An interesting side note to The Buddy Holly Story is Gary Busey had previously been involved in a failed attempt at making a movie about the life of Buddy Holly, Three-Sided Coin, in which Busey was going to play the part of The Crickets drummer Jerry Allison. Three-Sided Coin was scrapped due to some legal wranglings over the rights to Holly's life story. That failed movie, in which Busey was working with the original Crickets drummer, gave Busey inside information about Buddy Holly. This must have really helped Busey in his portrayal of Buddy Holly, since this is one of the finest performances of an actor portraying a rock and roll star you are likely to see. Charles Martin Smith and Don Stoud also help in adding to the realism of the film's musical performances, by doing their own live singing and playing during the filming of the movie.
The Buddy Holly Story follows Holly from his teen years in Lubbock, Texas, to his eventual stardom and, of course, to the final tragic plane crash which took the life of not only Holly, but also Richie Valens and The Big Bopper. Besides Richie Valens (Gilbert Melgar) and The Big Bopper (Gailard Sartain), the film also features Eddie Cochran (Jerry Zaremba), King Curtis (Craig White) and in a surprise, at least to me, comedian Paul Mooney is terrific portraying Sam Cooke.
I first watched The Buddy Holly Story years ago and was amazed at the time by Busey's portrayal of Holly. When re-watching the film recently, Busey is still great, but the film itself isn't a good as I remembered it. Even though Holly died at the age of 23 and the movie doesn't have a long life to portray, it still had to condense a lot into the 114 minute running time. As with any biopic, events and people have been changed and some of the scenes just don't ring true. If you haven't seen The Buddy Holly Story I still highly recommend the film. Busey has allowed himself to become a punchline for jokes these days, but watching this movie should make you marvel at what he is or at least was capable of.
In La Bamba, I didn't see the complete immersion of the actor, Lou Diamond Phillips, with his character, Ritchie Valens, as I did with Gary Busey in The Buddy Holly Story and Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter. Regardless of my above statement, and the fact Lou Diamond Phillips only bears a passing resemblance to Valens, his acting ability was strong enough to make me so involved with his character that I was wishing there could be a different ending to the movie other than the one I knew was inevitable. A special note should be added that even though Phillips' performances were dubbed, his handling of the guitar playing in La Bamba added another level of authenticity to the film.
La Bamba begins during the period of Valens' life when his brother Bob had been released from jail and had made enough money to have the family move from the migrant fields back to a more stable home-life. A lot of La Bamba revolves around Ritchie and his relationship with his brother Bob. While Bob supported Ritchie, he was also envious of the success of his brother. Since Bob also had a problem with alcohol he made some bad decisions, some of which were detrimental to Ritchie. Not only Bob, but in a refreshing twist of the way a lot of early Rock and Roller's were looked at, Ritchie's whole family was supportive of him. The only thing I found hard to believe in La Bamba was Ritchie Valens carrying his guitar EVERYWHEREhe went. While I have read reports that Valens carried his guitar to school to entertain his classmates, the constant presence of the guitar seemed far fetched --- but what do I know --- maybe it was true.
In La Bamba, Valens crosses paths with a few other musicians: Los Lobos, who appear as a Mexican Bar Band; Howard Huntsberrry does a great turn as Jackie Wilson; Brian Setzer rocks out as Eddie Cochran; and Marshall Crenshaw makes a very credible Buddy Holly [Besides being a musician, Crenshaw also wrote the great reference book Hollywood Rock - A Guide To Rock n Roll In The Movies]
This movie is long out of print and never officially released on DVD. I say officially, since every bootlegger seems to have a copy for sale. Luckily, I taped mine off HBO many years ago and have watched it several times over the years.
American Hot Wax revolves around Alan Freed (Tim McIntire) just before the payola scandal and his last live Rock 'n' Roll Show at The Paramount Theatre.
Tim McIntire doesn't really look like Alan Freed, but he occupies his role so completely, you will believe that he is Alan Freed. As a matter of fact, every actor in American Hot Wax is good and this includes a cast as diverse as Jay Leno as Freed's driver, Fran Drescher as Freed's secretary, Laraine Newman as a sort of Carole King/Ellie Greenwich character, Jeff Altman as a music manager, and Richard Perry as a record producer.
One of the stand out actors, besides McIntire is Moosie Drier as Artie, the head of the Buddy Holly Fan Club. He has the most touching scene in the movie when he's talking to Freed about Holly. I found a clip (with Spanish subtitles) that I am including below.
American Hot Wax is a "busy" movie, there's people moving and talking and music playing almost from start to finish. This creates a feeling of excitement in the viewer that goes well with the rock 'n' roll soundtrack. Robert Altman has nothing on the director of American Hot Wax, Floyd Mutrux, when it comes to handling multiple characters at the same time.
While Floyd Mutrux may not be a well known name, he is well known among movie cultists. Not only did he direct American Hot Wax, but he also directed the cult movies "Aloha Bobby and Rose" and "The Hollywood Knights" plus IMDB shows him as an uncredited writer on "Two Lane Blacktop"
Besides all of the background music in American Hot Wax, the movie also contains performances by Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Frankie Ford.
American Hot Wax is not historically accurate and if you view the movie trying to put people, songs, and places into correct chronological order, you're going to be disappointed. However, if you want to watch a movie that will give you the feel and excitement of 1950s rock, then American Hot Wax is for you.
