The Electric Horseman


2h 1979

Brief Synopsis

A retired rodeo cowboy rebels against the admen who want to make him a commercial spokesman.

Film Details

Also Known As
Den självlysande ryttaren, Electric Horseman, jinete eléctrico, El
MPAA Rating
Genre
Western
Comedy
Drama
Romance
Release Date
1979
Location
Nevada, USA

Technical Specs

Duration
2h
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1

Synopsis

A has-been rodeo star hired to appear in a tacky Vegas stage revue, wearing a neon suit free's the horse he's set to co-star with when he realizes that the animal is being drugged.

Film Details

Also Known As
Den självlysande ryttaren, Electric Horseman, jinete eléctrico, El
MPAA Rating
Genre
Western
Comedy
Drama
Romance
Release Date
1979
Location
Nevada, USA

Technical Specs

Duration
2h
Sound
Mono
Color
Color (Technicolor)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
2.35 : 1

Award Nominations

Best Sound

1979

Articles

Ray Stark (1915-2004)


Ray Stark, the celebrated Hollywood producer who opened the world for Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl (1968), and was a recipient of the distinguished Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences for his services to the movie industry, died of natural causes on January 17th in Los Angeles. He was 88.

Born on October 3, 1915 in New York City, Stark was educated at Rutgers University and New York University Law School. After graduation, he started his entertainment career selling radio scripts before he became a literary agent for such notable writers as Ben Hecht, Thomas P. Costain, and Raymond Chandler. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Stark - who had show-business connections through his mother-in-law, Broadway legend Fanny Brice - eventually became a top Hollywood agent at Famous Artists, where he represented such stars as Marilyn Monroe, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, and Lana Turner.

By 1957, Stark was hungry to develop more of a taste in the film business, so he formed a partnership with fellow producer Elliott Hyman to create the independent movie firm, Seven Arts Productions. Stark's first film production credit was the popular drama The World of Suzie Wong (1960) starring William Holden and Nancy Kwan; and he followed that up with an adaptation of Tennessee Williams' superb Night of the Iguana (1964) with Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner.

Around this time, Stark had the ambition to produce a musical based on the life of his late mother-in-law, and produced his first Broadway musical - Funny Girl. The musical opened on March 24, 1964 and made Barbra Streisand the toast of the Great White Way. Eventually, Stark would make the film adaptation four years later, and Streisand would win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Stark would also arrange a contract with Streisand to do three more movies for him within the next 10 years that still prove to be the most interesting of her career: the hilarious sex farce The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) with George Segal; the romantic drama The Way We Were (1973) with Robert Redford; and the sequel to her film debut Funny Lady (1975) co-starring Omar Sharif.

Stark also delivered another Broadway luminary to the movie going masses when he brought a string of well-acted, Neil Simon comedies to the silver screen, most notably: The Goodbye Girl (1977) with Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss (Oscar winner, Best Actor); The Sunshine Boys (1975) with Walter Matthau and George Burns (Oscar winner, Best Supporting Actor); California Suite (1978) with Alan Alda, Michael Caine, and Dame Maggie Smith (Oscar winner, Best Supporting Actress); the nostalgic Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) with Blythe Danner; and Biloxi Blues (1988) with Matthew Broderick. He also produced Steel Magnolias (1989), with an ensemble cast that introduced audiences to a radiantly young Julia Roberts. In television, Stark won an Emmy award for the HBO's telefilm Barbarians at the Gate (1993). His last credit as a producer (at age 84) was the Harrison Ford picture Random Hearts (1999).

Although he never won an Academy Award, Stark earned the most prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1980 and the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America in 1999. He is survived by his daughter, Wendy, and granddaughter, Allison.

by Michael T. Toole
Ray Stark (1915-2004)

Ray Stark (1915-2004)

Ray Stark, the celebrated Hollywood producer who opened the world for Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl (1968), and was a recipient of the distinguished Irving G. Thalberg Award from the Academy of Arts and Sciences for his services to the movie industry, died of natural causes on January 17th in Los Angeles. He was 88. Born on October 3, 1915 in New York City, Stark was educated at Rutgers University and New York University Law School. After graduation, he started his entertainment career selling radio scripts before he became a literary agent for such notable writers as Ben Hecht, Thomas P. Costain, and Raymond Chandler. After serving in the Navy during World War II, Stark - who had show-business connections through his mother-in-law, Broadway legend Fanny Brice - eventually became a top Hollywood agent at Famous Artists, where he represented such stars as Marilyn Monroe, William Holden, Kirk Douglas, and Lana Turner. By 1957, Stark was hungry to develop more of a taste in the film business, so he formed a partnership with fellow producer Elliott Hyman to create the independent movie firm, Seven Arts Productions. Stark's first film production credit was the popular drama The World of Suzie Wong (1960) starring William Holden and Nancy Kwan; and he followed that up with an adaptation of Tennessee Williams' superb Night of the Iguana (1964) with Richard Burton, Deborah Kerr and Ava Gardner. Around this time, Stark had the ambition to produce a musical based on the life of his late mother-in-law, and produced his first Broadway musical - Funny Girl. The musical opened on March 24, 1964 and made Barbra Streisand the toast of the Great White Way. Eventually, Stark would make the film adaptation four years later, and Streisand would win the Academy Award for Best Actress. Stark would also arrange a contract with Streisand to do three more movies for him within the next 10 years that still prove to be the most interesting of her career: the hilarious sex farce The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) with George Segal; the romantic drama The Way We Were (1973) with Robert Redford; and the sequel to her film debut Funny Lady (1975) co-starring Omar Sharif. Stark also delivered another Broadway luminary to the movie going masses when he brought a string of well-acted, Neil Simon comedies to the silver screen, most notably: The Goodbye Girl (1977) with Marsha Mason and Richard Dreyfuss (Oscar winner, Best Actor); The Sunshine Boys (1975) with Walter Matthau and George Burns (Oscar winner, Best Supporting Actor); California Suite (1978) with Alan Alda, Michael Caine, and Dame Maggie Smith (Oscar winner, Best Supporting Actress); the nostalgic Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986) with Blythe Danner; and Biloxi Blues (1988) with Matthew Broderick. He also produced Steel Magnolias (1989), with an ensemble cast that introduced audiences to a radiantly young Julia Roberts. In television, Stark won an Emmy award for the HBO's telefilm Barbarians at the Gate (1993). His last credit as a producer (at age 84) was the Harrison Ford picture Random Hearts (1999). Although he never won an Academy Award, Stark earned the most prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1980 and the David O. Selznick Lifetime Achievement Award from the Producers Guild of America in 1999. He is survived by his daughter, Wendy, and granddaughter, Allison. by Michael T. Toole

The Electric Horseman


Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford had already done four other pictures together as director and star, respectively, before they made The Electric Horseman (1979), and they would make two more films after this. "In my opinion, he's one of the best movie actors we've ever had in this country," Pollack said of his star. "He's never doing nothing, but he does often hold something back, which, for me, only makes him more interesting." Pollack believes his creative collaboration with Redford to be the most important of his career, stretching back to when they acted together in War Hunt (1962). "We did films in our 30s, in our 40s and our 50s," Pollack said. "I've grown old with him." Their last film together, Havana (1990), wasn't a hit, and Redford has limited his on-screen appearances in recent years, but in a 2002 interview with The Guardian (UK), Pollack held out the hope they would work together at least once more. "I think we owe it to each other," he told the newspaper. "It's a rich time in both of our lives. I'd love to try to reflect what we've learned and where we are now. That would be exciting, but people aren't writing those kinds of stories."

The kind of story that excited them in 1979 was this comedy-western-romance about former rodeo champion Sonny Steele, hired by a cereal company to be its spokesperson. Decked out in a cowboy outfit covered in lights, Sonny is supposed to hawk the product during a special Las Vegas appearance, but when he finds out the champion horse he's riding is being drugged by the corporation, he rides off the stage and into the desert, where he plans to free the horse. Hot on his trail is reporter Alice "Hallie" Martin, who catches up with Steele on the run, falls in love with him, and aids him in his mission when the evil food conglomerate comes gunning for him.

It was the kind of story that also appealed strongly to co-star Jane Fonda. She had been traveling the country with her activist-politician husband Tom Hayden, spreading a message against unbridled corporate power and trying to mobilize people on issues of environmentalism, the injustices of big business, animal rights, and nuclear power (her prior release was the anti-nuke The China Syndrome, 1979). In addition to being aligned with the film's theme and political concerns, Fonda eagerly accepted the role because Redford's Wildwood Company (co-producer with Columbia and Universal) was willing to pay her rate of a million dollars a picture, which she had recently earned by rising to the position of number-one female box office star. She was also eager to work again with Redford and Pollack.

She and Redford knew each other since their stage days in New York in the early 1960s and worked together on film twice before this picture, on The Chase (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967). Known to be rather withdrawn and lost in her own process on most movie sets, Fonda was a different person around Redford. "We always had a good time," she said. "He's never been full of himself. He's hysterical. He plays practical jokes. I'm crazy about him." Redford said Fonda "always had faith in our connection and our chemistry." It helped, too, that they shared common liberal politics.

Fonda's connection with Pollack was also important. She has said that she really began to find her voice as an actress while working under his direction in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Pollack had asked her to read both the script and the book it was based on and to give him suggestions. "Nobody had ever asked my opinion about the content of a movie," she later said. "And that little thing made a huge difference."

Besides Las Vegas, location shooting for The Electric Horseman took place in the Utah wilderness near Redford's home (so he could get a break on his state taxes). Most of the shoot went smoothly, but when a series of traveling thunder storms kept interrupting a Redford-Fonda kissing scene, the 20-second bit ended up costing $280,000 for the 48 takes it required. The picture became the top-grossing movie of the 1979 fall season and garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound. Pollack makes a cameo appearance as a Las Vegas regular who makes a pass at Fonda.

Director: Sydney Pollack
Producer: Ray Stark
Screenplay: Shelly Burton, Paul Gaer, Robert Garland, David Rayfiel
Cinematography: Owen Roizman
Editing: Sheldon Kahn
Art Direction: J. Dennis Washington
Original Music: Dave Grusin
Cast: Robert Redford (Sonny Steele), Jane Fonda (Hallie Martin), Valerie Perrine (Charlotta Steele), Willie Nelson (Wendell Hickson), John Saxon (Hunt Sears).
C-121m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning.

by Rob Nixon

The Electric Horseman

Sydney Pollack and Robert Redford had already done four other pictures together as director and star, respectively, before they made The Electric Horseman (1979), and they would make two more films after this. "In my opinion, he's one of the best movie actors we've ever had in this country," Pollack said of his star. "He's never doing nothing, but he does often hold something back, which, for me, only makes him more interesting." Pollack believes his creative collaboration with Redford to be the most important of his career, stretching back to when they acted together in War Hunt (1962). "We did films in our 30s, in our 40s and our 50s," Pollack said. "I've grown old with him." Their last film together, Havana (1990), wasn't a hit, and Redford has limited his on-screen appearances in recent years, but in a 2002 interview with The Guardian (UK), Pollack held out the hope they would work together at least once more. "I think we owe it to each other," he told the newspaper. "It's a rich time in both of our lives. I'd love to try to reflect what we've learned and where we are now. That would be exciting, but people aren't writing those kinds of stories." The kind of story that excited them in 1979 was this comedy-western-romance about former rodeo champion Sonny Steele, hired by a cereal company to be its spokesperson. Decked out in a cowboy outfit covered in lights, Sonny is supposed to hawk the product during a special Las Vegas appearance, but when he finds out the champion horse he's riding is being drugged by the corporation, he rides off the stage and into the desert, where he plans to free the horse. Hot on his trail is reporter Alice "Hallie" Martin, who catches up with Steele on the run, falls in love with him, and aids him in his mission when the evil food conglomerate comes gunning for him. It was the kind of story that also appealed strongly to co-star Jane Fonda. She had been traveling the country with her activist-politician husband Tom Hayden, spreading a message against unbridled corporate power and trying to mobilize people on issues of environmentalism, the injustices of big business, animal rights, and nuclear power (her prior release was the anti-nuke The China Syndrome, 1979). In addition to being aligned with the film's theme and political concerns, Fonda eagerly accepted the role because Redford's Wildwood Company (co-producer with Columbia and Universal) was willing to pay her rate of a million dollars a picture, which she had recently earned by rising to the position of number-one female box office star. She was also eager to work again with Redford and Pollack. She and Redford knew each other since their stage days in New York in the early 1960s and worked together on film twice before this picture, on The Chase (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967). Known to be rather withdrawn and lost in her own process on most movie sets, Fonda was a different person around Redford. "We always had a good time," she said. "He's never been full of himself. He's hysterical. He plays practical jokes. I'm crazy about him." Redford said Fonda "always had faith in our connection and our chemistry." It helped, too, that they shared common liberal politics. Fonda's connection with Pollack was also important. She has said that she really began to find her voice as an actress while working under his direction in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969). Pollack had asked her to read both the script and the book it was based on and to give him suggestions. "Nobody had ever asked my opinion about the content of a movie," she later said. "And that little thing made a huge difference." Besides Las Vegas, location shooting for The Electric Horseman took place in the Utah wilderness near Redford's home (so he could get a break on his state taxes). Most of the shoot went smoothly, but when a series of traveling thunder storms kept interrupting a Redford-Fonda kissing scene, the 20-second bit ended up costing $280,000 for the 48 takes it required. The picture became the top-grossing movie of the 1979 fall season and garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Sound. Pollack makes a cameo appearance as a Las Vegas regular who makes a pass at Fonda. Director: Sydney Pollack Producer: Ray Stark Screenplay: Shelly Burton, Paul Gaer, Robert Garland, David Rayfiel Cinematography: Owen Roizman Editing: Sheldon Kahn Art Direction: J. Dennis Washington Original Music: Dave Grusin Cast: Robert Redford (Sonny Steele), Jane Fonda (Hallie Martin), Valerie Perrine (Charlotta Steele), Willie Nelson (Wendell Hickson), John Saxon (Hunt Sears). C-121m. Letterboxed. Closed captioning. by Rob Nixon

Quotes

You ride off with somebody else's twelve million dollar horse, did you think we wouldn't notice?
- Hallie Martin
You've had a hard day. Why don't you scrunch down in the bag?
- Sonny Steele
Oh, I wish it were that easy. I don't sleep.
- Hallie Martin
Ever? How old are you?
- Sonny
Okay, I respect your position. I don't understand it, but I respect it. A lot of famous people hated publicity: Albert Schweitzer. Franco. ...Albert Schweitzer.
- Hallie Martin
I ain't carrying it. And you can't carry it.
- Sonny Steele
The hell I can't. I've carried this stuff a lot of times.
- Hallie Martin
Where? Up the escalator at Bloomingtons, or Bloomingbirds or where ever the hell it is?
- Sonny Steele
Bloomingdales!
- Hallie Martin
I've been to the rodeo. Twice.
- Hallie Martin
Did you stay for the rattlesnake round up?
- Sonny Steele
Yes. I stayed. Right till the end. I saw the whole thing.
- Hallie Martin
They don't have one. How're you gonna round up a rattlesnake?
- Sonny Steele

Trivia

Making a pass at Jane Fonda during a Las Vegas convention.

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States Winter December 21, 1979

Re-released in United States on Video June 29, 1994

Re-released in United States on Video June 29, 1994

Released in United States Winter December 21, 1979