I Saw A Film!

I never realized there was an attempt to cast Marty Robbins in an Elvis movie. Well, that’s what this feels like. Marty doesn’t sing his song about the Mexican girl in El Paso, but he does lay down a few numbers, and there are some other country/blue grass / folk-style acts to boot, mixed into a story about three brothers, Marty the race car driving maven, his younger brother the ace mechanic and the third brother a treasury agent busting up moonshine operations (did you know this is still going on? While slowly legalized in some places, other parts of the country are still busting major still operations).

After lots of vintage cars going in dusty circles stuff, Marty and John Ashly (from How to Stuff a Wild Bikini) have a falling out, and the young mechanic, after being condescended to a bit too much, ends up on the wrong side of the law with the moonshiners. I suppose there’s a lesson there in talking down to your little brother too much. The younger brother vows to beat Marty in a race. When the lady asks him how he’s going to beat his champion brother he merely points out that he built the triple-7 (their winning sled). Of course, one thing leads to another and soon enough the brothers are the leaders in a big race, neck and neck with one another.

The moonshiners aren’t pleased with young brother trying to break away from them, they kidnap the racing team, but in the ensuing fight and car chase end up crashing, problem solved.

Apparently ole Marty Robbins really was a NASCAR driver right up until he died, much too young in 1982. So the racecar driver and country singing role was nothing more than a simple biography, unlike other Marty Robbins westerns and such. Marty sings a number of tunes, and the Stoneman Family (new for me) do a cute one with their adorable dancing mandolin player, probably the most memorable part of the film.

This is running free on prime (usa) and despite Marty’s draw power, and the story of a younger brother losing his temper and working with the moonshiners while another brother has to bring the moonshiners to justice, most of the film is going to be sleep-inducing for most folks. The film opens with some really sweet guitar picking, probably whoever Marty’s guitarist was.