I first saw this film at the old Fox Theater in Rawlins, WY. I was so impressed that I began collecting Hank's albums,remastered and released on 33 1/3 records. The more I got, the more I wanted. Recently, I discovered the movie was out on DVD and I bought it. I have watched it many times. I believe George Hammilton made an honest effort to get into Hank's mind and did a credible job. I love the movie and use it to introduce my kids and grandkids to this amazing man. I also bought Hank Williams, The Show He Never Gave and love it as a way to come a little closer to knowing Hank. I can't say I like one movie over the other. They are both VERY good.I agree with those who would like to see the movie made today along the line of Walk The Line and Ray. Hank was too important to not keep new generations up to date with his massive contribution to Country Music.

There's no doubt that GEORGE HAMILTON does one of the best acting jobs of his career as Hank Williams, lip-syncing the country music star's lyrics with a voice supplied by Hank Williams, Jr. SUSAN OLIVER is fine as the woman he marries, the woman who finds it a struggle to manage his career when he adopts a drinking pattern to forestall going on stage at concerts.The screenplay has taken liberties to stray somewhat from all of the actual events surrounding Williams' life and his early demise. In doing so, they haven't avoided the usual clichés about celebrity and fame and fortune destroying the soul of the artist. Williams obviously had deep-seated fears in connection with performing and was never able to fully resolve them.The musical selections include most of his most famous songs and credit must be given to Hank Williams, Jr. for effectively singing them. One has to wonder why the filmmakers couldn't have used the actual Hank Williams voice from his own recordings, unless there were legal issues to overcome.Summing up: Decent biography of the country singer is given a lift by his great songs.

For its time, this movie was pretty good and somewhat gritty. It's black and white in an era when color was being used, so there was a sort of deliberately artsy quality about the effort. A lot of the movie, however, is plagued by melodrama, which cursed many of the films of the Sixties, Fifties and Forties. Today, the result doesn't wash. George Hamilton over- acts, but I suspect it's not entirely his fault. I blame the direction, the camera work (mostly the product of cumbersome technology at use in its day) and the editing. It was a good attempt, though, and a better than average effort for George Hamilton and for the film industry of its day. The music is good but the selections included in the film are too clipped, you hear a few bars of this and a few bars of that, but not the entire songs. This story needs to be retold with the quality of music as in the Johnny Cash story and the Ray Charles story, two fine biopics of recent vintage. If you are interested in Hank Williams and his prolific musical output, a better movie is "Hank Williams, The Concert He Never Gave." Now that's gritty, the acting, editing and storytelling are better, the music is superb.

If you are a songwriter or have ever written a song, you must marvel at the work of Hank Williams, and this movie shows us the magic of songwriting. Where do the greatest songs come from? And if we happen to write one, is it our responsibility to let the world hear it?Unlike so many other movies based on the lives of legendary musicians, this one is fun to watch (and not just listen). George Hamilton is great as Hank Williams, and it's his performance that saves the biopic from turning to a tiresome melodrama somewhere in the middle. You see, he doesn't seem to be all that serious even when the script calls him to be, and that my friend, however strange it may seem, is the key to success. So many biopics based on the stories of bitter ex wives and rivals suggest that our favorite artists never had a sense of humor.All the actors do a good job. Beautiful Susan Oliver plays a credible nag, and although the script doesn't put the blame on anyone (which is good), the performance allows us to question her motives from the get go.All the songs heard in this movie are classics. We hear two different versions of I saw the light, and the later one makes otherwise a sad ending the perfect ending.