No market for 50 year-old Roller Derby shows, correct?

I believe that this new movie is based on the original 1939 version.





So far RT has given it a 79% but it is still early and that is only counting fourteen critical reviews.

IMDB review's have given the 1939 version 6.9 stars (out of ten). The RT audience only gave the original a 44% approval rating.

I was not aware of the 2007 movie.

 

It updated her to some extent, but she was a modern girl with classic tastes, so they kept her style. It's not a classic, but enjoyable.

My favorite scene was when Nancy goes to a new school, and runs into a bunch of mean girls who dis her clothing. They take her to a fashion boutique to do a makeover, and the stylist tears apart their clothing (think Edina in Absolutely Fabulous) and praises Nancy's ensemble.

 

Interesting stuff. I was here for the "Tri State Bucs", essentially our own version of the T Birds. Why did it fail? THAT I can tell you. First was the circuit they wanted to run. This was also the same towns that Big Time Wrestling ran, and they were dying. The economy was killing them. Second, I doubt they considered the ramifications of naming a team that would play in cities in Michigan "Bucs". Why it was even in the choices for the fans is a mystery. They were doomed after that in Mi.
We had Greg Robertson and Ronnie Raines and 747 Earleen Brown. Imagine a 300 pound nice black woman on roller skates.

 

Mr. Griffiths had John Hall shut the Bucs down because he had entered a deal to buy the IRDL (Roller Derby), so, any territories that were Roller Games (except for Philadelphia) were shut down so the IRDL teams could be integrated into Roller Games. The Bucs were a popular team, and Mr. Hall was surprised he received the telegram to dismantle everything and bring everyone back to Los Angeles. I've been close friends of Peggy Fowler over many years.

 

And for our younger viewers all this was done on "quads" In line skates did not exist. They were not seen until that awful reboot with the "Wall"

 

I have always loved Kansas City Bomber because so many Roller Games skaters are in it.

 

I remember watching roller derby on WPHL 17 in Philly in the mid-70s - the Philadelphia Warriors.

I can still hear it - “Trotter picks up 5 big Warrior points!”

 

The Raquel Welch character was based on Peggy Fowler. The drunk long black haired ladies captain was based on Adaliene Hocker. And yes, the best parts of the movie were with the real Roller Games skaters.

 

Elmer Anderson before he was summoned back to Los Angeles to call the syndicated Thunderbirds game on alternate weeks with Dick Layne. Ed Derian called their games during their '74 and '75 Championship runs.

 

Here are various territory shoots during the golden era of Roller Games before unification (The International Skating League 1974-1975), and the dissolution and the return to Roller Games as the International Roller League from 1976 - 1983.

 

Do not forget Bill "Hoppy" Haupt!

 

He was General Manager of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds in the late 60s after original Thunderbirds Men's Vaptain Red Voigt retired as GM. He was a ad/sales guy just like Mr. Griffiths, and he handled the sales department of VIP Video, and he did several of their commercials for clients. He was a booker for Roller Games as well. He also edited and published the various newspapers and programs around the promotion's territories.

 

After that video all I can say is no one there can cut a promo.

 

It was part of the promotion's charm. The L.A. and Philly ones were always the best, but those were the territories that were most important. "Hoppy" was drunk like how he was as a infield reporter for T-Bird games in '79-'81, that was rough for his time period on that video. The "lesser" promotions had what they had and it got done. It was like a interdepartmental version of WWWF, NWA, GCW and AWA in one house.

 

Nah I mean the skaters. I don't remember Judy being that boring a promo. And I have no memory of the two guys either, but neither should be let near a mike. A far cry from Shirley Hardiman and her ball bat.
I never got the point of the match races, other than having a main event to sell. It was meaningless.

 

Sowinski was on cruise control by '72-'73. She had a big push defecting the Warriors to L.A. in '74 and then they reversed it and her return back to the Warriors, so she got heat in both territories. She retired quietly during the 1975 Warriors season.

Bob Mayo, the guy with one hand had been a journey man skater and he retired and he became the "Hoppy" of the Cats and Warriors territory. Vinnie Gondolfo had skated in Roller Derby and Roller Games and he was made the Cats coach/GM by way of they really didn't have anyone else for the position.

Match races were just that, hard sells. The last ever Roller Games match race (except for Adrina Booher VS. a Las Vegas radio station mascot in 1986) was LeRoy Gonzales Vs. John Hall. It was the final time on skates for both of the legends and they took 30 years of animosity out on each other. Mr. Hall really lived it up on that one. He had just been reinstated by the league commission counsel as GM and coach of the Thunderbirds and he went heel against heel LeRoy. It was fitting ends to both of their legendary careers on skates. It was brutal. Also, Mr. Hall participated in the final "Indian Death Match" race against John Parker at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, in June of 1980. He decided to skate the second half and it was his final game as a skater, with blood all over his uniform.

 

She had broken up with Ronnie by then, right? I always thought they made an awesome couple, but so many ways it could go south. To me they are always linked.

 

Believe it or not, roller derby shattered my childhood innocence! I loved roller derby (and professional wrestling) in the early/mid 70's when I was just entering my second decade. I cheered on the Canadian Nationals every week. They were the good guys who never cheated and suffered no end of illegal torment from the big, bad American teams, the T-Birds being the only one that I can remember. Then . . . I found myself in an American hotel room and, yay, roller derby is on the TV! And then my innocent little world fell apart.
People were cheering for the Yanks, not my beloved Canadian Nationals. What? And then what the hell? The Canadians were cheating! They were the bad guys?!? What????
I realized it was all fake. It was grownups acting like children. Then I realized it was the same thing with wrestling. No wonder those guys got beat to a pulp every Saturday but were perfectly fine a week later.
My trusting, innocent childhood died in that hotel room and I've been a cynical adult ever since and it's all roller derby's fault!

 

Actually, Ronnie was married to and is still married to Colleen Murrell of the Australians, then the Thunderbirds at that time. Yes, they were very close and they were captains of the New York Bombers, but any romance on track or in the locker room I am unaware of.

 

I remember the international tourney, particularly the Aussies and the Tokyo team
OK so I was a mark.

 

And for the Phil theme, no doubt

 

Didn't even find out about that til well after the fact. I was into Roller Games....
An earlier version had backing vocals by Micky Dolenz who was Phil's neighbor. The producers passed. Lee Housekeeper was involved in the film and got Phil to write.

 

All this said... I just picked up a 3-disc DVD set called, "The Roller Derby Chronicles" circa 2009 "Video Service Corp." "Over 7 hours of action from six classic games." With derby games from 1959 to 1977. Featuring Joanie Weston and others. Has 2 documentaries, "Rolling Thunder"and "Derby" (A notable documentary movie about roller derby.) - DERBY i had picked up on a single DVD some years earlier. This DVD set has a vaccuformed plastic cover of a roller rink track. All that said... I am so far behind in viewing my DVD collection, I have not yet seen one minute of any of this i am reporting on. But it's out there!

 

I know what's on there without even looking, which is a good thing. That one of these "grey area" or "Cheapie" labels put out a set like that is great. There is plenty ore very decent footage out there to be sourced. The stuff post 1973 would be the Lipshultz IRSL which started in the bay area in 1977, after unification fell apart in 1975, and there was a big one off in New York at MSG in 1976, which was one of the first sporting events shown on pay=per-view.

No Roller Games or Thunderbird action can be released, because the Griffiths estate still holds copyright of several of the names of the league and teams. Bill Griffiths Jr. would have to be contacted or there would certainly be hell to pay.

 

I immediately checked this out and this was in the first review...
"Also included is the second half of a Canadian game from 1974, which provides a nice showcase for the Derby's primary competition, another league that called itself Roller Games."
So there is a taste apparently.