''Bronco Billy'' is a 1980 American

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film starring

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western (genre), Western TV series ''Rawhide (TV series), Rawhide'', Eastwood rose to international fame with his role as the "Ma ...

and

Sondra Locke Sandra Louise Anderson (née Smith; May 28, 1944 – November 3, 2018), professionally known as Sondra Locke, was an American actress and director. An alumna of Middle Tennessee State University, Locke broke into regional show business with ass ...

. It was directed by Eastwood and written by Dennis Hackin. The film focuses on the financially struggling owner of a traditional Wild West show and his new assistant.

Plot

"Bronco" Billy McCoy is an aging trick-shooter performing to meager crowds in "Bronco Billy's Wild West Show", a rundown traveling

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

reminiscent of

Buffalo Bill's Wild West William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age o ...

, of which he is the owner and operator. For the show's finale, a blindfolded Bronco Billy shoots balloons around a female assistant strapped onto a revolving wooden disc. The last balloon is with a knife, but the assistant moves her leg and is injured, so then quits. Due to poor show attendance, Billy has been unable to pay his crew for the last six months, though they stick with him. At the next town, Bronco Billy goes to the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

to obtain a permit. Also there are Heiress Antoinette Lily and John Arlington, who have

eloped Elopement is a marriage which is conducted in a sudden and secretive fashion, sometimes involving a hurried flight away from one's place of residence together with one's beloved with the intention of getting married without parental approval. A ...

. Antoinette despises her future husband, but must marry before turning 30 to inherit a large fortune. Their car breaks down at the motel opposite the Wild West show. The next morning, Arlington steals Antoinette's money, luggage, and the repaired car. Left stranded, Antoinette asks Bronco Billy for help. He hires her as his new assistant under the alias, "Miss Lily", though she agrees to only one show. Antoinette ad libs her lines, entertaining the audience, but irritating Billy. Antoinette discovers that Arlington has been arrested for her murder (framed by Antoinette's stepmother and her scheming lawyer friend, who stand to gain the inheritance). Seizing an opportunity for revenge, Antoinette rejoins the Wild West show to remain ''incognito''. She gradually learns that Billy's performers are not actually cowboys, but largely ex-convicts, alcoholics, or both, and have remade their lives into what they want to be. Billy is a failed shoe salesman from

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, who shot his wife in the leg for sleeping with his best friend. Nevertheless, Antoinette begins to warm to the troupe. Performers Lorraine Running Water and Chief Big Eagle announce they are expecting a baby together. The crew celebrates at a bar, though a fight breaks out. When Antoinette is nearly sexually assaulted, Billy and the crew come to her rescue. After, youngest member Leonard is arrested after being recognized as an Army deserter. Bronco Billy uses the show's meager savings to bribe the sheriff into releasing him, enduring the sheriff's verbal taunts. When the circus tent burns down, everyone blames Antoinette for their bad luck, but Bronco Billy defends her. He proposes robbing a train to raise money for a replacement. They attempt the heist in the antiquated Western way (driving alongside in a car and Billy on horseback to jump on), but a modern train derails their effort. The troupe arrives at a

mental institution A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

, where they annually perform ''

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

''. The director, Dr. Canterbury, provides them with accommodations and the inmates make a new circus tent sewn together with American flags. Antoinette and Bronco Billy spend the night together. By chance, one inmate is Antoinette's husband, Arlington. His crooked lawyer persuaded him to plead insanity after he supposedly "murdered" Antoinette. When Arlington sees her, proving Antoinette is alive, he is released. Bronco Billy and the show depart without Antoinette. Antoinette returns to her luxurious life, but she is bored and misses Billy, who drowns his loneliness with alcohol. During a performance, Bronco Billy is about to introduce his new assistant, "Miss Lily", who is actually fellow performer "Lefty" LeBow dressed as a woman. The real "Miss Lily" appears, instead. The show, now a raving success, runs smoothly. Bronco Billy ends it with a positive message for the children in the audience.

Cast

as Billy "Bronco Billy" McCoy *

as Antoinette Lily * Geoffrey Lewis as John Arlington *

Scatman Crothers Benjamin Sherman "Scatman" Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986) was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show ''Chico and the Man'', and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's '' The ...

as "Doc" Lynch * Bill McKinney as "Lefty" LeBow * Sam Bottoms as Leonard James * Dan Vadis as Chief Big Eagle * Sierra Pecheur as Lorraine Running Water * Walter Barnes as Sheriff Dix *

Woodrow Parfrey Sydney Woodrow Parfrey (October 5, 1922 – July 29, 1984) was an American film and television actor from the 1950s to the early 1980s. He is often remembered as "one of TV's great slimeball villains". Early life Parfrey was born on October 5, ...

as Dr. Canterbury * Beverlee McKinsey as Irene Lily * Doug McGrath as Lieutenant Wiecker *

Hank Worden Hank Worden (born Norton Earl Worden; July 23, 1901 – December 6, 1992) was an American cowboy-turned-character actor who appeared in many Westerns, including a dozen John Ford films, such as ''The Searchers'', and the TV series ''The Lone R ...

as Station Mechanic * William Prince as Edgar Lipton * Tessa Richarde as Miss Mitzy

Production

Eastwood received Dennis Hackin and Neal Dobrofsky's script and decided to join the film with Sondra Locke.Hughes, p.122 The film was shot in two months in the

Boise, Idaho Boise ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Idaho, most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, there were 235,685 people residing in the city. Loca ...

area in the fall of 1979. Additional filming took place in eastern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Filmed on a low budget of $5 million, it finished two to four weeks ahead of schedule.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack, which was headlined by

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential figures in country music, he was a central pioneer of the Bakersfield ...

and

Ronnie Milsap Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, h ...

, also featured singing by Eastwood himself.

Critical reception

Eastwood has cited ''Bronco Billy'' as being one of the most affable shoots of his career, and biographer Richard Schickel has argued that the character of Bronco Billy is his most self-referential work. The film was a modest commercial hit, but was appreciated by critics.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' believed the film was "the best and funniest Clint Eastwood movie in quite a while," praising Eastwood's directing and the way he intricately juxtaposes the old West and the new.

Box office performance

Although the film grossed four to five times its cost (some $25 million) during its United States theatrical release, Eastwood considered it insufficient.Hughes, p.124 In a French interview, Eastwood spoke about the film's financial reception, "It was an old-fashioned theme, probably too old fashioned since the film didn't do as well as we hoped. But if, as a film director, I ever wanted to say something, you'll find it in ''Bronco Billy''."

Awards and nominations

* 1st Golden Raspberry Award :Nominated: Worst Actress (Sondra Locke)

Stage musical

A stage musical adaptation premiered in Los Angeles in 2019 with a book by Hackin, with music and lyrics by Chip Rosenbloom and John Torres, and additional lyrics by Michele Brourman. It premiered in London in 2024.

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 1980 films 1980 action comedy films 1980 comedy-drama films 1980 Western (genre) films 1980s action comedy-drama films 1980s American films 1980s English-language films 1980s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films Circus films Contemporary Western films English-language action comedy-drama films English-language Western (genre) comedy films Films about inheritances Films about stunt performers Films about Wild West shows Films directed by Clint Eastwood Films set in Montana Films set in Idaho Films shot in Idaho Films shot in Oregon Films shot in New York (state) Warner Bros. films