Great Balls of Fire! (film)

Great Balls of Fire! (1989) is an American biographical film, directed by Jim McBride and features Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis. It was written by McBride and Jack Baran, based on an autobiography by Myra Lewis and Murray M. Silver Jr.

The picture executive producers were Michael Grais, Mark Victor, and Art Levinson, and was produced by Adam Fields.

The early life of Jerry Lee Lewis when he became a teen idol and married his 13-year-old cousin Myra is depicted in this film. Many thought Lewis would supplant Elvis Presley as the "King of Rock and Roll" in the 1950s.

Plot

The film tells the story of Jerry Lee Lewis (Dennis Quaid), nicknamed "The Killer", during the early years of rock and roll, 1956-1958. Lewis is shown as a mixed-up person: a skilled performer with little discipline, an alcoholic, and a caring husband who sometimes beats his wife.

As Lewis rises to the top of the charts with such hits as "Crazy Arms," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," and "Great Balls of Fire!" he falls in love with his 13-year-old second cousin Myra (Winona Ryder), and eventually marries her.

There is a sub-plot of Lewis' relationship with his cousin, the preacher Jimmy Swaggart (Alec Baldwin). Jimmy's career keeps him in constant conflict with his cousin's wild life of rock and roll, and brings out some funny exchanges. The financially successful Lewis buys a new car and gives his old one to his cousin, and when Swaggart praises the Lord for this gift, Lewis replies:

"Don't thank Jesus, thank Jerry Lee Lewis!"

When a British reporter (Peter Cook) discovers he is married to his teenage cousin, Lewis is condemned as a molester and a pervert by the public.

The movie ends after Lewis learns he is about to become a father, as his 13-year-old wife tells him she has become pregnant.

The closing title card reads: "Jerry Lee Lewis is playing his heart out somewhere in America tonight."

Background

The story was co-written by Myra Gail Lewis (her autobiography Great Balls of Fire!), the former wife of Jerry Lee Lewis, with Murray Silver. Jerry Lee Lewis has openly stated his hatred towards her book.

Filming locations

The film was filmed on location: Marion, Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, and West Memphis, Arkansas.

Cast

• Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis
• Winona Ryder as Myra Gale Brown
• John Doe as J.W. Brown
• Stephen Tobolowsky as Jud Phillips
• Trey Wilson as Sam Phillips
• Alec Baldwin as Jimmy Swaggart
• Steve Allen as Himself
• Lisa Blount as Lois Brown
• Joshua Sheffield as Rusty Brown
• Mojo Nixon as James Van Eaton
• Jimmie Vaughan as Roland Janes
• David R. Ferguson as Jack Clement
• Robert Lesser as Alan Freed
• Lisa Jane Persky as Babe
• Peter Cook as British reporter

Critical reception

Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, did not like the film because of its weak screenplay, and wrote, "This is a simpleminded rock 'n' roll history in which the pleasures are many and the troubles are few. Lewis, played by Dennis Quaid as a grinning simpleton with a crazy streak and a manic piano style, climbs the same career ladder as many of the stars of musical biographies, but he does it with lightning speed." Ebert also said that Quaid did a nice job of reproducing the Jerry Lee Lewis stage persona.

Critic Caryn James thinks the film tells the fun side of rock and roll, and wrote, "Jim McBride's film is a compressed, cleaned-up version of the Jerry Lee Lewis story, but it re-creates the soul-shaking, brain-rattling fun of rock-and-roll. It also captures, perhaps for the first time on film, something of the sexual aura of rock-and-roll at its birth." Yet, she added that anyone looking for a true sense of music history will be let down by the film.

Distribution

In marketing the film, the producers used the tagline: The true story of a legend.

The film opened in wide release in the United States on June 30, 1989.

The box-office receipts were poor. The first week's gross were $3,807,986 and the total receipts for the two week run were $13,691,550. The film was in wide release for ten days.

In its widest release the film was featured in 1,417 theaters across the country.

Soundtrack

An original motion picture soundtrack was released by the producers on the Polydor Records label on June 8, 1989. Jerry Lee Lewis re-recorded his music from the 1950s for the soundtrack with the title track "Great Balls Of Fire," "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "That Lucky Old Sun." The soundtrack contains 12 tracks.

CD Track Listing

1. Great Balls Of Fire
2. High School Confidential
3. Big Legged Woman - Booker T. Laury
4. I'm On Fire
5. Rocket 88 - Jackie Brenston And The Delta Cats
6. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On
7. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Valerie Wellington
8. Breathless
9. Crazy Arms - Jerry Lee Lewis/Dennis Quaid
10. Wild Creature
11. That Lucky Old Sun
12. Great Balls of Fire (Original Version)

Awards

• Young Artist Awards: Young Artist Award; Best Young Actress Starring in a Motion Picture, Winona Ryder; 1990.

References

External links

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