Crappy film

A Brilliant Conflict

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Billy Coy, son of a famous race-car driver, has headed to California hoping to get a job working for his late father's mechanic. He doesn't plan to remain a mechanic though; he wants to be a race car driver and, in his words, he'll driver over anybody to do it. He manages to find a car to drive and is successful but after he is blamed for the death of a fellow driver it looks as though his career might be over. He is determined to race in the Indianapolis 500 so heads back east to enter races there. Away from the racing there is some romance; mostly between Billy's mother and his new employer, who she knew many years before, but also it is clear that tomboy mechanic Lou Riley has feelings for Billy.While this isn't a classic it still has plenty of exciting moments; the best being during the numerous car racing scenes. Apart from the close-ups of the drivers it is clear that most of the footage was of actual races. The story is decent enough with Mickey Rooney doing a solid job as the arrogant Billy and Mary Hatcher being a lot of fun as Lou... it is refreshing to see a film of this era where the leading lady isn't always glamourous; we only see her in a dress once, the rest of the time she is in mechanics clothes with her hair hidden under a cap. It was also refreshing that the story's main romance was actually between two older characters not the youngsters. It is interesting to see how racing has changed over the last seventy years; here, apart from helmets and goggles the racers look as if they dressed for a relaxing ride in the country not speeding round a racetrack in one of the sport's most famous races! Overall this is a decent film that fans of car racing are likely to enjoy thanks to the numerous exciting racing scenes.

It's Mickey Rooney piloting a racecar, so which has more rpm's, the ultra-energetic actor or the racer hitting on all cylinders. This was a difficult period in the diminutive performer's career, trying to find a niche following MGM's primo Andy Hardy series. He's really quite good here, the son of a deceased race driver trying to prove his worth. As Billy, he starts off as a brash driver intent on running over those competitors getting in his way. This leads to the misperception that he caused the death of his best friend Happy (Brodie). Thus, relationships with his mechanic buddies and the money man (Lane) sours. Good thing his neglected girlfriend (Hatcher) stands by him. Now he's entered in the big Indie 500 and a chance to redeem himself, but can he.The movie's mainly for racing fans, with lots of live footage, especially of crack-ups. Fortunately, the process shots of driver Billy's close-ups are smoothly integrated into the live footage, creating the appropriate effect. The supporting cast is well-chosen, especially the obscure Mary Hatcher who's a perfect match-up with Rooney. I guess her diminutive height limited a leading lady career, but she's a good little actress as she shows here. And where would a better middle-age couple be found than the sprightly twosome of Byington and Mitchell. Some casting director had a shrewd eye.Anyway, the film's mainly for fans of Rooney and hot cars, though the overall effort is seamless enough for old movie fans.

Mickey Rooney is a "fresh kid" and ace racecar driver who's involved in the tragic death of a fellow driver on the track; he recovers his courage to race in the Indianapolis 500, the same race that claimed the life of his father years before. Low-budget release from United Artists integrates footage of real drivers and fans in the stands with studio shots of Rooney in the pit and on the track. The visual result isn't as haphazard as it might have been, likely due to cinematographer Ernest Laszlo's finesse, although the close-ups of Mickey driving--wearing tight goggles and making exaggerated faces--are silly, as are the segues to mama Spring Byington over-emoting on the sidelines. Screenwriter Robert Smith is working on the thin side, never explaining why nobody attempted to save an injured driver on fire or why most of Rooney's colleagues are dying to take a poke at him, but he does well building this narrative as a character portrait. Rooney is an eager kid, not necessarily a hot-dogger, who just wants to race. There isn't much of the expected boy-girl stuff (the ignored affections of a female mechanic are thankfully kept to a minimum), but the fisticuffs action is brought on a bit heavily, lapsing into cartoony territory. ** from ****

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!