Saw two movies on Amazon Prime last night. the first was the 2015 Love and Mercy, the troubled life of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 89/85. It was a good film with their songs. The one gripe I would have is that both Paul Dano and John Cusack play Brian, and they don't look at all like each other, or Brian Wilson. I won't say much more except to indicate that I saw the Beach Grandads perform at the Hawaii Theater last year, one of my highlights of 2024.
So anyway, after watching Love and Mercy, the time was past 10PM, when I normally go to bed. However, just before turning off Prime, I noticed several films on the screen, and one was the 1980 Canadian film, Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave (click on that, and you, too, can see the whole 1 hour 26 minute movie).
Rotten Tomatoes audiences only gave it a 75% score, so chances are that if you are not a Hank Williams fan, you won't think much of it. Twenty-six of his songs were sung, and you also heard Tennessee Waltz by Patti Page.
Sneezy Waters played Hank Williams.- A Canadian, in 1970 he was part of A Rosewood Dream, which entertained at Expo 1970 in Osaka. We will go to Expo 2025 in Osaka this spring.
- Made that Hank Williams film in 1980, sang those songs himself, and well. In subsequent years gave more than 300 stage performances as Williams.
- In 1984 received the Best Actor Award in Grenoble, France, for his Williams role.
- Has performed with Roy Orbison.
- Film was nominated for the best country motion picture in the 19th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards.
- Was unable to secure music rights fom Acuff-Rose, who were concerned about drugs and alcohol scenes, so the film was only shown on HBO in the U.S.
The movie is set on 31December1952 with Hank Williams being driven to a concert in Ohio. He sits in the back seat and imagines a show he wishes he was giving. At the end, he walks out of the bar in the film. Back in the car, the real Hank Williams dies. He was only 29-years old.
There was a 1964 film of Williams' life, Your Cheatin' Heart, starring George Hamilton as Hank. The songs were sung by his son, Hank Williams Jr., when he was only 14-years old. Rotten Tomatoes audiences gave it a mediocre 67 rating, which was about right. No mention of his drugs and divorce problems. Not a good Hamilton performance, but loved his Love at First Bite, where he plays Dracula. Click on it and you can see the whole film.
Who was the real Hank Williams?
- Was born Hiram Williams in 1923 in Mount Olive, Alabama. At birth had spina bifida occulta, a defect of the spinal column, which, in addition to falling from a bull in a rodeo, hurting his back, led to his drug use.
- Learned playing a guitar from Rufus Payne (and his character makes an appearance and performance in the Williams film where he passes away) when he was a street performer.
Married his first wife, Audrey Sheppard, in 1944.- Recorded Lovesick Blues (did not write that song) in 1949, which stayed #1 on Billboard for 4 months.
- Finally got into the Grande Ole Opry that year.
- Early on alcoholism was a problem, and drugs followed. Roy Acuff told Williams, you've got a a million-dollar voice, son, but a ten-cent brain.
Earned $1000/show in 1950 (equivalent to around $13,000 today.)- The B-side of one of his records in 1951 was Cold, Cold Heart (which he did write). Tony Bennett's cover peaked at #1 on Billboard.
- Later that year was admitted to a sanitarium to treat his alcoholism and back problem.
- Recorded Jambalaya, Kaw-Liga and Your Cheatin' Heart in 1952.
Had an affair with a dancer resulting in a daughter. That year divorced his first wife, and married his second, Billie Jean Jones.- Was dismissed from the Grande Ole Opry for drunkenness.
- Got from a quack doctor amphetamines, Seconal, chloral hydrate and morphine.
- It was at the end of this year that he was in that car that transported him to death. He was being driven because a snowstorm prevented air travel.
On January 2, Williams's body was transported to Montgomery, Alabama, where it was placed in a silver casket that was displayed at his mother's boarding house for two days. His funeral took place on January 4 at the Montgomery Auditorium, with his casket placed on the flower-covered stage. Mourners came to Montgomery from all over the South, and beyond.[116] An estimated 15,000 to 25,000 people were outside the auditorium, and inside were 2,750, with the balcony set aside for about 200 black mourners. Hundreds passed by the casket.[117] Backed by the Drifting Cowboys, Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb and Red Foley performed "I Saw the Light", "Beyond the Sunset" and "Peace in the Valley".[118] Williams's remains are interred at the Oakwood Annex in Montgomery.[119]
- What a life, in only 1952.
Your Cheatin' Heart (this performance was in 1964 by Hank Williams, Jr. at the age of 15) was not released until 1953, with Kaw-Liga on the B-side, and led the Billboard country charts for six weeks.- Was unable to read or notate music, but wrote 167 songs.
- Recorded 55 singles that reached the Billboard Country & Western Best Sellers chart, 12 getting to #1.
Several of Williams's descendants became musicians: son Hank Williams Jr., daughter Jett Williams, grandsons Hank Williams III and Sam Williams, and granddaughters Hilary Williams and Holly Williams are also country musicians.[158][159][160] In July 2020, his granddaughter Katherine (Hank Jr.'s daughter) died in a car crash at the age of 27.[161] His great-grandson Coleman Finchum, son of Hank Williams III, released his debut single credited to IV and the Strange Band in 2021.[162] Meanwhile, Lewis Fitzgerald's son Ricky billed himself as Hank Williams IV following his father's claim of being Williams's son.- He didn't have a will, which caused a mess.
- Posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation.
In any case, Hank Williams: the Show He Never Gave, was the best film I've seen in a very long time because of recent circumstances. For example, two years ago I went to a double-bill, Barbenheimer. Barbie was close to terrible, and Oppenheimer was the movie of 2023. Was a cultural phenomenon with stark contrasts. It was also the first time I had been to a movie theater since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and the last time since then.
So why was this Hank Williams film the best I've seen in a very long time?
- The circumstances impacting on this event reminds me of one I had 62 years ago when I was a junior at Stanford. I had a girlfriend, who for Valentine's Day, arranged for a car from Palo Alto to San Francisco, dinner, and the premier of the 1961 West Side Story. Rotten Tomatoes, 92/84. Can't forget that experience.
As you might know, we took a long trip this fall/winter, which included a 35-day cruise on the Norwegian Encore from Seattle to Southampton.- It's a large ship with a capacity for 4000 passengers, so there were lots of entertainment venues.
One option we took at least 10 times, and maybe more, was their karaoke session in The Cavern Club, a replica of where The Beatles got their start in Liverpool. The sound system was excellent.- After a while, you home in on a few songs that go well, building your confidence. In my case, they were Your Cheating Heart and Jambalaya by Hank Williams. Other passengers actually caught me here and there and gave me compliments. First time that had ever happened to me. I'm not a good singer, but something about my voice and Hank Williams.
Finally, the wine we drank watching this film was an expensive bottle of the 2019 Guenoc Petit Sirah. This 21,000 acre winery is located on the site of Lillie Langtry's old estate, and was revived by the Magoon family of Hawaii. I knew the president, Orville Magoon, who was also an ocean engineer and graduate of Stanford.- Where would I place this Hank Williams movie? Maybe in the top 5%, or around #200.
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