Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS*** A 28 year old Mickey Rooney shines in this car racing flick as brash and so full of himself Billy Coy who until a fatal accident of his best friend and fellow racer Happy Lee, Steve Brodie, that Billy was unjustifiably blamed for turned his life around for the better. Up until then Billy was following in the footsteps of his late dad the legendary race car driver Cannonball Coy. It was Cannonball who after a night of boozing and womanizing drove, dead drunk behind the wheel, in the Indianapolis 500 and ended up smashing his car into a wall killing himself. It was the tragic death of Lucky and being blamed for it that had Billy at first quit car racing then return to it with a whole new attitude.Starting from the bottom on the east coast circuit Billy worked himself up to become one of the few drivers to compete in the Indianapolis 500 within a year of his so-called retirement from racing. It was no easy task for Billy in him facing like what a crumb he was earlier in the movie in his relationship with those he worked with and competed against on the race track. Now brought down to earth and at the same time humanized from his experience Billy was ready to make it to the top of the car racing world in the big race that his father Cannonball Coy lost his life in 17 years ago. That with his mom Mary, Spring Byington, and top mechanic and boss now step-father Arthur "Red" Stanley in attendance.***SPOILERS*** Heart stopping and tremendous racing sequences especially those of the Indianapolis 500 race with a re-born as well as born-again Billy going all out to win the big race despite his car catching fires in the final lap with him in the lead. Risking a fiery death Billy floors the peddle to the medal to get to the finish line where the checked flag is waiting to be wagged as the leading car crossed it. Totally surprised and heart-felt ending with Billy and the audience, at the race track and watching the movie, finding out that the saying "Winning isn't everything it's the only thing" wasn't all that it was cranked up to be from the driver who won the race.

edwagreen This story of the race car industry is interesting and invariably there is that always exciting end of film racing scene.Mickey Rooney is perfect to play the lead role of a jockey, who seems to be going in the way of his late father. When Rooney is unable to save his friend during a race, it comes out that his dad was quite a boozer and a womanizer as well.The film gave Spring Byington, who plays Rooney's mother, the opportunity to engage in some dramatic acting. Most of Byington's career had her in almost comic roles or as a society matron. That changes all here.Interesting that 10 years after "Gone With the Wind," Thomas Mitchell and Hattie McDaniel again team for this film. Though McDaniel is in one scene, they are not in that one together.The film is a definite ode to race car drivers with their trials and tribulations.

ccthemovieman-1 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.

Tony_J61 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.