Actor David Keith sings blues over soured movie deal

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Actor David Keith is suing an Alabama man he says promised to finance his movie but pulled out after Keith had worked on the project for a year.Attorneys Gregory P. Isaacs and John T. Johnson Jr. filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court Thursday against Davis Lee and Alatrade Foods LLC, alleging breach of contract.According to the lawsuit, Keith and Lee struck a deal in December 2005 to create a production company. Lee, the lawsuit says, agreed to provide $10 million to finance a movie, tentatively titled "Kentucky Bluebird," that would detail the life of the late Keith Whitley, a country singer.Keith, of Knoxville, alleges that he immediately set to work, hiring casting firms and soundtrack artists. He says he had secured an agreement from actor and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus and bluegrass artist J.D. Crowe to appear in the movie.It's not clear from the lawsuit whether Keith also would have a role.The lawsuit alleges that Keith had drafted an entire storyboard, which essentially lays out every shot of the film, when he learned in January 2007 that Lee was pulling out without explanation.Keith contends in the lawsuit that he tried to find other financing but could not.He is now asking a federal judge to order Lee to carry through with the terms of their agreement, including providing the $10 million in financing.Whitley, 33, of Sandy Hook, Ky., died from alcohol poisoning at his home in 1989, after a career in bluegrass with artists Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs and then country music.He also performed with Crowe and the New South Band.He was married to Lorrie Morgan, the daughter of Grand Ole Opry star George Morgan and a country star herself.(Jamie Satterfield is a reporter for the News Sentinel in Knoxville, Tenn.)