DERBY

(1971) Director: Robert Kaylor

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SUMMARY:

"The kid's name is Mike Snell and he builds tires for a living in Dayton, Ohio. He is 23 years old and pays $85 a month rent on a house he occupies with his wife Christina, two children and his younger brother, Butch. Butch lives in a basement room which he has decorated himself: There are posters on the walls and the floor is wall-to-wall mattress. Here Butch hangs out reading Playboy sideways, scratching his potbelly, and waiting to be drafted. The Army does not appeal to Butch: "I'm a lover, not a killer."
Mike has an ambition in life, and that is to be a professional Roller Derby star. The starting pay is $12,000 a year, which is what be makes building tires, but the glamour and the glory of the Roller Derby is worth an uncountable amount. Mike thinks he would be good: "In a couple years I could be making the big money. Charlie O'Connell makes 50 grand a year."

VIDEO:

A scene from DERBY:



REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS, CREDITS:

• Roger Ebert review
• New York Times review
• Time magazine review

NOTES:

• Director Robert Kaylor went on to direct 'Carny' which was written by and starred the lead guitarist/songwriter for The Band, Robbie Robertson.
• Judith Crist (New York magazine) has called the film "the first total triumph of the vérité that cinema aspires to"