Woodyanders Naïve hick rock musician Bud Eagle (a winningly sincere performance by Arch Hall Jr.) becomes an instant sensation after he makes a big splash on a TV talent show. Bud signs with slick high roller manager Mike McCauley (well played with oily aplomb by Arch Hall Sr.), who proves to be an evil, deceitful, and utterly unscrupulous greedy jerk.Director Ray Dennis Steckler relates the entertaining story at a swift pace, maintains a likable lighthearted tone throughout, nicely captures the sheer joy, vibrancy, and pleasant innocence of the early 60's rock music scene right before the British Invasion happened, and delivers lots of groovy dancing and catchy'n'lively bebop rock tunes. The compact script by Hall Sr. and Bob Wehling offers a neat exploration of the more corrupt and phony aspects of show business. The game cast display plenty of energy and enthusiasm: Hall Jr. projects an engagingly goofy wide-eyed charm, Nancy Czar makes for quite a cute and appealing love interest as the sweet Vickie, Steckler has a ball as McCauley's sleazy thug lackey Steak, Marie Denn does well as friendly diner waitress Marge, Robert Crumb contributes a sturdy turn as washed-up has-been singer Don Proctor, and leggy brunette knockout Virginie Roderick vamps it up deliciously as slinky temptress Daisy. The sub-Bowery Boys antics of three bumbling kidnappers provides several belly laughs. Kudos are also in order for Joseph V. Mascelli's crisp black and white cinematography. A hugely enjoyable romp.

zee yes, I only rated it a two, but I thought I'd want to rate it negative 5. I had no idea Ray Dennis Steckler had unpretentious competence in him as a director, but he does exhibit just that in this clichéd but not terribly offensive teen drive-in flick. Some okay supporting performances. The music and dancing aren't good, but they're miles beyond the junk on stage in Incredibly Strange...Zombies.I hate to be cruel, but the girl love interest is one of the ugliest women I've seen a love-interest role. In real life, she may have been a beauty and a delightful human being, but the camera didn't like her. I suspect Arch would have done much better in real life.

Bolesroor "Wild Guitar" stars Arch Hall, Jr., a kind-of rockabilly Cabbage Patch Kid come to life, as a singer who hits Hollywood with nothing but a suitcase and a guitar. He stops off at a diner to stare longingly at the food he cannot afford and is offered a hamburger sandwich and some french-fried potatoes by a beautiful young girl who feels sorry for him. She agrees to be his de facto girlfriend until he can find someone better, and even offers him a chance to sing on a local television show, where he is discovered and offered a contract that will make him rich and famous for the rest of his life. All this on his very first day in Hollywood!Okay, so at this point we can see that reality is not a priority here, but "Wild Guitar" is a fun teen movie with some decent moments. If you're like me you know Arch Hall from the MST3K classic "Eegah!" in which Arch spent most of the film cruising around the desert in his neato dune buggy yelling, "ROXIE!" You may also know that his father Arch Hall, Sr. (whose stage name is William Watters) was the producer and co-star of "Eegah!," and "Wild Guitar," and the mastermind behind the low-budget film factory known as Fairway Studios. Senior- who once had a promising acting career before he left Hollywood to tend the family business- had an idea about turning Arch into a teen idol with a record contract and a series of B-movies like this. It didn't quite work out but the films they made are good silly fun, like this one.Nancy Czar as Vicki is unbelievably sweet and beautiful. Watch how expressive her eyebrows and jaw are in the opening diner scene; this is a face that the camera just loves. I've done some research but I cannot figure out why she wasn't more famous or in more movies. (NOTE: If you've seen "Eegah" you may have wondered why Arch sings a song called "Vicki" to his leading lady in spite of the fact that she's named Roxie. The song appeared in "Wild Guitar" first and was evidently recycled to try to sell a few more records!) There's also a romantic ice-skating sequence which shows off Nancy Czar's considerable skill and astounding flexibility. Afterwards Arch and Nancy walk through the late-night Hollywood streets, and although this is by no means Artistic Cinema, the scene does capture the innocence and joy of young love.Arch is no DeNiro himself, but he's fun and enjoyable enough as the naive singer snagged in the dirty world of the music industry, and this film might have been a lost drive-in classic if it weren't for one thing: the kidnapping sequence. About two-thirds in the movie takes a detour from which it never recovers when three "funny" goons kidnap Arch Hall and hold him for ransom. These Bowery Boy rejects employ every bad gag in the book as they bumble their way badly through routines even The Stooges couldn't save. "Dis guy is a wise guy, boss- you want I should give 'em a knuckle sammich?!?" And it's not just awful... it's eternal. The extended sequence keeps piling on lame joke after lame joke until you might actually consider jamming ballpoint pens into your ears to end the pain.Sadly, the movie never recovers from these lowbrow hijinks, and what could have been a sweet teenage timepiece just becomes a waste of time. A shame.GRADE: C-

Scott Baldwin (Meven_Stoffat) 1. Girls in the 60s went for guys with incredibly bad hair.2. Guys in the 60s went for women who looked 20 years older than them.3. Movies can be about rockstars trying to make it big and have but only TWO performances of the protagonist's songs.4. Managers don't sign musicians, instead they "handle" them.5. The best way to perform a love ballad about your loved one on live TV is to be on a weird looking platform and have some stripper dancing around in the background.6. And speaking of the aforementioned love ballad, the best way of writing a song about your loved one is to repeat that person's name for half the song.7. TV studio security sucked back in the 60s (how the protagonist's girlfriend ran into the studio at 10 PM at night... WTF???) 8. No rockstar movie is complete without a hit-man subplot.9. Guys will suddenly start skating good when a girl shows off how good she is.10. You can run away from a groupie and somehow strangely end up back in the same room she first started creeping you out in.11. No love story is complete without the girl walking in on a guy being kissed by another girl.12. The softest kidnappers EVER go for the musician.13. Musicians apparently WANT to be kidnapped (Stockholm Syndrome much?) 14. The best excuse for #11 is that it was a publicity stunt...15. ...and the excuse in #14 totally works on a girl.16. Managers act like it's the end of the world when you tell them you're firing them.17. Telling the manager you're firing them will result in a fight scene that goes on for WAY too long.18. Musicians can fight. Good.19. No musician movie is complete without a music video!!! 20. Thankfully there will NEVER be a rockstar movie like this one again!