dougdoepke 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.

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.

wes-connors Wanting to be a race car driver like his deceased dad, Mickey Rooney (as Billy Coy) gets a job as mechanic in a garage run by fatherly Thomas Mitchell (as Arthur "Red" Stanley). There, Mr. Rooney meets "tomboy" Mary Hatcher (as Louise "Buddy" Riley), who likes him so much she puts on a dress. Rooney rises in the racing world, crashes his car, and notices Ms. Hatcher is pretty. He also discovers a dark secret about the father he idolizes. Meanwhile, mother Spring Byington (as Mary) finds romance with Mr. Mitchell.In formulaic territory, this film shows Rooney back in good form, after his disastrous starring performance in "Words and Music" (1948). "The Big Wheel" was also the production that showed his days as MGM box office superstar were indeed over. Fame made him brashly difficult to work with at times, but his "cut down a peg" role is quite professionally done. Having Mr. Mitchell and this cast helps. Note, this was Hattie McDaniel's last feature, in a role that reads like it might have originally been written for Richard Lane's wife.***** The Big Wheel (11/4/49) Edward Ludwig ~ Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Spring Byington, Mary Hatcher

classicsoncall It was interesting to hear it stated in 1949 when this picture was made that the Indianapolis 500 was already in it's thirty third year. The film never mentioned the term 'Indy 500', and the event took place on Decoration Day, not Memorial Day. Funny, my mother still calls it Decoration Day; I guess old habits die hard.For Mickey Rooney, this would have to be one of his quintessential performances, alternately cocky and swaggering, and at other times pensive and solemn. He comes on the scene with an ego as big as all outdoors, and has to get taken down a peg or two before getting a chance to hit the jackpot. Storywise, the movie seems to be all over the place with a disjointed continuity that often left me scratching my head. Like the eye-blinking scene in which he crashes during a race, a newspaper headline announces he has a broken leg, and the very next scene he's up and around good as new with scant reference to the accident.Rooney gets decent support from Thomas Mitchell as his sponsor Red Stanley, and Spring Byington as his mom. I expected a bit more in the way of romance between Billy Coy (Rooney) and his grease monkey sweetheart Buddy (Mary Hatcher), but as I mentioned, there was a lot going on. Funny, but I don't recall her ever being called Louise in the story, her character name as listed in the credits.Though most of the race scenes were stock footage, they were still effectively done, and some of the crashes looked unusually violent. One in particular, a crash and burn into a wall during the Indy race was especially nasty. Virtually every race made it look like accidents were more the norm than just the occasional mishap.Of course today, race films and the events themselves are a virtual panoply of commercial endorsements. There were a few instances of product placement here, like Mobil Oil and Coca Cola, but you had to be looking for them.If you enjoyed this film, try going back another seventeen years to Jimmy Cagney's 1932 picture "The Crowd Roars". It also gets it's start on California dirt tracks, including Culver City which shows up in this flick. There are some Indy scenes as well, though a main point of difference is that it also cameoed some leading race car drivers of the day. Nevertheless, fans of the sport and old time movies get a nice two for one with either of these stories.