| The Electric Horseman | |
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original movie poster |
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| Directed by | Sydney Pollack |
| Produced by | Ray Stark |
| Written by | Shelly Burton Paul Gaer Robert Garland (screenplay) |
| Starring | Robert Redford Jane Fonda Valerie Perrine John Saxon Willie Nelson |
| Music by | Dave Grusin |
| Cinematography | Owen Roizman |
| Editing by | Sheldon Kahn |
| Studio | Rastar Films |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures Universal Studios |
| Release date(s) | December 21, 1979 |
| Running time | 120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Electric Horseman is a 1979 adventure and romance feature film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack. It was the third time Redford and Fonda starred together in a feature film, having previously teamed on The Chase (1966) and Barefoot in the Park (1967).[1]
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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 race horse 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 abscond with Rising Star and travel cross-country in order to release him in a remote canyon where herds of wild horses roam. Hallie Martin (Jane Fonda), a television reporter eager to be the first to break the Rising Star story, locates Sonny and follows him on his unusual quest through the countryside. While en route, the unlikely pair have a romance as they avoid the pursuing authorities.
The film was directed by Sydney Pollack, who had previously directed Redford in This Property Is Condemned (1966), Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Way We Were (1973) and Three Days of the Condor (1975), and later in Out of Africa (1985) and Havana (1990). Pollack had also previously directed Fonda in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969).[2] With most of the action taking place outdoors, the movie was filmed on location in Nevada, Utah and Zion National Park.[3] It was only the second film performance of character actor Wilford Brimley, who would later team with Redford in The Natural (1984).[4]
The Electric Horseman is noted as being the debut acting performance of long-time country and western singer Willie Nelson, who plays the role of Wendell Hickson.[5] According to Pollack, Nelson improvised most of his dialogue in the film. In addition to co-starring, Nelson contributed significantly to the film's soundtrack as well, 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] Pollack would later be executive producer for Nelson's 1980 starring vehicle Honeysuckle Rose.
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 (Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler and Al Overton, Jr.).[9][10] 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 US and Universal overseas, though the US rights would later revert to Universal.[11]
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