Trivia for
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) More at IMDbPro »

• Other people that were up for Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton's roles in the film included Willie Nelson for the role of Ed Earl Dodd and Barbara Mandrell and Crystal Gayle for the role Miss Mona Stangley.
  
  
• The exterior of the Chicken Ranch was erected on the Universal lot where the Bates house from Psycho (1960) originally stood. The Bates house was moved to a more permanent location when filming began on Psycho II (1983).
  
  
• The Chicken Ranch house went on to be the Firefly residence in House of 1000 Corpses (2003).
  
  
• The film went over budget because of the various production problems. Several directors came and went, the script was always being rewritten and Dolly Parton wrote several more songs than were eventually included.
  
  
• This was based upon a true story in which investigative reporter Marvin Zindler (who inspired Dom DeLuise's "Melvin P. Thorpe" character) closed down the "Chicken Ranch" brothel in LaGrange, Texas, in 1973. Zindler remained with ABC affiliate KTRK-TV in Houston until his death in 2007.
  
  
• Because of the film's provocative title the movie was briefly seized by Slough Police in the UK during the 1980s UK video nasty craze after they believed it to be a sex film.
  
  
• In terms of box-office The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) was the most successful movie-musical of the 1980's.
  
  
• Dom DeLuise's character, Melvin P. Thorpe is based on the real newsman, Marvin Zindler (b. 1921, d. 7/29/07) who brought down the real Chicken Ranch. The incident where the sheriff snatches the wig off Thorpe's head and holds it high really happened between the La Grange county sheriff and Zindler. Zindler also pioneered "rat and roach" reports about restaurant cleanliness ("Slime in the Ice Machine!"),
  
  
• Marvin Zindler, on which Melvin P. Thorpe is based, liked the play but didn't like the film. Zindler said that his crusade against the Chicken Ranch has been taken out of context. He wasn't trying to get it closed down because of the prostitution, but because of the Ranch's reported ties to organized crime and other shady business dealings.
  
  
• The original Broadway production of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" opened at the 46th Street Theater on June 19, 1978 and ran for 1584 performances. The musical on which the movie version was based was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 1979 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.
  
  
• Betty Grable's stepson, Tim James, natural son of big band leader Harry James, was an attorney working with the then Attorney General of Texas and became responsible for enticing TV personality Marvin Zindler of Houston to investigate the famous Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange, Texas - eventually closing it down.
  
  
• Henderson Forsythe won the 1979 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Musical for "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" in the role of Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd.
  
  
• Kris Kristofferson and Gene Hackman were both considered to play Ed Earl.
  
  

Related Links