The Big Wheel
February/03/2010 00:27
OK, time for some basic entertainment. So from the cobweb covered closet of the public domain comes 'The Big Wheel', a somewhat cliched story of racing and race cars that features some timeless scenes of 40's era race cars. It stars Mickey Rooney from the days when he was pretty much the biggest box office draw around. The gist of the story is that Mickey plays a young man pursuing a career as a race driver after experiencing the death of his father who was killed driving at Indianapolis. Ultimately, he finds himself right in the thick of the racing world along with a dose of romance just to keep everyone happy. You'll have to watch it yourself to get the rest of the implausible story, because I'm not going to spoil the ending. The film is kind of corny, and pretty cliched, but it's also a tolerable story of youthful expectations that also happens to have some great racing footage. In fact that's the real draw here. There are garage scenes, track roadsters, midgets, and 1948 vintage Indy cars at full song. Pretty fun to look at.
It's also a full length feature film, so it will take some patience to watch it while streaming over the web. It's right at 90 minutes in length, and is presented here in it's original, less than real sharp, black & white footage. The viewing experience varies depending on the computer you're using. Expect to wait a while as it loads, and playback may require some occasional re-buffering. If you have a really slow computer, the video may look choppy, but then you're having that problem with all video. Newer machines should play the video without too much trouble.
So check it out for grins, and keep your eyes on the vintage racing gear.
LK