The Big Wheel (1949)

best movie i've ever seen.

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Brash young race car driver Billy Coy (an engaging and energetic performance by Mickey Rooney) lives in the shadow of his famous father, who was a drunken womanizer who wound up being killed in an automobile accident. Moreover, Coy starts losing friends and associates alike while climbing up the race car ladder.Director Edward Ludwig, working from a compact script by Robert Smith, keeps the enjoyable story moving along at a snappy pace, nicely captures the insular and fiercely competitive atmosphere of the racetrack environment, makes neat use of genuine racetrack footage for authenticity, and maintains a pleasant tone throughout. The enthusiastic acting from the game and eager cast keeps this film humming: Thomas Mitchell as the amiable Arthur 'Red' Stanley, Mary Hatcher as spunky tomboy Louise Riley, Michael O'Shea as arrogant rival Vic Sullivan, Spring Byington as Billy's sweet and concerned mother Mary, Hattie McDaniel as friendly maid Minnie, Steve Brodie as the jolly Happy Lee, and Lina Romay as sultry nightclub singer Dolores Raymond. Ernest Laszlo's competent black and white cinematography boasts plenty of nifty fades and dissolves. Rooney's galvanizing presence gives this picture an extra invigorating kick. A fun little flick.

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.

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.

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.