''The Fastest Guitar Alive'' is a 1967 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film, directed by

Michael D. Moore Michael D. Moore (born Dennis Michael Sheffield, October 14, 1914 – March 4, 2013) was a Canadian-born American film director, second unit director, and child actor, when he was credited as Mickey Moore (or Micky Moore). He was credited as Mic ...

with singer

Roy Orbison Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...

in his only starring role as an actor. The film features Orbison performing seven original songs, which appeared on his 1967 MGM album of the same name. His song "There Won't Be Many Coming Home" is featured in the 2015 western film ''

The Hateful Eight ''The Hateful Eight'' (sometimes marketed as ''The H8ful Eight'' or ''The Hateful 8'') is a 2015 American Western mystery thriller film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leig ...

''.

Plot

Near the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and t ...

, a Southern spy (Orbison) with a bullet-shooting guitar is given the task of robbing gold bullion from the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

to help finance the ill-fated Confederacy's last-ditch war effort.

Cast

as Johnny Banner *

Sammy Jackson Sammy Jackson (August 18, 1937 – April 26, 1995) was an American actor, known particularly for his roles reflecting rural life, and a country music disc jockey, although he also played pop-standards during 1983 at Los Angeles's KMPC. He a ...

as Steve Menlo *

Maggie Pierce Margaret Pierce, M.D., F.A.C.S. is a fictional character from the American television medical drama ''Grey's Anatomy'', which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series producer Shon ...

as Flo Chesnut * Joan Freeman as Sue Chesnut *

Lyle Bettger Lyle Stathem Bettger (February 13, 1915 – September 24, 2003) was an American character actor who had roles in Hollywood films and television from the 1950s onward, often portraying villains. One such role was the wrathfully jealous elephant ...

as Charlie * John Doucette as Marshal Max Cooper * Patricia Donahue as Stella DeWitt *

Ben Cooper Ben Cooper (September 30, 1933 – February 24, 2020) was an American actor of film and television, who won a Golden Boot Award in 2005 for his work in westerns. Stage Cooper appeared on Broadway in '' Life With Father'' (1939). He debuted in ...

as Deputy Rink *

Ben Lessy Ben Lessy (April 29, 1902 – October 30, 1992) was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor. Early life He was born in New York City, New York. Career Lessy was known for a nightclub act done with Patti Moore, the long-t ...

as Indian Chief * Douglas Kennedy as Sheriff Joe Stedman *

Iron Eyes Cody Iron Eyes Cody (born Espera Oscar de Corti, April 3, 1904 – January 4, 1999) was an American actor of Italian descent who portrayed Native Americans in Hollywood films, famously as ''Chief Iron Eyes'' in Bob Hope's '' The Paleface'' (1948). ...

as First Indian *

Sam the Sham Domingo "Sam" Samudio (born February 28, 1937, in Dallas, Texas, United States), better known by his stage name Sam the Sham, is a retired American rock and roll singer. Sam the Sham was known for his camp robe and turban and hauling his equipme ...

as First Expressman

Production and release

Filming began September 1966. Although Orbison was pleased with the film, it proved to be a critical and box office flop. While MGM had included five films in his contract, no more were made.Amburn, pp. 151–153.

Soundtrack

''The Fastest Guitar Alive'' is the soundtrack for the 1967 film of the same name – and Orbison's eleventh

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

– released in June 1967 on

MGM Records MGM Records was a record label founded by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946 for the purpose of releasing soundtrack recordings (later LP albums) of their musical films. It transitioned into a pop music label that continued into the ...

. It was the only album to consist entirely of Roy Orbison/

Bill Dees William Marvin Dees (January 24, 1939 – October 24, 2012) was an American musician known for his songwriting collaborations with singer Roy Orbison. Career Born and based out of Borger, Texas, United States, Dees played guitar and sang with a ...

originals. Its single "There Won't Be Many Coming Home" reached #18 in the UK and entered the Australian chart at its highest position of #32 before slipping down the chart.

Track listing

All songs written by

and

. The track "Rollin' On" was covered on the Prague Radio Dance Orchestra album ''Famous Western Film Melodies''.

References

External links

* *
''The Fastest Guitar Alive'' Virtual Museum
1967 musical comedy films 1960s spy comedy films 1960s Western (genre) comedy films 1967 films American musical comedy films Films directed by Mickey Moore Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films American Civil War spy films 1960s English-language films 1960s American films {{AmericanCivilWar-film-stub