I guess there was a pretty good reason this film never got shown on television--well, until TCM finally got around to airing it in early 2010. Besides being a terrible film, A Time to Sing tries to shoehorn Hank Williams Jr. into a scenario even a Colonel Parker-whipped Elvis might have rejected as beneath him. Hank Jr. plays Grady Dodd, a young tobacco farmer with a song in his heart and a grumpy uncle (Ed Begley) holding him back from achieving his musical dreams. In addition to the moth-eaten plot, the Elvis connection is underscored by the presence of Shelley Fabares in her usual spunky gal pal role--and to make matters worse, the fine African-American actor D'urville Martin is stuck with a stereotypical shuffling darkie role that was badly outdated in 1958, never mind 1968. Perhaps MGM was hoping to develop Williams as a replacement for the King, but the man displays virtually no screen charisma and he wisely never tried his hand at acting again. A Time to Sing must have been produced with the southern drive-in circuit in mind, but even cinema patrons below the Mason-Dixon Line must have known they were being played for fools at this late date.
Review of A Time to Sing
