''Honkytonk Man'' is a 1982 American

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

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 set in the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

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 ...

, who produced and directed, stars with his son, Kyle Eastwood. Clancy Carlile's screenplay is based on his 1980 novel of the same name. This was

Marty Robbins Martin David Robinson (September 26, 1925 – December 8, 1982), known professionally as Marty Robbins, was an American country and western singer and songwriter. He was one of the most popular and successful singers of his genre for most o ...

' last appearance before he died. The story of Clint's character, Red Stovall, is loosely based on the life of

Jimmie Rodgers James Charles Rodgers ( – ) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Country Music", he is best known for his di ...

Plot

Itinerant western singer Red Stovall suffers from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

but has been given an opportunity to make it big at the

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a regular live country music, country-music Radio broadcasting, radio broadcast originating from Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, on WSM (AM), WSM, held between two and five nights per week, depending on the ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. He is accompanied by his young nephew Whit. After a series of adventures which include the nephew's first sexual encounter in a brothel, they finally arrive. While a fit of coughing in his audition ruins his chances, talent scouts for a record company are impressed enough to arrange a recording session, realizing that he has only days to live. The tuberculosis reaches a critical stage in the middle of this session, where Red's lines are filled in by Smokey, a side guitarist (country singer

in his last film role). Red eventually succumbs while Whit vows to tell his uncle's story. Red's vintage Lincoln Model K touring car, prevalent throughout the movie, finally 'dies' at the cemetery where Red is laid to rest.

Production

Filming took place over five weeks on location.Hughes, p.136 The first part of the movie was filmed in Bird's Landing, California. However, the majority of this feature was filmed in and around Calaveras County, east of

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

. Exterior scenes include Main Street, Mountain Ranch; Main Street, Sheepranch; and the Pioneer Hotel in Sheepranch. The famous jail break scene was filmed in Dayton, Nevada at the corner of Pike Street (the Lincoln Highway) and W Main Street. The vintage brick building the movie-built jail was attached to is the Odeon Hall, where Marilyn Monroe's paddle ball and bar interior scenes were shot in ''The Misfits'' (1961). Extras were locally hired and many of the towns residents are seen in the movie.

Cast

as Red Stovall * Kyle Eastwood as Whit Wagoneer * John McIntire as Grandpa Wagoneer * Alexa Kenin as Marlene Mooney aka Marlene Moonglow * Verna Bloom as Emmy Wagoneer * Matt Clark as Virgil Wagoneer * Barry Corbin as Derwood Arnspriger *

Jerry Hardin Jerry Hardin (born November 20, 1929) is an American actor. Hardin has appeared in film and television roles, including the character nicknamed Deep Throat in ''The X-Files''. He has guest starred in '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and '' St ...

as Snuffy * Tim Thomerson as Highway Patrolman *

Charles Cyphers Charles George Cyphers (July 28, 1939 – August 4, 2024) was an American actor who is known in the horror movie community for his work in the films of John Carpenter, especially his role as Sheriff Leigh Brackett in Carpenter's 1978 movie ''Ha ...

as Stubbs * Porter Wagoner as Dusty * Macon McCalman as Dr. Hines * Joe Regalbuto as Henry Axle * Gary Grubbs as Jim Bob *

as Smokey * Tracey Walter as Pooch

Reception

''Honkytonk Man'' received critical acclaim, and has a score of 93% on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

. The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates three online sites: NYPost. ...

'' wrote, "The pace is slow, very country, but it rises to touching moments...not all perfect by any means, but ultimately a story of occasional awkward truths."Hughes, p.138

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

gave the film three stars out of four writing "This is a sweet, whimsical, low-key movie, a movie that makes you feel good without pressing you too hard." The film opened Wednesday, December 15, 1982 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

before expanding to 677 screens for the weekend, but only grossed $667,727, the worst opening for an Eastwood film. The film went on to gross $4.5 million at the United States and Canada box office,Hughes, p.137 Eastwood's lowest grosser for more than a decade. The film was nominated for a

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic failures. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, the Razzi ...

for Worst Original Song for ''No Sweeter Cheater than You''.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * {{Authority control 1982 films 1980s musical comedy-drama films Country music films American Western (genre) comedy films 1980s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) musical films 1982 Western (genre) films Films directed by Clint Eastwood Films produced by Clint Eastwood Films scored by Steve Dorff Warner Bros. films 1982 drama films 1980s English-language films American musical comedy-drama films 1980s American films English-language Western (genre) comedy films English-language musical comedy-drama films 1982 musical films Malpaso Productions films