''Red Headed Stranger'' is a 1986 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 ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by William D. Wittliff. The film stars

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

and Morgan Fairchild. It is based on Nelson's

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

Red Headed Stranger ''Red Headed Stranger'' is the eighteenth studio album by American outlaw country singer Willie Nelson, released in 1975. Following the success of his recordings with Atlantic Records, coupled with the negotiating skills of his manager, Neil Re ...

'' (1975).

Plot

In 1901, Preacher Julian Shay (Nelson) and his new bride Raysha (Fairchild) leave Philadelphia for Driscoll, Montana, to replace a minister who tells Julian, "You'll be fighting the devil on his own ground here, sir."'Red Headed Stranger' shows Willie's darker side, ''The Tennessean'', March 6, 1987
Julian soon learns the town is under the control of Larn Clavers and his sons, who monopolize the water supply. The preacher convinces Sheriff Scoby, the town's honest but fearful lawman, to stand up to the Clavers. He also gets the townspeople to re-excavate, and then guard, an old water well. A man protecting the well is murdered by Odie Clavers, one of Larn's sons. Odie is hanged for his crime. Raysha hates living in Driscoll and contacts an old lover, who comes to Montana and takes her away from the town. Julian tracks down his wife and her lover, and he kills them both.Nelson film fulfills dream, ''The York Dispatch'' (York, PA), January 22, 1987, p. 30. The preacher then wanders about the west until meeting Laurie (Ross), a farm widow with a young son named Nathan. Julian helps Laurie and Nathan work their farm and considers settling down with them, but Sheriff Scoby finds him. In Julian's absence, the Clavers had attacked Scoby and disabled the well's windmill pump, then threatened to kill anyone else who stood up to them. Driscoll's residents were cowed into trying to dismiss Scoby to avoid further violence. Scoby convinces Julian to return to Driscoll and help him fight against the Clavers. Overnight, Julian and Scoby repair Driscoll's windmill, restoring the flow of water. The Clavers notice this in the morning and Larn declares he will destroy the windmill this time, but they are immediately ambushed by Julian and Scoby. Although Scoby is wounded in the battle, Julian manages to outfox and outgun the family. The Clavers' corpses are mounted on boards and displayed outside the sheriff's office. Julian bids Scoby farewell and returns to Laurie and Nathan.

Cast

as Julian Shay * Morgan Fairchild as Raysha Shay *

Royal Dano Royal Edward Dano Sr. (November 16, 1922 – May 15, 1994) was an American actor. In a career spanning 46 years, he was perhaps best known for playing cowboys, villains, and Abraham Lincoln. Dano also provided the voice of the Audio-Animatronic ...

as Larn Clavers * R. G. Armstrong as Sheriff Reese Scoby *

Katharine Ross Katharine Juliet Ross (born January 29, 1940) is a retired American actress. Her accolades include an Academy Award nomination, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. An alumna of The Actors Workshop, Ross made her television debut in 19 ...

as Laurie * Sonny Carl Davis as Odie Claver

Production

Wittliff met

in the late 1970s. Wittliff was a writer on '' Honeysuckle Rose'' (1980) and ''

Barbarosa ''Barbarosa'' is a 1982 American Western film starring Willie Nelson and Gary Busey. It is about a young cowboy on the run from the law who partners with a famous ''bandido'' and learns about life from him. "One of the best overlooked western ...

'' (1982), which both starred Nelson. Nelson played his ''Red Headed Stranger'' for Wittliff, and Wittliff agreed to write a script based on the musical storyline. Wittliff finished a draft in 1979 and

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

green-light In the context of the film and television industries, to greenlight is to give permission to proceed with a project. It specifically refers to formally approving its production finance and committing to this financing, thereby allowing the projec ...

ed the film with a budget of $14 million. The studio wanted

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...

to play the "Red Headed Stranger," a role Nelson had envisioned for himself. It took two years, but Redford finally turned the part down. Nelson and Wittliff gave back their advances to buy the script back.Alison Macor. ''Chainsaws, Slackers, and Spy Kids: 30 Years of Filmmaking in Austin, Texas'' University of Texas Press: Austin, 2010. pp. 72-85.

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

took an interest in the script and budgeted $5 million to produce it.

Sam Peckinpah David Samuel Peckinpah (; February 21, 1925 – December 28, 1984) was an American film director and screenwriter. His 1969 Western epic '' The Wild Bunch'' received two Academy Award nominations and was ranked No. 80 on the American Film Instit ...

was attached to direct the film, but Peckinpah was unhappy with the low budget and left the project. The project died at HBO and Nelson and Wittliff began to raise the $5 million on their own. The budget ended up at $1.8 million, coming from a diverse group of investors, including

Bud Shrake Edwin A. "Bud" Shrake, Jr. (September 6, 1931 – May 8, 2009) was an American journalist, sportswriter, novelist, biographer and screenwriter. He co-wrote a series of golfing advice books with golf coach Harvey Penick, including ''Harvey Penick's ...

and

Darrell Royal Darrell K Royal (July 6, 1924 – November 7, 2012) was an American college football player, coach, and athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 1954 to 1955, the University of Washington ...

. ''Red Headed Stranger'' began production on April 29, 1985. The main set, a western town nicknamed "Willieville," had been built over the previous two years across the road from Nelson's golf course, thirty miles west of

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. Most of the filming was done in "Willieville," but nine other locations around

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

were also used. Production wrapped on June 14, 1985.

Release

''Red Headed Stranger'' debuted at the

Denver International Film Festival The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...

in October 1985. Critical response was mediocre and called the movie "dull" (''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'') and "an insipid story" (''

The Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...

''). The film opened in Nelson and Wittliff's home state of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, where it received a warmer welcome. The movie then had a limited national release in larger cities such as

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, and

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0091834, title=Red Headed Stranger 1980s American films 1980s English-language films 1986 drama films 1986 films 1986 Western (genre) films American drama films American Western (genre) films English-language drama films English-language Western (genre) films Films based on albums Films set in 1901 Films set in Montana Films set in Pennsylvania Films shot in Austin, Texas