Reviews

Flynn has crafted a fantastic film, showing people from all walks of life all tied together in one broad but connected goal, to save what they can in the way of visuals from the beginning of cinematography up until the digital changeover from celluloid.

As with any hobby, the hobbyists themselves are going to be a very varied bunch, and here it's no exception. Again, that doesn't mean these are bad people--far from the fact. What it really highlights is the way that their collecting and their passion has impacted their lives, some for better, some for worse. The director did a great job tying these stories together, and everything shown is clearly out of love and respect for the people that let him point the lens at them to tell their own stories.

Hopefully the Blu-ray release of this will have bonus features, because something like this just screams for more sidebar subjects that might not have worked in the full film but are definitely still something interesting.

FID, LLF may appear rough in some spots, but the roughness comes from the subjects of the documentary and not the documentary itself. If you are any fan or historian of the moving image, this film is a rewarding watch.

I'm doubting that we're going to get a better DVD of this, and it's too bad. The source material is presented from a crappy looking (and sounding) 16MM television syndication print, and the movie itself was originally presented in nice, wide Cinemascope. The lack of widescreen is blatantly obvious here, as the cinematography is all over the place, as is the pathetically primitive panning and scanning. Now grant it, this film was never out to win any "that sho' is purty!" awards, but this print looks like poop. Combine that with some HORRIBLE DVD Compression artifacts, and you're sure to figure out that you've got a long way to go to get to high def here.

Good thing the content is what it is. RTN was one of a series of "jukebox" movies which were being pumped out of Nashville in the 60's, and these films, while rare to see nowadays, give us great looks into the time that was 1960's-era Nashville. You see vintage acts that were being pushed aside by Chet Atkin's and Owen Bradley's Countrypolitan style which was hot at the time, and you see up-and-comers who are obviously here to get any break they can.

Great clips here are a couple of performances by Connie Smith (although that gold suit she has is a tad, well...dated), Johnny Cash and the Carter Family (showing Johnny in the midst of his downward drug-fueled spiral, but still good enough to pull it off musically), and a young very-pre-outlaw Waylon Jennings doing "Anita".

Even the lesser acts are worth it, like Porter Wagoner's Pre-Parton "Girl Singer" Norma Jean doing "I Wouldn't Buy A Used Car From Him", and The Stoneman Family song "Tupelo County Jail" in stage outfits that look somewhere between the lines of The New Christy Minstrels crossed with Laugh-In. (Both of the above mentioned tunes were minor hits around the time this flick was shot, although the DVD didn't even bother to hunt down the actual title to the Stoneman's tune, giving it the cop-out title of "Write Me A Letter").

If you can get passed the cheap bargain-bin quality of the DVD, the music makes it worth every penny.

There seemed to be a lot of "country jukebox" movies that were being pumped out in the mid 60's. "Road To Nashville" is perhaps one of the most well known, only because it has actually made it to DVD (albeit in a horrible transfer which looks like (and sounds like) it originated from a 16MM TV print.) Anyway, "Country Boy" (or as it was retitled "Here Comes That Nashville Sound") is one of the better looking films of the genre. I managed to screen it straight from a 35MM print which was in both Cinemascope and beautiful full Technicolor, and it was honestly not that bad of a film. If you're expecting to see the "Citizen Kane" of country jukebox movies, look elsewhere, but this is a good way to kill an hour and a half. (That is, if you have access to a print and a projector, since this is unavailable on VHS or DVD).

The plot-in-a-nutshell: Country Star Sheb Wooley "discovers" this young singer while passing through town. Long story short, a stereotypical "bad manager" tries to gimmick up the kids talents to horrible results. The whole story is textbook 101 movie writin', but it could have been worse.

In the cinematography department, this movie really looks good. When you watch "Road To Nashville", you can see that it looks like it was shot in some Nashville Warehouse on the outskirts of town. Not here. "Country Boy" looks like they actually put some effort into making a good looking movie. The colors are nice and vivid.

The list of stars isn't as high a caliber as "Road To Nashville", but it's OK--the best of them all being Skeeter Davis performing a tune which never appeared on any of her LP's. Watch for appearances from The Glaser Bros. (as in TomPall & TGB), and the already mentioned Sheb Wooley, among others.

Perhaps one day, you may get to see it!