Reviews

This post is not to review or rate "Eddie", but to explain the background of the plot for other posters who seem confused on this.

"Eddie" was based on the 1980 book, same name, by Paul F. Kluge (avail used Amazon). The basis of the plot is simple: If the lead singer in a #1 rock group dies, how are the lives of others in the group altered? Do they try to keep it going, or let go and move on? Do they ever try to "go back"? Et cetera. Mr. Kluge's inspiration for this was the death of Buddy Holly in 1959. He long wondered what happened to the members of the Crickets after that day, and turned his curiosity into this book.

All this per a personal conversation I had with Mr. Kluge in 1996. At that time, he was a professor at a small Ohio college.

If you haven't seen this movie, catch it for at least one reason: About an hour into it Tony Curtis is passing as a surgeon on a Canadian warboat with Edmond O'Brien as its captain. O'Brien comes down with an impacted molar, and Curtis has to remove it. What happens after that is totally unforgettable. They should make special awards just for scenes this funny!

When I saw Portier and Widmark together in "The Bedford Incident", I couldn't resist seeing them together again in this movie. Well, it was no "Bedford". It looked for the world like they were still completing the script while filming was going on, and at one point the actors got ahead of the writers - so they just made it up as they went along. Or so it seemed.

It was kind of a letdown, but it was entertaining, even if for the wrong reasons.

Depending on what ending you see, this movie just might give you nightmares. The acting is good - not stellar - but the plot moves along nicely, keeping you wondering what's coming next.

Unfortunately, there seem to be variations in the ending - who's doing the deciding, I don't know. But the ending I saw on my first viewing was a perfect one-two punch that, frankly, scared the hell out me. Hope you're so "lucky".

If you have parents or grandparents that were teens in the 50s, this movie gives an insight into their culture. The 50s (if you were white) was a time of unprecedented prosperity, cheap gasoline, and fast cars. The horsepower race was on, and everyone played - even Studebaker with its Avanti.

It was the era of the Chrysler 300, Pontiac Bonneville, and the indestructible Ford flathead V8. Holly vs. Weber, 2-4bbl vs. 3bbl stacked carbs, stick shift vs beefed-up Hydramatics, Saturday night at the local outlaw track.

Thunder Road is a definitive work of its time. Rent or buy this thing, and take it to your parents or grandparents house to watch it together. You may discover a side to them you didn't know existed. Get it before it's gone, because it'll never exist again.