Billy Coy’s pitstop during the 1949 Indy 500 won by Bill Holland’s Deidt Offy…
Mickey Rooney stars in this typically cheesy Hollywood racing film set around 1940’s Midget Racing and the 1949 Indy 500. YouTube away if you want to watch it, I haven’t but probably should give it a whirl, Mickey is an insomnia cure for me.
Billy Coy is a garage mechanic who becomes a champion racer after the death of his father at Indy. It’s a tale of a climb to the top, treading on folks along the way, achieving success and eventually redemption. There are some common motor racing elements here! Click here for an article about both the film and Rooney’s time of life which led the ‘Hollywood Star’ taking such a B Grade role. I always thought he WAS a B Grade actor, so to me he is perfectly cast!
http://tcm.tv/this-month/article/353248%7C353371/The-Big-Wheel.html
Here is a list of ‘top’ motor racing films, I suspect an enthusiasts list may be a tad different;
My Tops are ‘Senna’, ‘Grand Prix’, ‘Rush’ and ‘Le Mans’ with perhaps the latter my favourite due to the complexity and subtle nuances of the flicks 1500 words of dialogue.
http://cinemanerdz.com/top-car-racing-movies/
‘The Jalopy Journal’ has an article with a bit of ephemera about The Big Wheel;
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-big-wheel-starring-mickey-rooney-1949.805193/
The engine is an Offy but what is the car/chassis pictured atop the article by the way?…
Tailpiece…
Credit…
John Springer Collection
primotipo... 