''The Fireball'' is a 1950 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

film starring

Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney (born Joseph Yule Jr.; other pseudonym Mickey Maguire; September 23, 1920 – April 6, 2014) was an American actor. In a career spanning nine decades, he appeared in more than 300 films and was among the last surviving stars of the ...

and Pat O'Brien, and directed by Tay Garnett. The cast also includes

Beverly Tyler Beverly Tyler (born Beverly Jean Saul, July 5, 1927 – November 23, 2005), was an American film actress and singer who was a minor MGM leading lady who appeared in mostly B movies in the 1940s and 1950s. Early years Tyler was born in Scranto ...

and the eighth screen appearance of

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. The film, released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

, had its screenplay written by

Horace McCoy Horace Stanley McCoy (April 14, 1897 – December 15, 1955) was an American writer whose mostly hardboiled stories took place during the Great Depression. His best-known novel is '' They Shoot Horses, Don't They?'' (1935), which was made into a ...

based on a story by McCoy and Garnett.

Plot

Johnny Casar (

) runs away from a home for wayward boys, tired of being teased about being short and a poor athlete. He soon finds a pair of roller skates and is befriended by Bruno Crystal (

Ralph Dumke Ralph Ernest Dumke (July 25, 1899 – January 4, 1964) was an American comedian and actor who had an active career from the early 1920s up until his death in 1964. He rose to fame as part of a comedy duo with Ed East, performing nationally in ...

), who allows him to wash dishes at his café, while a priest who runs the home, Father O'Hara ( Pat O'Brien), secretly keeps an eye on him. A traveling roller-skating team takes an interest in Johnny after he shows some aptitude. He clashes with Mack Miller ( Glen Corbett), a cocky champion, and falls for Mary Reeves (

), another top skater. Johnny ends up featured in grudge matches against Miller, where they take turns one-upping one another. As his fame grows, Johnny becomes every bit as arrogant as Miller and more. Life takes a bad turn when he is diagnosed with

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sy ...

. A long period of physical therapy follows, until Johnny tries to get his life back on track.

Cast (in credits order)

as Johnny Casar * Pat O'Brien as Father O'Hara *

as Mary Reeves *

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the hono ...

as Allen *

as Bruno Crystal *

Milburn Stone Hugh Milburn Stone (July 5, 1904 – June 12, 1980) was an American actor, best known for his role as "Doc" (Dr. Galen Adams) on the CBS Western series '' Gunsmoke''. Early life Stone was born in Burrton, Kansas, to Herbert Stone and the for ...

as Jeff Davis * Bert Begley as Shilling *

as Polly *

Sam Flint Sam Flint (born Samuel A. Ethridge; October 19, 1882 – October 17, 1980) was an American actor. Flint appeared in more than 230 films, often as a "judge, lawyer, military officer, senator, sheriff, chief of police, or doctor." Flint was ...

as Dr. Barton * Glen Corbett as Mack Miller * John Hedloe as Ullman

References

External links

* * * * 1950 films 1950 drama films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American drama films 1950s English-language films Films directed by Tay Garnett Films scored by Victor Young Roller skating films 1950s American films {{1950s-drama-film-stub