Directed by:
Edward LudwigScreenplay:
Robert SmithCinematography:
Ernest LaszloCast:
Mickey Rooney, Thomas Mitchell, Mary Hatcher, Michael O'Shea, Spring Byington, Hattie McDaniel, Steve Brodie, Lina Romay, Charles Irwin, Monte Blue (more)VOD (1)
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In The Big Wheel, Mickey Rooney plays Billy Coy, a garage mechanic who matriculates into a champion race-car driver. On the way to the top, he steps on friends and foes alike. He even manages to briefly alienate his saintly mother (Spring Byington). The cocky Coy eventually kills another racer when he forgets that gas and alcohol don't mix. It takes some doing, but Billy finally redeems himself. The climax blends stock footage of the Indianapolis 500 with newly-lensed racing sequences. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Mickey Rooney
USA
Best movies:
Captains Courageous (1937)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
Thomas Mitchell
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Mary Hatcher
USA
Best movies:
Till the Clouds Roll by (1946)
Michael O'Shea
USA
Best movies:
It Should Happen to You (1954)
Fixed Bayonets! (1951)
Spring Byington
USA
Best movies:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
Jezebel (1938)
You Can't Take It with You (1938)
Hattie McDaniel
USA
Best movies:
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Carefree (1938)
Vivacious Lady (1938)
Steve Brodie
USA
Best movies:
Anchors Aweigh (1945)
Winchester '73 (1950)
How the West Was Won (1976) (series)
Lina Romay
USA
Best movies:
Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Adventure (1945)
Charles Irwin
Ireland
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
To Be or Not to Be (1942)
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Monte Blue
USA
Best movies:
Gentleman Jim (1942)
Reap the Wild Wind (1942)
Adventures of Don Juan (1948)
Allen Jenkins
USA
Best movies:
I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932)
The Front Page (1974)
Ball of Fire (1941)
Richard Lane
USA
Best movies:
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Carefree (1938)
Denver Pyle
USA
Best movies:
Maverick (1994)
Bonnie and Clyde (1967)
The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997) (TV movie)
Kenner G. Kemp
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Limelight (1952)
Jeffrey Sayre
USA
Best movies:
Bon Voyage! (1962)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
North by Northwest (1959)
Harold Miller
USA
Best movies:
Song of Love (1947)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Donald Kerr
USA
Best movies:
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
The Big Country (1958)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Brick Sullivan
USA
Best movies:
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Love Crazy (1941)
Franklyn Farnum
USA
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Sunset Boulevard (1950)
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Jack Perry
Italy
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956)
The Thin Man Goes Home (1945)