The Electric Horseman (1979)

Director:

Sydney Pollack

Writers:

Shelly Burton (story)
Paul Gaer (story)

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)

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:

Film debut of Willie Nelson.

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:

Hallie Martin: You ride off with somebody else's twelve million dollar horse, did you think we wouldn't notice?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

So You Think You're a Cowboy

Absurd

The best thing about this film is the light-up "electric horseman" outfit that Redford wears in the beginning of the film-- as I recall, it inspired many a Halloween costume when the film was released. Otherwise, this film is utterly ridiculous. We are supposed to believe a corporation spends million of dollars on a winning racehorse not to breed it, but to serve as a corporate mascot, despite the fact that most people can't tell one brown horse from another. We are supposed to believe that a rodeo champion would be a useful spokesman to sell cereal, even though almost no Americans can name a single rodeo champion from any point in history, five-time winner or not. We are supposed to believe that after days adventuring in the desert, neither Redford or Fonda looks like they've been more than three feet away from a blow-dryer and can of Final Net for touch-ups. This film was less inspiring than insulting.