The Big Wheel is no big deal. It's more an artifact of a bygone era, a formulaic "B" movie about race cars made to fill the second half of a double bill. Short on production values, The Big Wheel traces the zero to sixty rise of race car driver Billy Coy. You can bet there are plenty of turns around the track, but excitement is limited as Billy goes from mechanic to hot shot driver with checkered flags waving in every direction. Throw in some simpering romance left over from an Andy Hardy flick striving for charm and the shadow ofa legendary racing Dad trying to flesh out the drama.
Andy Hardy or Billy Coy? ©Image
Billy Coy, The Big Wheel of the title, is all over the track, making hairpin character turns without the least concern for crashing the film. Starting from friendly wide-eyed innocence then turning haughty within minutes, Coy is culled together from too many clichés.
Mickey Rooney, approaching thirty, begins making the permanent leap to adult roles with The Big Wheel. Rooney as Coy is a black and white actor, lacking any subtle tones to create a nuanced character. A few years later in The Bridges at Toko-Ri , Rooney pulled together his acting chops for a dramatic role. Mary Hatcher as love interest Louise Riley can barely act. Veteran Thomas Mitchell does his best to add color to master mechanic Red Stanley and Spring Byington is on hand as Momma Coy. And if only someone had taught Steve Brodie a reasonable laugh as Happy Lee.
Much of this DVD looks excellent, but like track beat up toward the end of a race, the original elements let the transfer down on the home stretch. Images are very sharp with no noticeable edge enhancement. Contrast is comfortable and black and white tones creamy and accurate. A few scenes are racked by MPEG artifacts in the background The mono sound is thin and scratchy at times, but the dialogue is clean and motor roar is loud enough to drown out any unwanted distortion.