The Electric Horseman (1979)

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Shelly Burton (story)
Paul Gaer (story)
(more)

Release Date:

13 March 1980 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Western | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Sonny Steele used to be a rodeo star, but his next appearance is to be on a Las Vegas stage, wearing a suit covered in lights...

Plot Keywords:

Horse | Las Vegas Nevada | Blockbuster | Reference To Albert Schweitzer

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win

Cast

Robert Redford	...	Norman 'Sonny' Steele
Jane Fonda	...	Alice 'Hallie' Martin
Valerie Perrine	...	Charlotta Steele
Willie Nelson	...	Wendell Hickson
John Saxon	...	Hunt Sears
Nicolas Coster	...	Fitzgerald
Allan Arbus	...	Danny Miles
Wilford Brimley	...	Farmer
Will Hare	...	Gus Atwater
Basil Hoffman	...	Toland
Timothy Scott	...	Leroy
James Sikking	...	Dietrich (as James B. Sikking)
James Kline	...	Tommy
Frank Speiser	...	Bernie
Quinn K. Redeker	...	Bud Broderick (as Quinn Rdeker)
Lois Hamilton	...	Joanna Camden (as Lois Areno)
Sarah Harris	...	Lucinda
Tasha Zemrus	...	Louise
James Novak	...	Dennis
Debra L. Maxwell	...	Convention Hostess
Michele Heyeden	...	Sonny Angel (as Michele Heyden)
Robin Timm	...	Model Narrator
Patricia Blair	...	Fashion Narrator
Gary M. Fox	...	Bellman
Richard Perlmutter	...	Desk Clerk
Carol Eileen Montgomery	...	Carol
Theresa Ann Dent	...	Ranch Breakfast Model
Perry Sheehan Adair	...	Mrs. George Phillips
Sarge Allen	...	Mr. George Phillips
Sylvie Strause	...	Matron (as Sylvie Strauss)
Richard Knoll	...	Dealer
Angelo Giouzelis	...	Maitre D'
Mark Jamison	...	Major Domo
Brendan Kelly	...	Grocer
Sheila B. Wakely	...	Store Clerk
X.V. Kelly	...	Sheriff
Gary Shermaine	...	Trockler
Gary Liddiard	...	Townsman
Jerry Kurland	...	Ampco Personnel
J. Carlton Adair	...	Ampco Personnel
Charles J. Monahan	...	Ampco Personnel
George W. Etter	...	Ampco Personnel
Raymond G. Maupin	...	Ampco Personnel
Bob Barrett	...	Ampco Personnel (as Bob C. Barrett)
Red McIlvaine	...	Reporter
Frank Nicholas	...	Reporter
Johnny Magnus	...	Reporter
Vic Vallaro	...	Reporter
Bob Bailey	...	Reporter
Roger Lowe	...	Reporter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rita Picking	...	Woman blowing kiss to Sonny at Caesar's Palace (uncredited)
Sydney Pollack	...	Man who makes pass at Alice (uncredited)

Directed by
Sydney Pollack

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Shelly Burton		story
Paul Gaer		story
Robert Garland		screen story
Robert Garland		screenplay
David Rayfiel		uncredited

Produced by
Ronald L. Schwary	....	associate producer
Ray Stark	....	producer

Original Music by
Dave Grusin

Cinematography by
Owen Roizman

Film Editing by
Sheldon Kahn

Casting by
Jennifer Shull

Production Design by
Stephen B. Grimes		(as Stephen Grimes)

Art Direction by
J. Dennis Washington

Set Decoration by
Mary Swanson

Costume Design by
Bernie Pollack

Makeup Department
Bernadine M. Anderson	....	makeup: Miss Fonda
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup artist
Marina Pedraza	....	hair stylist (as Marine Pedraza)

Production Management
Ronald L. Schwary	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael D. Moore	....	assistant director (as M. Michael Moore)
Bart Roe	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Edward Aiona	....	property master (as Eddie Aiona)
Stephen Dane	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Neil Burrow	....	sound assistant
Gordon Davidson	....	supervising sound editor
John E. Davis	....	sound assistant
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Al Overton Jr.	....	production sound mixer
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert A. Reich	....	sound editor
William A. Sawyer	....	sound editor (as William Sawyer)
Curt Schulkey	....	sound editor (as Kurt Schulkey)
Ross Taylor	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Augie Lohman	....	special effects
R. Bruce Steinheimer	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Stunts
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunts: chase sequence (as Bruce Paul Barboar)
Corky Behrle	....	stunts: chase sequence
Kenny Endoso	....	stunts: chase sequence (as Ken Endoso)
Ralph Garrett	....	stunts: chase sequence
Mickey Gilbert	....	stunt performer
Mollie McCall	....	stunt performer
Conrad E. Palmisano	....	stunts: chase sequence (as Conrad Palmisano)
Mary Peters	....	stunts: chase sequence (as Mary K. Peters)
Rick Seaman	....	stunts: chase sequence
Sonny Shields	....	stunts: chase sequence
Rock A. Walker	....	stunts: chase sequence (as Rock Walker)
Roger Creed	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Howard Bingham	....	still photographer
James Glennon	....	camera operator
Rob Hahn	....	assistant camera
Ted Holt	....	gaffer
Johnny E. Jensen	....	assistant camera (as John Jensen)
Bob Rose	....	key grip (as R. Reinholt Rose)
R. Reinholt Rose	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck	....	costumer: women (as Francine Jamison)
Richard La Motte	....	costumer: men (as Richard Lamotte)
Art Martinez	....	costumer: men
Rita Salazar	....	costumer: women
Annalisa Strickland	....	costumer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Marilyn Madderom	....	assistant editor
Clayton Collins	....	apprentice film editor (uncredited)
Tracy Granger	....	apprentice editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Else Blangsted	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Gary Paulsen	....	transportation coordinator
Roger Wooge	....	transportation
Richard Belyeu	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Michael Britton	....	production assistant
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	titles
Jack Hirshberg	....	unit publicist
Mary Cay Hollander	....	production coordinator
Bernardine Kent	....	assistant: Mr. Pollack
Bernardine Kent	....	choreographer
Don Kruger	....	location manager
Kenneth Lee	....	livestock supervisor (as Kenny Lee)
Julie Pitkanen	....	script supervisor

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation
• Rastar Films
• Wildwood Enterprises

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1979) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1982) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (Europe) (laserdisc)
• Image Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• MCA (video)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Columbia Records and Tapes  original sound track album on
• Goldman & Associates  extras casting (uncredited)
• La Da Productions  music editor
• Management and Staff of Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, The  we would like to thank for their assistance and co-operation

Also Known As:

Electric (USA) (trailer title)
Den självlysande ryttaren (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Der elektrische Reiter (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
El jinete eléctrico (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Le cavalier électrique (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Den lysende rytter (Denmark) [da]
Elektryczny jezdziec (Poland) [pl]
Il cavaliere elettrico (Italy) [it]
Ilektrikos kavallaris (Greece) [el]
O Cavaleiro Elétrico (Brazil) [pt]
Valaistu ratsumies (Finland) [fi]

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Finland:S | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Caesar's Palace - 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Sonny Steele signs the divorce papers right-handed. However, Robert Redford is famously left-handed.

Goofs:

Continuity: The video footage shown on television of Sonny Steele's speech about the horse doesn't match what Alice would have actually shot. The camera movement, lighting and direction of where Steele was facing while talking is completely different.

Quotes:

Wendall: I'm gonna get me a bottle of tequila and find me one of them Keno girls that can suck the chrome off a trailer hitch and just kinda kick back.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Leonard Nimoy Demonstrates the Magnavision Videodisc Player (1981) (V)

Soundtrack:

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys

A simple tale of a simple man who sets himself and a horse, free.

To those people who didn't understand this movie, perhaps they were expecting something other than a simple tale. In this effective movie, Robert Redford plays "Sonny" Steele, a former 5 time rodeo champion who now hocks breakfast cereal for the sinister corporation, Ampco. Although a world champion cowboy, Sonny is no good at selling cereal. When Ampco buys a thoroughbred horse to solidify a merger, Sonny is outraged at how the horse has been mistreated. When he steals the horse in an attempt to set it free & get it back to nature, he is in fact attempting to make right what is also wrong in his own life. Jane Fonda who plays Hallie Martin, a reporter, is also caught up in the hype when she tries to get the story on an exclusive. As she follows his story & his struggle to set the horse free in an appropriate place, she comes to understand Sonny the man. This charm of this movie is its underlying message of a simple life, unfettered by hypocrisy and falseness as the right way to live and the redemptive quality of a man returning to that. Understated directing and a good supporting cast make this a movie worth watching.