Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave

I saw this about a decade ago, at Christmas, on HBO. I don't follow country music, but I knew of Williams from my sister. The story is almost a "Twilight Zone" tale; even as Williams, dying in his alcoholic haze, imagined an ideal concert, his fantasy is plagued by the demons that haunted his real life. The demons include the casual racism of country music of that time (although black music and country were intertwined), the celebrity-hungry fan who wants to seduce a famous person, and (as I recall) the basic despair of the audience, who have no other way to spend Christmas than to go to a bar and get drunk. The end of the fantasy, with Williams's haunting song about being deserted even by God, was devastating. I knew country music was nearly always sad, but I never thought it could approach existential despair. An unforgettable character portrait.

I also saw this movie over a decade ago, and enjoyed it very much. I knew very little about Hank Sr. before this movie and feel as though I know about a very talented and self destructive person, who was not really an alcoholic, but rather due to his spinabifida was addicted to morphine and drank heavily. Either way Hank Sr. drove around the country from town to town performing his songs even though he was in a great deal of pain. Then he died tragically in the back seat of car (I think) many years to early. This story does tell about the show behind the scenes but doesn't get to bogged down in the addiction but rather weaves that part of Hank Sr.'s life into the story. The story did not glamorize his problems. Hank Williams Sr is a piece of Americana to be cherished right or wrong.

This made for television film is a chilling recount of the final hours and death of singer Hank Williams. In The Show He Never Gave, Sneezy Waters plays Hank, and it is not a bad performance. This is no lighthearted fare, very true to the last hours of Hank's life.

Some of the filming techniques and lighting are aged, as one could tell. Although not the best as it was a television film made in 1980, it makes the story that much darker and sincere. A tribute to the life and death of Hank.

If you are a fan of Hank Williams Sr., then this is a must see. I promise you won't be disappointed. The soundtrack is mostly Hank's music, sung by Sneezy Waters.

This movie takes you far away from the abstract "cat's whisker" sound of the Hank Williams of your youth. It lays an opera of humanity around his songs. It's the songs, the stories, the hypnotic weaving of emotion, but most of all, it's the way the fans were shot. They were real, everyday, unadorned people with all of their own foibles yet the camera catches their private moments of brilliance, an occasional graceful twirl on the dance floor, their unbounded exuberance and glimpses of their facial waves of enthusiasm. The camera shows us the impact of the yarn of music that Hank spins. You can listen and you can watch and you can feel and you can do all of those things and the enjoyment just piles up.

I've loved the songs and the singing of Hank Williams for many years. When I saw this film I felt as though I were watching Hank himself. The actor who portrays him is excellent, the songs wonderful. My only criticism is that the film could have been an hour or two longer, with a lot more songs. Any Hank Williams fan would have to love this movie.