THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY

Maria Richwine and Gary Busey

THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (1978). Director: Steve Rash. 

In Lubbock Texas in 1956 Buddy Holly (Gary Busey in an Oscar-nominated performance) and two friends -- Jesse (Don Stroud) and Ray Bob (Charles Martin Smith) -- perform at the local skating rink but their "Negro"-influenced music may be too much for the advertisers on the radio station. Buddy and the "Crickets," as the other two fellows are called, travel to Nashville but discover they will have to sing for a studio band of country musicians who pretty much ruin a great song like "That'll Be the Day." Buddy almost has the same problem in New York, but is able to convince record executive Ross Turner (Conrad Janis) to produce the group's albums and maintain the correct sound. As the group has one hit record after another -- "Love Like Yours," 'It's So easy to Fall in Love' "Oh, Baby!" and others -- Buddy falls for and marries secretary Maria Elena (Maria Richwine) and he and the boys have a falling out. One night on a fateful tour with Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, Buddy meets his tragic destiny ... 

Charles Martin Smith and Busey

While it helps if you like this kind of old-time rock 'n' roll -- which I do -- I found The Buddy Holly Story to be quite entertaining, if minor. One could argue that you don't necessarily get to know any of the people in the film all that well, but the acting across the board is excellent. One could also argue that Gary Busey is much more charismatic and energetic than the real Buddy Holly, but I admit this is only based on seeing a couple of the latter's live performances. Dick O'Neill as Sol Gittler and Paul Mooney as Sam Cooke, among others, are also notable. One of Holly's last compositions was the very lovely, even touching, ballad "True Love Ways," for which his voice -- which works on loud rock songs -- wasn't that well suited. I believe it was released posthumously. 

Verdict: Upbeat rock biopic with a downbeat conclusion. ***.