Heart Like a Wheel (1983)

Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her ... See full summary »

Director:

Jonathan Kaplan

Writer:

Ken Friedman

Stars:

Bonnie Bedelia, Beau Bridges, Bruce Barlow

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bonnie Bedelia	...	Shirley Muldowney
Beau Bridges	...	Connie Kalitta
Bruce Barlow	...	Bass Player, Tex's Band
Leo Rossi	...	Jack Muldowney
Anthony Edwards	...	John Muldowney (age 15-23)
Hoyt Axton	...	Tex Roque
Paul Bartel	...	Chef Paul
Missy Basile	...	Angela
Creed Bratton	...	Photographer
Jesse Aragon	...	Carlos
Tiffany Brissette	...	Little Shirley
Paul Bryar	...	Matt, Card Player
James Burton	...	Guitar Player, Tex's Band
Martin Casella	...	Repoter #1
Michael Cavanaugh	...	NHRA Boss

Storyline

Shirley Muldowney is determined to be a top-fuel drag racer, although no woman has ever raced them before. Despite the high risks of this kind of racing and the burden it places on her family life, she perseveres in her dream.

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Plot Keywords:

racing | top fuel | love | 1960s | race car | 

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Taglines:

She did something, women were forbidden to do and, become a World Champion.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 April 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Corazón sobre ruedas

Filming Locations:

Beeline Raceway, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aurora, Michael Nolin, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Black and White Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Candy Clark, Kathryn Harrold, Susan Lucci, and Jamie Lee Curtis were all considered for the role of Shirley Muldowney. Curtis was Shirley Muldowney's personal choice to play her, but the part eventually went to Bonnie Bedelia.

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Goofs

Some time after suffering an auto accident that left her hospitalized in autumn 1973 (established by the fact she is seen watching the Sept. 30 1973 Billie Jean King/Bobby Riggs tennis match from her hospital bed), the recuperated Shirley Muldowney attends a racing event in Indianapolis where a trade show model is inviting people to take a look at the "new" 1973 Chryslers. That late in the season, the car manufacturer would actually be promoting its 1974 line, which traditionally are introduced several months before the next calendar year.

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Quotes

[after being slapped, by Shirley]
Connie Kalitta: Cha Cha Cha

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Connections

Featured in Shirley Muldowney: Behind the Wheel (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Soft Drinks"
Written by Michael Lloyd

User Reviews

Finally It's Coming to DVD

Thsi excellent film is finally being released on DVD (coming soon) from Anchor Bay, so no more over priced bootlegs on ebay! This will be great for all drag racing fans in general and Shirley fans in particular, up to this DVD release you could only hope to catch it on TV (seldom ever shown) or find one of the old video tapes (usually worn out) or pay a crazy price to someone on ebay who will then sell you a bootleg copy of one of the poor quality video tapes that he burned to DVD-r (and call it a euro import, never released in the U.S.) ebay amazes me the non legal stuff they let be listed on their site., ebay has become a corporate nightmare over the last few years anyway, so who cares i guess.