''The Las Vegas Hillbillys'' is a 1966 American
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Arthur C. Pierce and starring
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
and
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957).
Early life
Van Do ...
.
The 1967 sequel film ''
Hillbillys in a Haunted House
''Hillbillys in a Haunted House'' is a 1967 American musical horror comedy film starring Ferlin Husky and Joi Lansing, and directed by Jean Yarbrough. The film is a sequel to '' The Las Vegas Hillbillys'' (1966), with Joi Lansing replacing Mamie ...
'' soon followed with a similar cast.
The film was featured in an episode of ''
The Canned Film Festival'' in the summer of 1986.
Plot
Woody Woodrow, a country bumpkin whose family makes and sells
moonshine
Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...
in backwoods
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, inherits a
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
casino and plans to turn it into a
country and western
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
bar.The rundown establishment is WAY out of town,but country music is a
novelty they figure they can successfully promote.
On the plus side,buxom Boots Malone(Van Doren);who is smarter than she appears;signs on as hostess and business manager.
On the minus side,gangsters to whom the previous owners owed a sizeable amount of money keep coming around to collect;backed by
huge "enforcer" Richard Kiel (well before fame in James Bond movies).
Woody eventually manages to talk well-known country singers into appearing there;and pays off the debt.
He then orders his staff to shower the gangsters with pies on their way out the door.
Cast
*
Ferlin Husky
Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an early American country music singer who was equally adept at the genres of traditional honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, and rockabilly pop tunes. He had two dozen top-20 hit ...
as Woody
*
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
as Tawny
*
Mamie Van Doren
Mamie Van Doren (born Joan Lucille Olander; February 6, 1931) is an American actress, singer, and sex symbol. She is perhaps best known for the rock 'n' roll, juvenile delinquency exploitation film ''Untamed Youth'' (1957).
Early life
Van Do ...
as Boots Malone
*
Don Bowman as Jeepers
*
Billie Bird
Billie Bird Sellen (February 28, 1908 – November 27, 2002), better known professionally as Billie Bird, was an American actress and comedian. She played Margie in '' Dear John'' (1988–1992).
Early life
Born in Pocatello, Idaho, Bird was ...
as Ma
*
Bill Anderson as Himself
*
Wilma Burgess
Wilma Burgess (born Wilma Charlene Burgess; June 11, 1939 – August 26, 2003)
was an American country music singer. She rose to fame in the mid-1960s and charted fifteen singles on the '' Billboard'' C&W charts between 1965 and 1975.
Backgrou ...
as Herself
*
Roy Drusky
Roy Frank Drusky, Jr. (June 22, 1930 – September 23, 2004) was an American country music singer, songwriter, producer, actor and disc jockey popular from the 1960s through the early 1970s. Known for his baritone voice, he was known for incor ...
as Himself
*
Sonny James
Jimmie Hugh Loden (May 1, 1928February 22, 2016), known professionally as Sonny James, was an American country music singer and songwriter best known for his 1957 hit, " Young Love", topping both of the early versions of today's ''Billboard'' ...
as Himself
*
Duke of Paducah as Himself
*
Del Reeves
Franklin Delano Reeves (July 14, 1933 – January 1, 2007) was an American country music singer, best known for his "girl-watching" novelty songs of the 1960s including "Girl on the Billboard" and "The Belles of Southern Bell". He is also known ...
as Himself
*
Connie Smith
Connie Smith (born Constance June Meador; August 14, 1941) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Her contralto vocals have been described by music writers as significant and influential to the women of country music. A similarity h ...
as Herself
*
Robert V. Barron
Robert V. Barron (December 26, 1932 – December 1, 2000) was an American TV and film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. He was best known for his role as the voice of Admiral Donald Hayes in 1980s animated TV series ''Robotech'', of ...
as Donald
*
Louis Quinn
Louis Quinn (born Louis Frackt; March 23, 1915 – September 14, 1988) was an American television and film actor, best known for his role as Roscoe, the comic relief racetrack tout, from 1958 to 1963 in the ABC/Warner Bros. detective televi ...
*
Richard Kiel
Richard Dawson Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014) was an American actor. Standing tall, he was known for portraying Jaws in '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) and '' Moonraker'' (1979). Kiel's next-most-recognized role is the t ...
*
John Harmon
*Helen Clark
*Bennett King
*Tony Posey
See also
*
List of American films of 1966
This is a list of American films released in 1966.
'' A Man for All Seasons'' won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
A–B
C–H
I–R
S–Z
See also
* 1966 in the United States
References
External links
1966 filmsat the Interne ...
*
List of films set in Las Vegas
This is a list of films set in Las Vegas.
See also
* List of films shot in Las Vegas
* List of television shows set in Las Vegas
References
{{reflist
Las Vegas
Films
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, ...
References
External links
*
*
1966 films
1966 musical comedy films
American musical comedy films
Films set in the Las Vegas Valley
Films scored by Dean Elliott
1960s English-language films
1960s American films
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