IMDb > Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
Great Balls of Fire!
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Great Balls of Fire! (1989) More at IMDbPro »

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Great Balls of Fire! (1989) -- text os

Overview

User Rating:
5.9/10   5,605 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 10% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jim McBride
Writers (WGA):
Myra Lewis (book) and
Murray Silver Jr. (book) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Great Balls of Fire! on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
30 June 1989 (USA) more
Genre:
Biography | Drama | Music more
Tagline:
Jerry Lee Lewis: He Rocked The Nation... And Shocked The World. more
Plot:
The story of Jerry Lee Lewis, arguably the greatest and certainly one of the wildest musicians of the 1950s... more | add synopsis
Awards:
1 win more
NewsDesk:
Hollywood Choreographer Landrum Dies
 (From WENN. 11 September 2008, 4:16 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
I completely disagree, I really loved this movie.. more (49 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Dennis Quaid ... Jerry Lee Lewis

Winona Ryder ... Myra Gale Brown
John Doe ... J.W. Brown

Stephen Tobolowsky ... Jud Phillips
Trey Wilson ... Sam Phillips

Alec Baldwin ... Jimmy Swaggart

Steve Allen ... Himself
Lisa Blount ... Lois Brown
Joshua Sheffield ... Rusty Brown
Mojo Nixon ... James Van Eaton
Jimmie Vaughan ... Roland Janes
David Ferguson ... Jack Clement
Robert Lesser ... Alan Freed

Lisa Jane Persky ... Babe
Paula Person ... Sam's Secratary
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
108 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Dolby SR
Certification:
Iceland:L | Australia:M | USA:R (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re rating) | UK:15 | Canada:14A | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | West Germany:12
Filming Locations:
Marion, Arkansas, USA more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Jerry Lee Lewis hated both this film and his ex-wife Myra Lewis' autobiographical book which was a source. Linda Gail Lewis, Jerry Lee Lewis' sister, also thought this film was a poor and unjustified version of the real Jerry. The book's co-author Murray Silver Jr. was outraged by the film which he thought departed from the book or the truth. Silver made several criticisms such as "The movie was phony." Director Jim McBride admitted that it was never his intention to tie his film to the facts, and stated "This movie does not represent itself in any way to be a historical documentary. We use the book as a jumping-off point." more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Jerry comes off the plane from New York, there's a lot of girls gathering around. One of them kisses his cheek right by the ear, but in the next shot the mark after the lipstick is far nearer his mouth. more
Quotes:
Lois Brown: "Jerry Lee here's a married man, ain't that right, Jerry Lee?"
Jerry Lee: "Well, that's not necessarily so, Lois."
Lois: " And just what do you mean by that?"
Jerry Lee: "Well, you see I was still married to my first wife when I married my second wife,so I never really was married to my second wife. And since I divorced my first wife a couple of years ago, I'm as free as a bird in a tree!"
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in "L.A. Law: Great Balls Afire (#6.15)" (1992) more
Soundtrack:
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On more

FAQ

Chapter Headings, an unofficial version:
more
9 out of 13 people found the following comment useful.
I completely disagree, I really loved this movie.., 10 August 2004
Author: dudetteofpunk from UK

Personally I disagree with the other user's comments as I saw this movie on TV a while ago and really enjoyed it. What makes it so interesting is the fact that someone would actually go ahead and marry their cousin who was only 13 years old.

This movie is pretty accurate and the acting and music is great.

Dennis Quaid's portrayal of the Killer is definitely one to watch.

His accent and facial expressions are priceless and Winona Ryder's Myra is sweet and believable. This movie offers a great insight into the personal life, music and career of J.L.L. A really enjoyable film I would highly recommend :-D

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (49 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Great Balls of Fire! (1989)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Cuck Berry CrummyJD
Elvis DrawingABlank14
Best Music Biopic ever... rmana247
are denis quaid's version of jerry lee lewis and cosmo kramer related??? Thrill_Of_It_All000
One more soundtrack question dmaestro39
'You don't move like no virgin' BelleRose
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