I was doing a search for the old Burt Reynolds movie White Lightning from 1973 and stumbled across this beauty of a movie poster for White Lightning from 1953. And I thought I'd seen all the hockey movies.
The plot synopsis from IMDB is a doozy:
"The Red Devils, a professional ice hockey team, owned by Jack Monohan, is in the midst of a long losing streak, due to bribes being accepted from gamblers by the star player. When the team is joined by cocky Mike Connors, a boyhood friend of Jack's, they begin to regain their former winning ways. Mike becomes a star who cannot be stopped, but is disliked by his teammates becuase of his selfish play. Jack tries to keek Mike away from his sister Margaret, who is in love with him, which leads to a bloody fight between the two men. The angry Mike accepts a bribe from gambler Rocky Gilbratar to throw the big final game. But during the game, an appeal from a young boy who idolizes him, Davey, sets Mike on the right road, and his unselfish play helps win the game."
Being both a movie geek and a lifelong hockey fan, it's incredible to me that I've never even stumbled upon this at some point.
I can't even dig up a trailer for this thing. But Lee Van Cleef (from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) stars as a character named Brutus Allen. I wonder if that's a player or a gangster? I can't really picture Van Cleef on skates but I'd like to imagine him sneering at a faceoff and spitting snuff tobacco out the side of his mouth onto the lily white ice.
3 comments:
Post the link to the movie if you find on please :)
I hope they release it for Blu Ray as a remastered one. Such films need to be seen by the new generation of hockey heroes.
My dad, John Ubriaco (http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=12894), was an extra in the movie. He had played for the old LA Monarchs, and was staying in LA when the movie was shot. All the extras are listed in the Turner Movie data base but not in the IMDB as I recall.
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