Roy Acuff Movies
- 1993
- Add Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music to QueueAdd Bill Monroe: Father of Bluegrass Music to top of Queue
Bill Monroe was inarguably the single most important and influential figure in the history of bluegrass music. Fusing the fiddle and madolin sounds of the Eastern Kentucky Hills with the guitars of rural blues and adding a streamlined speed and emotional passion to the music, Monroe was truly the father of bluegrass and a brilliant musician by any standards. This program features performances by Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys, with interviews and performances from a host of special guests, including Dolly Parton, Lester Flat, Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Jerry Garica, John Hartford, Marty Stuart, Del McCoury, Peter Rowan, Tim O'Brian and noted bluegrass authority Paul McCartney. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Monroe
Top country stars pay tribute to the "King of Country Music," Hank Williams, in this film In the Hank Williams Tradition. Through interviews with Minnie Pearl and Roy Acuff, who both knew him personally, a portrait of Williams emerges. Host Dwight Yoakam offers glimpses into the life of the famous singer with seldom-seen footage of Williams. Featured songs include "Hey Good Lookin," "Your Cheatin' Heart," and "You Win Again." There are appearances by Randy Travis, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Chet Atkins, Ricky Skaggs, and Hank Williams Jr. ~ Alice Day, All Movie Guide
- 1989
This documentary profiles the great country singer Ernest Tubb, who rose to fame with his hit "Walking the Floor Over You." The Texas-born musician was a regular at the Grand Ole Opry, and performed with his Troubadours at venues throughout the world. This documentary traces the long career that Tubb has enjoyed. Archival clips feature Tubb at his best, including appearances with Jimmie Rodgers. Family, friends, and musical cohorts pay tribute to the man and his music. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
- 1989
Enjoy the performances of Minnie Pearl, Loretta Lynn, Roy Acuff, and Dolly Parton in this video of country music at the Grand Ole Opry house. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1986
View the Grand Ole Opry from backstage with plenty of great music. ~ All Movie Guide
Two Montana saddletramps head for bustling Music City and open up a detective agency in this comical adventure that was originally the pilot of a television series. Not only do the two have to accustom themselves to strange big-city ways, they have to learn to become less inept at the gumshoe game as they try to expose extortionists and return a missing singer. Singers Barbara Mandrell and Roy Acuff make cameo appearances. On video the film is titled Ramblin' Man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Acuff, Claude Akins, (more)
- 1959
A 2 volume set featuring the country music of Roy Acuff. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1949
Country-western favorite Roy Acuff and his Smoky Mountain Boys star in the Columbia musical western Smoky Mountain Melody. Not much happens plotwise: Acuff, playing "himself," is a tenderfoot who somehow manages to come out on top when he heads westward. The villains (who aren't all that villainous) try to promote a phony stock deal, but Roy and his pals foils their plans. The comedy honors go to Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as a blowhard sheriff. Smoky Mountain Melody was scripted by Barry Shipman, the son of pioneering female filmmaker Nell Shipman. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Acuff, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, (more)
- 1946
That dependable sleuth of pulp fiction fame, Nick Carter, apparently had an equally stalwart son. Chick Carter, Boy Detective did his sleuthing on radio before Columbia producer Sam Katzman brought him to the screen in Chick Carter, Detective. The juvenile hero of the radio waves had underwent certain changes in order for grown-up actor Lyle Talbot to portray him. Talbot's Chick Carter, however, remained strangely inactive in his own serial, allowing crusading reporter Rusty Farrell (Douglas V. Fowley) to perform most of the necessary derring-do. As plainly told as the title would suggest, Chick Carter, Detective was more or less a straightforward crime melodrama that eschewed the usual ray guns, invisibility inventions, and other paraphernalia of the genre. Former MGM starlet Pamela Blake did some snooping of her own as a rival detective, and a gangster bearing the unfortunate name of Nick Polio (George Meeker) indulged in a bit of insurance fraud on behalf of Charles King. With only two bona fide cliffhanger endings, Chick Carter, Detective found little favor with the small fry, its target audience. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide
- 1946
Country-western star Roy Acuff heads the cast of the modest Republic musical Night Train to Memphis. Taking time off from his musical duties, Acuff tries to patch up a feud between a family of hillbillies and a railroad company. Complicating matters is the fact that Roy's brother Don (Allan Lane) has sided with the family against the railroad, all the while romancing Constance (Adele Mara), daughter of train executive Stevenson (Joseph Crehan). For those not interested in bucolic backwoods comedy, the film offers several "funny" African American stereotypes, including Nicodemus Stewart (who later played "Lightnin" on TV's Amos N Andy) and Nina Mae McKinney (who once played the leading role in King Vidor's Hallelujah). Night Train to Memphis was produced by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, of Death Valley Days fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Acuff, Adele Mara, (more)
- 1944
In this western, a rancher turns his property into a dude ranch for soldiers after he is drafted. Featured upon this ranch are entertaining shows with music from Tex Ritter, Roy Acuff, and the Mills Brothers. Songs include: "Spot In Arizona," "You Man You," "Wait For The Light To Shine," "Walking Down The Lane With You," and ""Lazy River."" ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1944
Brad Taylor, Republic's newest leading man (after a long tenure at Columbia as "Stanley Brown"), heads the cast of the bucolic musical Sing, Neighbor, Sing. Taylor plays wolf-in-sheep's-clothing Bob Reed, who poses as an elderly English psychologist in order to fleece the populace of a backwoods community and woo the pretty young ladies. When the genuine psychologist (Charles Irwin), shows up, Reed is in deep you-know-what, but heroine Virginia Blake (Ruth Terry) loves him anyway. Featured country-western performers include Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys, Lulubelle and Scotty, the Milo Twins and Carolina Cotton. Republic specialized in this sort of cornpone fare throughout the 1930s and 1940s, thrilling the hinterlands while aggravating the so-called sophisticates. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Brad Taylor, Ruth Terry, (more)
- 1943
Country-western star Roy Acuff is top-billed in the Republic musical comedy O, My Darling Clementine. The story concerns a band of ragtag musicians, headed by Acuff, who blow into a hoity-toity town where the "right people" look down on pickin' and grinnin'. The town's social arbiter is Mrs. Uppington, a character that orignated on radio's Fibber McGee and Molly and is here portrayed by the original "Uppy", Isabel Randolph. Manager Frank Albertson struggles manfully to get Acuff's band booked into a classy hotel, and along the way romances the title character, played by Lorna Gray. Also on hand is a decidedly pre-Beverly Hillbillies Irene Ryan, who passes herself off as a middle-eastern princess. As thin as gossamer, O, My Darling Clementine will appeal most to C&W buffs. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Roy Acuff, Isabel Randolph, (more)
- 1942
Hi, Neighbor is a Republic "regional," spotlighting many of the 1942 stars of radio's Grand Ole Opry. Jean Parker and John Archer are among the rather mature coeds of a financially strapped college. In order to raise enough funds to remain open in the fall, the kids decide to turn the college into a vacation resort during the summer. Providing the necessary entertainment for such a venture are Jack Benny Show announcer Don Wilson, Bob Hope Show regular Vera Vague (aka Barbara Jo Allen), and country-western favorites Roy Acuff, Harry "Pappy" Cheshire and Lullubelle and Scotty. Hi, Neighbor was scripted by Dorrell and Stuart McGowan, of Death Valley Days fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1940
Though they may seem as corny as Kansas in August when seen today, the Weaver Brothers and Elviry was one of the most popular music-and-comedy aggregations on the Country-Western circuit in the early 1940s. The group consisted of Leon Weaver as Abner, Frank Weaver as Cicero (who never spoke, a la Harpo Marx) and June Weaver as Elviry, talented tunesmiths all who knew how to make the most of the wheeziest comedy material. In Grand Ole Opry, the Weavers get mixed up in politics, with Abner Weaver rather incongruously running for Governor. It's all part of a plan concocted by a group of crooked politicians, but Abner and the voters end up having the last laugh. Like most of the Weavers' Republic movie vehicles, Grand Ole Opry benefits from a stellar supporting cast, including Henry Kolker as the crooked publisher who sets the plot in motion and Claire Carleton as a brassy femme fatale. And per the film's title, Grand Ole Opry is chock full of talent gleaned from the same-named WSM radio series, including Uncle Dave Macon and Dorrie, George Dewey Bay and Roy Acuff and the Smoky Mountain Boys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Leon Weaver, Frank Weaver, (more)
These two features from the '40s feature bluegrass soundtracks and include country star Roy Acuff, as well as other contemporary performers. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
