The Fireball

Round and round they go. Where they'll crash, nobody knows! Filmed when Roller Derby was one of TV's most watched programs, The Fireball blazes by with three Hollywood legends (Mickey Rooney, Pat O'Brien, Marilyn Monroe) and its slam-'em-over-the-handrail, roller-speedway realism. Rooney is the me-first kid who knocks the banked-oval world on its keester and later rediscovers his humanity when life decks him with a hard-right called polio. O'Brien, in his familiar cleric's collar, looms like a stricken conscience as he regards the kid's ballooning arrogance. And in a small role, Monroe gives notices of what is to be, standing out like a luminous flower in crowd segments and turning dialogue into honey in other scenes. Grab the popcorn, movie fans. Time for stargazing.