‘The Last Ride’ a film about the death of Hank Williams starring Henry Thomas is being shown at film festivals. The movie is directed by Harry Thomason an Arkansas native and was filmed in that state. It will be shown at the Little Rock Film Festival in early June. ‘The Last Ride’ has been shown at the Nashville Film Festival and at the USA Film Festival in Dallas.
Reports from viewers seem to indicate the film has been well received, however there really haven’t been any formal newspaper, magazine or TV reviews at this point. So the showings at the festivals are being treated as previews.
The film was screened at Nashville on April 14 to 20. New films with Kris Kristofferson, Chely Wright, and Levon Helm also highlighted the Nashville festival.
‘The Last Ride’ was one of a number of big name movies shown at the Dallas festival from April 27 to May 1.
There is a Facebook page with comments on ‘The Last Ride’ It is HERE.
At the Little Rock Film Festival June 1 to 5, ‘The Last Ride’ will be honored as the opening night film for the festival.
Director Harry Thomason was interviewed on the festival’s blog. He says he had to get permission from Charles Carr, Hank’s driver on the last ride from Montgomery destined for Canton Ohio, in order to make the film. He says the Williams’ family was reluctant to support the movie at first, but Jett Williams has now seen it and has offered her support. And she attended the world premier at the Nashville festival.
A posting on Facebook indicates the film will be released on DVD in September.
Finally here is the Harry Thomason interview from the Little Rock Film Festival Blog.
And here is a list of all my posts on the subject of ‘The Last Ride’.
A Hank Williams Journal 