BY LEE PFEIFFER
Having grown up in the wilds of New Jersey, my playground was generally Times Square, so I've never developed a full appreciation of country music, at least outside of the realm of such mainstream, chart-crossing greats as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Glen Campbell and Kenny Rogers. The numerous attempts to launch country stations on New York radio generally ended in financial disaster. Thus, I acknowledge I'm not very well versed in the lives and careers of legendary country singers, including the man who is considered by many to be the greatest of them all, Hank Williams. Watching the Warner Archive's DVD of the Williams' biopic Your Cheatin' Heart arrived, I felt as though the world it was set in would be as foreign to me as a distant planet. The 1964 MGM release, directed by Gene Nelson, is notable in several ways. It is perhaps the last musical to be filmed in black-and-white and it represents a rare mainstream release for producer Sam Katzman, who was known for cheesy cult classics, though he did produce successful Elvis Presley and Herman's Hermits musicals for MGM.
I found myself surprisingly impressed by the movie, particularly with George Hamilton's performance as Williams. On the surface, it would seemed to have been a bizarre bit of casting: Hamilton was the ultimate Hollywood pretty boy and he was to play a man who was unsophisticated enough to make Gomer Pyle look like Laurence Olivier. However, Hamilton gives an excellent performance - in fact it may be the best work of his career. The film itself is consistently entertaining, though the background on its production is quite fascinating. Williams emerged from an impoverished youth to become an idol to country music fans. His seemingly endless array of chart-topping hits were sung in his distinctive style of crooning, which generally included high pitched vocals that often approached yodeling. In his personal life, however, Williams had trouble coping with the trappings of success and felt his material gains were somehow an insult to his core audience of everyday folks from modest backgrounds.
Plagued by health problems and chronic back pain since birth, Williams sought refuge in the bottle and his battle with alcoholism derailed his career more than once. (It lead to his being fired by the Grand Ol' Opry). The film tackles these issues to a certain degree, but Williams fans have long scoffed at how the script whitewashes many elements of his life while completely eliminating key incidents and people that had strong influence over his actions. Williams died at the age of 29, probably as a result of his abusive use of alcohol. The film never mentions what the cause of death is - another omission that was obviously due to the influence of his first wife Audrey, who positioned herself as "Technical Advisor" on the film. Her version of history doesn't even include the fact that Williams had remarried shortly before his death. Williams fans have long painted Audrey as a Lady MacBeth type whose meddling in the project delayed it from going into production for a full decade. Additionally, although MGM could have used Williams' original recordings, Audrey was eager to launch her son Hank Jr. on a singing career and insisted that he re-record his father's songs. The result works astonishingly well, especially when one considers that Hank Jr was only 14 at the time! Some Williams fans insist these re-recordings are more impressive than the originals.
If one dismisses this as an accurate historical record of Williams' life and career, it can be a highly entertaining biopic - and you don't have to be a country music fan to find yourself tapping your foot to the impressive number of major Williams songs that have entered popular culture. Hamilton gets able support from Susan Oliver as his long-suffering wife, Red Buttons in his usually reliable role as charismatic second banana and Arthur O'Connell as a record producer who plays a parternal role in Williams' life. Country Western music, along with jazz, is an art form that is an American original that has spawned generations of revered performers, among them Hank Williams. Time has done nothing to eradicate his influence over the medium and American culture.
The DVD includes the original trailer, which plugs the film's soundtrack album in a rather over-the-top way.
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