The Big Wheel

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 .

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!

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.

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.

The first picture of Mickey's decline from stardom after the previous year's Words and Music where his terrible performance pretty much ended his tenure at MGM. It's fitting that it's a racing movie because it's a skid picture for the Mick without question.

After years of the plush surroundings at Metro this low budget loser must have come as a rude shock. He's overly earnest as was typical of his starring career which was endurable in parts where he was the brash teenage Andy Hardy and similar roles but as he aged became arch and annoying. The story is standard cocky hothead knocked down a few pegs until his learns the necessary life lessons junk but if you're a race fan and don't mind the obvious rear projection shots it a certain entertainment value.

What's great about these old Hollywood films is that even in an economy production like this the film is full of quality character actors who had more latitude in moving between studios, genres and types of productions. This one has a supporting cast better than it deserves with three greats in the cast, Spring Byington, Thomas Mitchell and in a small part Hattie McDaniel, this was her last theatrical feature.