Themes: Members of the Press, All Washed Up, Whistleblowers
Main Cast: Robert Redford, Jane Fonda, Valerie Perrine, John Saxon, Willie Nelson
Release Year: 1979
Country: US
Run Time: 120 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A cowboy-turned-huckster unexpectedly finds love as he tries to regain his self-respect in this romantic comedy drama. Sonny Steele (Robert Redford) is a one-time rodeo star whose career as a cowboy has ground to a halt. He makes a good living as a spokesman for Ranch Breakfast, a sugar-coated cereal for kids, but he's lost most of his self-respect in the process; his boss, corporate mogul Hunt Sears (John Saxon), considers him a property rather than a human being, and Sonny has developed a serious problem with alcohol. Sears' cereal company is negotiating a highly profitable merger with another firm and brings Sonny to Las Vegas for a publicity stunt, in which Sonny, wearing a garish cowboy outfit complete with blinking lights, will ride on-stage at Caesar's Palace aboard prize-winning thoroughbred stallion Rising Star. When Sonny discovers Sears' men have drugged the horse so that it will be able to walk on an injured leg, he's appalled, and he rides Rising Star off the stage at Caesar's and into the Nevada desert, looking for grazing land where he and the horse can heal their wounds. Sears is shocked to discover that Sonny has run off with a 12 million dollars, and he realizes that Sonny knows enough to make his firm look very bad in the press, potentially scotching the merger. Sears files charges against Sonny and posts a reward for Rising Star's safe return, though he implies that it wouldn't bother him if Sonny died in the rescue attempt. Hallie Martin (Jane Fonda), a television journalist covering Sonny's Vegas appearance, is convinced that something is fishy and manages to catch up with him in the desert; as Hallie tries to get Sonny to tell her his story, the has-been cowboy and the city-girl reporter fall in love. The Electric Horseman also stars Valerie Perrine and Willie Nelson; the country & western star made his screen debut in this film and has a very memorable line about tequila and trailer hitches. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Allan Arbus - Danny Miles; Nicolas Coster - Fitzgerald; Wilford Brimley - Farmer; Will Hare - Gus Atwater; Basil Hoffman - Toland; Timothy Scott - Leroy; James B. Sikking - Dietrich; James Kline - Tommy; Frank Speiser - Bernie; Quinn K. Redeker - Bud Broderick; Lois Areno - Joanna Camden; Sarah Harris - Lucinda; Tasha Zemrus - Louise; James Novak - Dennis; Patricia Blair; Sylvie Strauss; Lois Hamilton - Joanna; Brendan Kelly; Roger Lowe; Vic Vallard; Gary D. Liddiard; Sydney Pollack - Man Who Makes a Pass at Alice; Bob Barrett; X.V. Kelly; Debra L. Maxwell; Michele Heyeden; Robin Timm; Gary M. Fox; Richard Perlmutter; Carol Eileen Montgomery; Theresa Ann Dent; Perry Sheehan Adair; Sarge Allen; Richard Knoll; Angelo Giouzelis; Mark Jamison; Sheila B. Wakely; Gary Shermaine; Jerry Kurland; J. Carlton Adair; Charles J. Monahan; George W. Etter; Raymond G. Maupin; Red McIlvaine; Frank Nicholas; Johnny Magnus; Bob Bailey
Credit
Dennis Washington - Art Director, Ronald L. Schwary - Associate Producer, Bernie Pollack - Costume Designer, Sydney Pollack - Director, Sheldon Kahn - Editor, Dave Grusin - Composer (Music Score), Stephen B. Grimes - Production Designer, Owen Roizman - Cinematographer, Raymond Stark - Producer, Willie Nelson - Singer, Mary Olivia Swanson - Set Designer, Augie Lohman - Special Effects, Gordon Davidson - Sound Editor, Robert Garland - Screen Story, Paul Gaer - Screen Story, Robert Garland - Screenwriter, Alvin Sargent - Screenwriter, Paul Gaer - Screenwriter, Shelly Burton - Short Story Author
Sonny Steele (Robert Redford) is a former championship rodeo rider who has sold out to a business conglomerate and is now reduced to making public appearances to sell a brand of breakfast cereal. Prior to making a Las Vegas promotional appearance to ride the champion thoroughbred Rising Star, Sonny discovers the horse has been drugged and is injured. Identifying with the plight of the horse and disillusioned with the present state of his life, Sonny decides to kidnap the animal and travel cross country in order to release it in a remote canyon where herds of wild horses live. Hallie Martin (Jane Fonda), a television reporter eager to be the first to break the Rising Star story, catches up with Sonny and follows him on his unusual quest across the countryside. While en route, the unlikely pair fall in love, all the while having to avoid the pursuing authorities.
Willie Nelson contributed significantly to the film's soundtrack, singing five songs including "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys," "Midnight Rider," "Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys," "So You Think You're a Cowboy" and "Hands on the Wheel."[6] Released on December 21, 1979, the film did strong box office business earning $30 million in the United States.[7][8] The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1980 for Best Sound.[9]The Electric Horseman has since been released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.
The film was co-produced by Columbia Pictures and Universal Pictures, and distributed by Columbia in the U.S. and Universal overseas, though the U.S. rights would later revert to Universal.[10]
