Stay Hungry (1976)

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

Charles Gaines (novel)
Charles Gaines (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 April 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

If you've got an appetite for life:

Plot:

A syndicate wants to buy a whole district to rebuild it. They've bought every house except the small gym "Olympic"...

Plot Keywords:

Body Building | Sex On Stairs | Girl Stripped Down To Panties | Competition | Yellow Dress

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Craig Blake
Sally Field	...	Mary Tate Farnsworth
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Joe Santo
R.G. Armstrong	...	Thor Erickson
Robert Englund	...	Franklin
Helena Kallianiotes	...	Anita
Roger E. Mosley	...	Newton
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Uncle Albert
Scatman Crothers	...	William
Kathleen Miller	...	Dorothy Stephens
Fannie Flagg	...	Amy
Joanna Cassidy	...	Zoe
Richard Gilliland	...	Hal
Mayf Nutter	...	Packman
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Lester

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:18 | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2005) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Company:

Outov Productions

Trivia:

Arnold Schwarzenegger won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture", even though his debut was in Hercules in New York (1970).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Franklin discovers the first burglar on a ladder inside the gym, he knocks over the ladder (with the burglar still on it ). The ladder and burglar crash through a wooden gate and hit the floor, you can see the burglar bounce twice. It is obvious there was a mattress to cushion the fall.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 34th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1977) (TV)

A property buyer's plan to purchase and demolish a gym leads to a life-changing experience.

I stumbled across this movie on the UK's little-watched TV network Channel 5. Initially intrigued by the idea of seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger's screen debut, I was quickly engrossed in this excellent and almost unknown film and the way in which the disparate characters inter-relate over the course of the story. The film manages to appear beguilingly simple and yet it deals with such issues as class, aspiration, loyalty, identity and love.

The way in which all the characters slowly but surely reveal their flaws and weaknesses is quite brilliant. Stand-out scenes include Arnie's bodybuilder character playing the fiddle (yes, the fiddle!) with a bunch of hillbillies out in the woods, Jeff Bridges' drunken jig, and the sight of about a hundred pumped-up bodybuilders running almost naked through rush hour traffic, which for me is one of the classic and most unexpected comic moments in cinema.

I may think more of this film because I 'discovered' it almost by chance, but I will always see it as an underrated classic and I urge everyone to seek it out.