''Honkytonk Man'' is a 1982 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

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 and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

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 ...

film set in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

, who produced and directed, stars with his son,

Kyle Eastwood Kyle Eastwood (born May 19, 1968) is an American jazz bassist and film composer. He studied film at the University of Southern California for two years before embarking on a music career. After becoming a session player in the early 1990s and lea ...

Clancy Carlile Clancy Carlile (January 18, 1930 – June 4, 1998) was an American novelist and screenwriter of Cherokee descent. He is perhaps best known for his 1980 novel '' Honkytonk Man'', made into a film by Clint Eastwood. Early years Carlile was born i ...

'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 singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, and NASCAR racing driver. Robbins was one of the most popular and suc ...

' 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 (September 8, 1897 – May 26, 1933) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who rose to popularity in the late 1920s. Widely regarded as "the Father of Country Music", he is best known for his distinctive rhythmi ...

Plot

Itinerant western singer Red Stovall suffers from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

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

Grand Ole Opry The ''Grand Ole Opry'' is a weekly American country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, founded on November 28, 1925, by George D. Hay as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM. Currently owned and operated by Opry Entertainment (a divis ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. 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 Calaveras County (), officially the County of Calaveras, is a county in both the Gold Country and High Sierra regions of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 45,292. The county seat is San Andreas. Angels Ca ...

, 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. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquir ...

. Exterior scenes include Main Street,

Mountain Ranch Mountain Ranch (formerly, El Dorado and El Dorado Town) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Calaveras County, California, United States. The population was 1,628 at the 2010 census, up from 1,557 at the 2000 census. The town is registered as Cali ...

; Main Street, Sheepranch; and the Pioneer Hotel in Sheepranch. The famous jail break scene was filmed in

Dayton, Nevada Dayton is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lyon County, Nevada, United States. The population was 15,153 at the 2020 census. Dayton is the first Nevada settlement and home to the oldest hotel in Nevada. History ...

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 *

as Whit Wagoneer *

John McIntire John Herrick McIntire (June 27, 1907 – January 30, 1991) was an American character actor who appeared in 65 theatrical films and many television series. McIntire is well known for having replaced Ward Bond, upon Bond's sudden death in Novem ...

as Grandpa Wagoneer *

Alexa Kenin Alexa Jordan Kenin (February 16, 1962 – September 10, 1985) was an American actress known for her supporting roles in several films released during the 1980s, including ''Little Darlings'' (1980), '' Honkytonk Man'' (1982), and ''Pretty in ...

as Marlene Mooney aka Marlene Moonglow *

Verna Bloom Verna Frances Bloom (August 7, 1938 – January 9, 2019) was an American actress. Career On Broadway, Bloom portrayed Charlotte Corday in '' The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Chare ...

as Emmy Wagoneer * Matt Clark as Virgil Wagoneer *

Barry Corbin Leonard Barrie Corbin (born October 16, 1940) is an American actor. He is best known for his starring role as Maurice Minnifield on the television series ''Northern Exposure'' (1990–1995), which earned him two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award ...

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''. Hardin was born in Texas and studied acting at London's Royal Academ ...

as Snuffy *

Tim Thomerson Joseph Timothy "Tim" Thomerson (born April 8, 1946) is an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Jack Deth in the ''Trancers'' film series and for his work in numerous low-budget features and for his comedic television r ...

as Highway Patrolman *

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Po ...

as Dusty *

Macon McCalman Willis Macon McCalman (December 30, 1932 – November 29, 2005) was an American television, stage and big screen movie actor. Acting career Nicknamed "Sonny", McCalman helped form the Front Street Theatre in his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. ...

as Dr. Hines *

Joe Regalbuto Joe Regalbuto (born August 24, 1949) is an American actor and director. He is known for his role as Frank Fontana on the CBS television sitcom ''Murphy Brown'', which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 1989. Early life Regalbuto grad ...

as Henry Axle *

Gary Grubbs Gary Grubbs (born November 14, 1949) is an American character actor who has appeared in 178 credited shows and films since the 1970s and is still working steadily. He is best known as Captain Steven Wiecek in ''For Love and Honor'' (1983-1984), ...

as Jim Bob *

as Smokey *

Tracey Walter Tracey Walter (born November 25, 1947) is an American character actor. He has appeared in more than 170 films and television series. Life and career Walter was born and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the son of a truck driver. He has a s ...

as Pooch

Reception

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

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wang ...

. The ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'' 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 critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

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 ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

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 under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

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

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* * * {{Clint Eastwood 1982 films 1980s musical drama films Country music films American Western (genre) comedy films 1980s Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) 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 drama films 1980s American films