in the opening credits. But as with Leo and Huntz, he is not to be found at the end. Maybe the budget was tight, but for whatever reason this hurt the picture as a whole. The musical numbers on the other hand were all classic. Among the songs are, Blue Moon of Kentucky by Bill Monroe, & Abilene by George Hamilton IV. Johnny Cash fans might want to watch this just to see a rare impersonation of him by Dell Reeves. It's extremely funny. The camera work on the song segments could have been better, but then again, this wasn't made at MGM! Unfortunately there are no extra's on the DVD.