Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar

Final outings of comedy teams have not always met with success. Take Laurel and Hardy, with Utopia(1951) or the Three Stooges and Kook's Tour(1970). Both were sad farewells. Here it is more of the same for the two leads of the Bowery Boys. While it is good to see them one more time(and perhaps many fans have never had a chance to see this film), it doesn't seem like they were given any written dialogue, but instead were told to add lib. Huntz Hall comes off best, although he seems to be stuck on the word, "peasant". With Leo Gorcey, it seems the time off had hurt his acting skills. There are no close-ups on him and it's almost as if this were on purpose. For some reason he almost shouts out all his dialogue. What is most upsetting, is that they disappear before the end of the picture. You kept on expecting them to pop up again but they never do! There is one saving grace, though. The producer or director was wise enough to let them have some exchanges with the legendary Minnie Pearl. It was as if Hee Haw Meets the Bowery Boys! Arnold Stang is a joy, particularly in the opening credits. But as with Leo and Huntz, he is not to be found at the end. Maybe the budget was tight, but for whatever reason this hurt the picture as a whole. The musical numbers on the other hand were all classic. Among the songs are, Blue Moon of Kentucky by Bill Monroe, & Abilene by George Hamilton IV. Johnny Cash fans might want to watch this just to see a rare impersonation of him by Dell Reeves. It's extremely funny. The camera work on the song segments could have been better, but then again, this wasn't made at MGM! Unfortunately there are no extra's on the DVD.

Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar IS NOT the last teaming of Leo & Huntz in Bowery Boy persona; 1970's The Phynx was the last, though only in cameo roles.

If you like old country music, 1960's style, and don't mind a little country ham thrown in, then you have got to see this! Musicly, it is really well done! Some well known stars and some not so well known but in this movie the less known ones put on just as good a show!! Hats off to the sound guys---even though it is mono it has a really high quality sound that has to be heard to be beleaved!!! Check it out, you won't be sorry!

The story behind "Second Fiddle to a Steel Guitar" is interesting. It seems that following the death of her husband, country music legend Hank Williams, his wife Audrey was in financial straits and the film was created as a way to help her out with her bills. So, a bunch of famous (for the time) country talent agreed to play for the film. Additionally, a story was created with Arnold Stang as a husband whose wife hates country music (which is bad, as they live in Nashville) and she thinks opera is what folks want. To help her with her plan to bring an opera company to Tennessee are two idiots.... Huntz Hall and Leo Gorcey who are essentially playing the same sort of characters they played in with the East Side Kids and Bowery Boys. Unfortunately, the TV networks weren't interested in the film and it received small distribution in theaters.

So is this musical extravaganza any good? Well, if you love old time country music or want to see Hall and Gorcey, yes...however be aware that it's MOSTLY a musical performance film and you don't see that much of Stang, Gorcey or Hall. And, what you do see is often adlibbed. Unfortunately, the print on YouTube is VERY washed out...looking more like a sepia toned movie instead of a full color one. Overall, it's less a movie and more a musical extravaganza....and one you probably can skip unless you adore old country music.

If this film ever gets any distribution on video or DVD, it should become well-known as it features the one and only reunion of Leo Gorcey and Huntz Hall in their Bowery Boys characters AND the most incredible line-up of talent I've ever seen in any 1960's country music film, and I've seen (and reviewed some here) most of them. Country music fan Arnold Stang (who is very funny here--kind of in the Harry Langdon vein)'s wife, played by the lovely Pamela Hayes, hates country music and plans to put on a big opera benefit for her snooty friends. At the last minute, the opera company can't make it, so she turns to Arnold to put together a country music show in its place, and of course she gets converted to country music. Gorcey and Hall play the stagehands at the theater and get a lot of comic scenes in before the concert starts, and then they do comic relief backstage after every few acts. Reuniting Gorcey and Hall would be enough to get me to own this film, but it has an incredible country music show that lasts almost 90 minutes and features wall-to-wall REAL country music, with steel guitar and early 60's echo. I wrote down the names so I wouldn't forget any. Many of the artists do TWO songs, not just one: Little Jimmy Dickens, Carl and Pearl Butler (I hope their amazing clothes are in a museum somewhere--their music is especially good, so it's a shame they are not that well-known anymore), Lefty Frizzell, Bill Monroe, Dottie West, George Hamilton IV, Pete Drake and his infamous "talking steel guitar", Sonny James, Minnie Pearl (who does comedy AND sings a version of "Careless Love" that I won't soon forget!), Billy Walker (fantastic!), Connie Smith, Homer and Jethro, Johnny Wright (of Johnnie and Jack fame), Kitty Wells (Mrs. Johnny Wright, of course), fiddler Buddy Spiker, Del Reeves (whose second song after Girl on the Billboard is a parody of Heartbreak Hotel sung in a Walter Brennan accent!), Faron Young, and Webb Pierce, with a final singalong on "When The Saints Go Marching In" led by Sonny James. The whole show is hosted by Merle Kilgore, best known to those under 40 for his relationship with Hank Williams Jr.'s business empire. Kilgore's speaking voice is so rich and musical, I just wish the producers had had him sing. He made many great records in the 50s. By the way, the musical director for the film was Audrey Williams, but don't worry, she doesn't sing! This is a gem of a little film, shot in vibrant color. Any country music fan or Bowery Boys fan should track down a copy.