Film

In June 16 1952 Hank Williams was in California for a screentest because his contract with MGM was broadened with motion pictures. He met Dore Schary but behaved anti-social by not taking his hat off and stuck his boots up on Schary's desk. The next day his contract with MGM-pictures was terminated. He would not follow the footsteps of his example; Gene Autry.

As one of the major legends in country western music, you'd think there would be countless movies about the life and times of Hank Williams yet there have been surprisingly few. With the exception of an independent Canadian film, Hank Williams: The Show He Never Gave (1982), Your Cheatin' Heart (1964) still stands as the only significant movie about the songwriter/musician. Filmed with the cooperation of Williams' widow, Audrey, the movie was a sincere attempt to tell Hank's story on a modest budget and surprised MGM executives when it became one of their top grossing films of the year. True to Hollywood, however, this little sleeper tended to fictionalize or gloss over certain aspects of Williams' life. Hank Williams jr. sings the songs of Hank Williams in this film and counts this experiece as a starting-point of his carreer. (more reading at TCM)

A short list of films and documentaries;

"Hank Williams", the show he never gave", starring "Sneezy" Waters, directed by David Acomba, 1981

"Your cheatin' heart", with George Hamilton, directed by Gene Nelson, 1964

"Hank Williams, Honky tonk Blues", directed by Morgan Neville, written and produced by Morgan Neville & Collin Escott, 2004

(March 2010) The news is out that filming of a biographic movie of Hank Williams’ final days is underway in Benton Arkansas. The movie is directed by well-known TV and film director Harry Thomason. His wife Linda Bloodworth- Thomason is also a prominent figure in Hollywood.Their credits include Designing Women and Evening Shade on TV.  The movie is tentatively called ‘The Last Ride’.

Filmposter for "Your Cheatin' Heart", the biopic on the life and times of Hank Williams. Brought out in 1964.>>>