Honkytonk Man (1982)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Clancy Carlile (novel)
Clancy Carlile (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 December 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The boy is on his way to becoming a man. The man is on his way to becoming a legend.

Plot:

As the film opens on an Oklahoma farm during the depression, two simultaneous visitors literally hit...

Plot Keywords:

Tuberculosis | Coughing | Bus | Doctor | Whiskey

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Red Stovall
Kyle Eastwood	...	Whit
John McIntire	...	Grandpa
Alexa Kenin	...	Marlene
Verna Bloom	...	Emmy
Matt Clark	...	Virgil
Barry Corbin	...	Arnspringer
Jerry Hardin	...	Snuffy
Tim Thomerson	...	Highway Patrolman
Macon McCalman	...	Dr. Hines
Joe Regalbuto	...	Henry Axle
Gary Grubbs	...	Jim Bob
Rebecca Clemons	...	Belle
Johnny Gimble	...	Bob Wills
Linda Hopkins	...	Blues Singer

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-8 | Australia:PG (video rating) | Spain:T | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Australia:M | Norway:12 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Birds Landing, California, USA

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

The script originally called for Kyle Eastwood's character to get high from smoking marijuana, but Clint Eastwood, who is very anti-drug, refused, even with Kyle even using a prop cigarette. Eastwood finally relented to his son's character getting high from a contact buzz.

Quotes:

Red Stovall: What's a girl like you going to do in Nashville? Have you any money or friends? What are you gonna do, live in the streets?
Marlene: The Lord will provide.
Red Stovall: He'd better provide you a way of gettin' there, too.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Honkytonk Man

Heading For The Promise Land

Set in Depression era Oklahoma, this film tells the story of a dirt poor, alcoholic singer named Red Stovall (Clint Eastwood), who heads out for Nashville, in hopes of making it big as a country singer. The story begins on a dilapidated farm composed mostly of dust, where Red's sister hesitatingly allows her son Whit (Kyle Eastwood) to go with Red to Nashville. The kid's Grandpa (John McIntire) also wants to go, to return to his native Tennessee. The film's beginning is dreary and depressing, but wonderfully realistic of the dust bowl days of the 1930s.

Much of the plot takes place on the road, as the three travelers encounter an assortment of characters and problems along the way. The most important character they meet is a young girl named Marlene (the late Alexa Kenin), who yearns to be a country singer. It's one of many plot contrivances, but at least this contrivance offers some humor, especially when Marlene ... "sings". Other plot contrivances include a jailbreak, an angry bull, an aborted robbery, and an incident involving a chicken coop.

If the film's weakness is excess contrivances, the film's strength is the portrayal of Red as an interestingly complex character. He coughs a lot, a symptom of tuberculosis. And the TB is getting worse. The question is ... will Red be able to reach the promise land before the disease affects his ability to sing? And, in a long monologue aimed at Whit, Red talks about his long-ago love affair with Mary Sims.

The film's acting is credible, if not outstanding. Kyle Eastwood does a nice job as Whit. The film also features cameos by several then-current country singers. At the end, there's some sad real-life irony as Marty Robbins helps Red.

"Honkytonk Man" has some good atmosphere. Arguably, the best segment is at the Top Hat Club on Beale Street in Memphis, where the great Linda Hopkins belts out a blues number. If the film's writer had ditched some of those hokey "on the road" contrivances, and focused the plot more in smoky old bar rooms with low light levels and mournful music, the film would have been a lot better. As is, "Honkytonk Man" is still worth a look, if for no other reason than to see a low-key character study, in contrast to the brash and gaudy big ticket films of that cinematic era, like "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" and "Star Wars".