source: The Fireball

Moviecut—The Fireball

The Fireball

If you are willing to suspend disbelief for 84 minutes and accept that someone who has never skated can become a roller derby champion in a matter of weeks or months, then you just might enjoy this movie. I watched it only to see Marilyn Monroe in one of her earliest roles and wound up actually liking the movie. Pat O'Brien gives a solid performance in a familiar role as Father O'Hara and it is difficult not to fall in love with Beverly Tyler as Mickey Rooney's loyal, suffering girlfriend. And while Miss Monroe's role is a very minor one with only a few lines, her presence in this film, by definition, makes it a classic.

After the war, and the demise of the ANDY HARDY series, Rooney seemed to be trying to find his niche in Hollywoodland. From around 1949 to 1956, Rooney made some of the very best film noir ever put on celluloid: THE BIG WHEEL, MY OUTLAW BROTHER, QUICKSAND, and the classic DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD. THE FIREBALL is a another mini-classic. Yes, it's the typical sports story-young man struggles to the top, becomes a dickweed, then after life-altering crisis becomes a "real hero." But it is how the Mick plays it here that makes this one great viewing. It also doesn't hurt to be able to catch a glimpse of MM now and again-and also a pre-RIN TIN TIN Jim Brown. Throw in Pat O'Brien as a priest and you gotta classic!!!