Honky Tonk Freeway
Encyclopedia
Honky Tonk Freeway is a UK comedy
film directed by John Schlesinger
. It was released in August 1981
by Universal Studios. The film, conceived and co-produced by Don Boyd
, was one of the most expensive box office flops in history, losing its British backers Thorn-EMI an estimated $11,000,000 and profoundly impacting its fortunes and aspirations. The film was financed in part by Roy Tucker's tax avoidance schemes funded by the Rossminster banking group.
Just before the film was released, EMI sold the ancillary rights under this scheme to German investors in need of a tax loss, in an effort to try to recoup their $11,000,000 loss. When the movie's distributors learned this fact, they were no longer financially motivated to distribute the movie widely and consequently released the film for only one week.
This movie was filmed in the small central Florida town of Mount Dora. The off ramp filming location took place at the I-75 and Palmer Road overpass in Fruitville, Florida. Most of the highway scenes take place on I-75 between Sarasota and Ft Myers while the highway was still under construction. Dynamite crews blew up the south bound lane overpass at I-75 and Palmer Road before the Tampa to Miami leg of the highway was completed in 1981. Many portions of Fruitville were painted pink to match the sets in Mount Dora and remained pink for decades afterward. Palmer Road was never designated for an I-75 exit because it is not a main thoroughfare. The exit for Fruitville is on Fruitville Road about 2 miles north of the filming location.
on release and pulled from theatres after just one week
The film can be viewed as a satire on the American way of life and this contributed to its unfavourable critical reception at the time
Since its release on DVD it has attained something of a cult following.
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
film directed by John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
. It was released in August 1981
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
by Universal Studios. The film, conceived and co-produced by Don Boyd
Don Boyd
Donald William Robertson Boyd Hon D.Litt is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist...
, was one of the most expensive box office flops in history, losing its British backers Thorn-EMI an estimated $11,000,000 and profoundly impacting its fortunes and aspirations. The film was financed in part by Roy Tucker's tax avoidance schemes funded by the Rossminster banking group.
Just before the film was released, EMI sold the ancillary rights under this scheme to German investors in need of a tax loss, in an effort to try to recoup their $11,000,000 loss. When the movie's distributors learned this fact, they were no longer financially motivated to distribute the movie widely and consequently released the film for only one week.
Plot
The film involves a small Florida tourist town named Ticlaw and the people who live there, led by William Devane playing the part of the Mayor/Preacher Kirby T. Calo who also operates a hotel and tiny wildlife safari park. The town's major draw is a water-skiing elephant named Bubbles. When the state highway commission builds a freeway adjacent to the town, Devane slips an official 10,000 dollars to assure an off ramp. The off ramp doesn't come so the townsfolk literally paint the town pink to attract visitors. Meanwhile, we are introduced to several characters from various parts of the United States all for one reason or another are heading to Florida. We know they will all end up in Ticlaw but finding out why and how is half the fun. There are bank robbers from New York (George Dzundza, Joe Grifasi) who pick up a cocaine dealing hitchhiker (Daniel Stern), a Chicago copy machine repairman and wannabe children's author Duane Hansen (Beau Bridges) who picks up a waitress Carmen Odessa Shelby (Beverly D'Angelo) who is carrying her mother's ashes to Florida, a dentist and his family (Howard Hesseman, Teri Garr, Peter Billingsly) vacationing cross country in their RV, an elderly woman Carol (Jessica Tandy) with a drinking problem and her loving husband Sherm (Hume Cronyn, of course), two nuns (mother superior Geraldine Page, novice nun Deborah Rush), a wannabe country song writer hauling a playful rhino and other wild animals to Ticlaw, and more.This movie was filmed in the small central Florida town of Mount Dora. The off ramp filming location took place at the I-75 and Palmer Road overpass in Fruitville, Florida. Most of the highway scenes take place on I-75 between Sarasota and Ft Myers while the highway was still under construction. Dynamite crews blew up the south bound lane overpass at I-75 and Palmer Road before the Tampa to Miami leg of the highway was completed in 1981. Many portions of Fruitville were painted pink to match the sets in Mount Dora and remained pink for decades afterward. Palmer Road was never designated for an I-75 exit because it is not a main thoroughfare. The exit for Fruitville is on Fruitville Road about 2 miles north of the filming location.
Cast
- David RascheDavid Rasche-Early life and career:Rasche was born in St. Louis, Missouri. His father was a minister and farmer. Rasche started in theatre, but also has appeared on numerous movies and television series. He became a member of the Chicago Second City, after John Belushi moved on to Saturday Night Live...
as Eddie White - Paul JabaraPaul JabaraPaul Jabara was an American actor, singer, and songwriter of Lebanese ancestry. He wrote Donna Summer's "Last Dance" from Thank God It's Friday and Barbra Streisand's song "The Main Event/Fight" from The Main Event...
as T.J. Tupus - Howard HessemanHoward HessemanHoward Hesseman is an American actor best known for playing disc jockey Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinnati and schoolteacher Charlie Moore on Head of the Class.-Early life:...
as Snapper - Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
as Ericka - Jenn Thompson as Delia
- Peter BillingsleyPeter BillingsleyPeter Billingsley , also known as Peter Michaelsen and Peter Billingsley-Michaelsen, is an American actor, director, and producer best known for his role as Ralphie in the 1983 movie A Christmas Story. He began his career as an infant, in television commercials.-Early life, family and...
as Little Billy - Beau BridgesBeau BridgesLloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III is an American actor and director.- Early life :Bridges was born in Los Angeles, the son of actor Lloyd Bridges and his college sweetheart, Dorothy Bridges . He was nicknamed "Beau" by his mother and father after Ashley Wilkes's son in Gone with the Wind, the book...
as Duane Hansen - Beverly D'AngeloBeverly D'AngeloBeverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...
as Carmen Odessa Shelby - Daniel SternDaniel SternDaniel Stern may refer to:*Daniel Stern , American actor*The pen name of Marie d'Agoult*Daniel Stern , psychoanalytic theorist and author*Daniel Stern , Jewish American novelist and professor of English...
as Hitchhiker - Sandra McCabe as Prostitute
- Celia WestonCelia WestonCelia Weston is an American actress of stage, film and television, and a character actress. Professionally, she may be best known for her role as Jolene Hunnicutt on Alice.-Life and career:...
as Grace - Deborah RushDeborah RushDeborah Rush is an American actress.Rush has worked in television, film and on Broadway. In 1984, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off. She also acted in Stephen Adly Guirgis' The Last Days of Judas Iscariot...
as Sister Mary Magdalene - Geraldine PageGeraldine PageGeraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
as Sister Mary Clarise - George DzundzaGeorge DzundzaGeorge Dzundza is an American television and film actor.-Personal life:Dzundza was born in Rosenheim, Germany, to a Ukrainian father and Polish mother who were forced into factory labour by the Nazis. He spent the first few years of his life in displaced persons camps with his parents and one...
as Eugene - Joe GrifasiJoe GrifasiJoseph G. "Joe" Grifasi is an American character actor of film, stage and television.Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bishop Fallon High School, a now defunct Catholic high school in Buffalo. He played...
as Osvaldo - Hume CronynHume CronynHume Blake Cronyn, OC was a Canadian actor of stage and screen, who enjoyed a long career, often appearing professionally alongside his second wife, Jessica Tandy.-Early life:...
as Sherm - Jessica TandyJessica TandyJessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy was an English-American stage and film actress.She first appeared on the London stage in 1926 at the age of 16, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's King Lear. She also worked in British films...
as Carol - Frances Lee McCainFrances Lee McCainFrances Lee McCain , also known as Lee McCain, is an American actress.-Early life and education:McCain was born in York, Pennsylvania and grew up in New York, Illinois, Colorado and California. She graduated from Ripon College with a BA in Philosophy and then studied acting for 3 years at the...
as Claire Calo (as Francis Lee McCain) - Renny Roker as Sheriff
- William DevaneWilliam DevaneWilliam Joseph Devane is an American film, television and theater actor.-Life and career:Devane was born in Albany, New York in 1937 or 1939 , the son of Joseph Devane, who was Franklin D. Roosevelt's chauffeur when he was Governor of New York...
as Mayor Kirby T. Calo - Ron Frazier as Kirk
- Jerry HardinJerry HardinJerry Hardin is an American actor who has made many television and film appearances. He played illegitimate heir, Wild Bill Westchester, in the failed 1982 television series Filthy Rich. One of his most recognizable roles was that of the character Deep Throat in the series The X-Files...
as Governor - John AshtonJohn Ashton (actor)John David Ashton is an American actor born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and graduate of the University of Southern California School of Theatre.John Ashton attended Enfield High School in Enfield, Connecticut....
as Otto Kemper - John C. BecherJohn C. BecherJohn C. Becher was an American stage and television actor. He made his professional debut in 1946 at the McCarter Theatre.- Biography :...
as Brandon C. Dasher - Alice Beardsley as Betty Boo Radley
- Davis Roberts as James
- Loretta Tupper as Miss Barbutti
- Frances BayFrances BayFrances Bay was a U.S.-based Canadian character actress, best known for playing quirky, elderly women on film and television...
as Mrs. Lewenowski - Rollin Moriyama as Mr. Naguki
- Kimiko Hiroshige as Mrs. Naguki
- James Staley as Governor's Assistant
- Shelly Batt as Charlotte (as Shelley Batt)
- Jason D. Keller as Denny Hansen (as Jason Keller)
- Shane Keller as Jim Hansen
- Kelly LangeKelly LangeKelly Lange is an American journalist, most notable for being the first woman to be a nightly news anchor in Los Angeles...
as Herself - Kent WilliamsKent Williams (actor)Kent Williams is an American actor.Williams was born in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York. He studied music and theatre at the State University of New York at Oswego, where he graduated in the class of 1973. He is known for his role as an Assistant District Attorney and, later, Special...
as Kelly's Guest - Arnold JohnsonArnold Johnson (actor)Arnold Johnson was an actor who played the lead role in the film Putney Swope. In the film his voice was dubbed by Robert Downey Sr. because Johnson could never remember his lines. He also had a recurring role as one of Fred Sanford's tenants in Sanford and Son...
as Bank Bum - Nancy ParsonsNancy ParsonsNancy Anne Parsons was an American actress. She was best-known for her role as Beulah Balbricker in the 1982 cult film Porky's and its sequels...
as Alice the Teller - Jessica Rains as Mary the Teller
- Ann RisleyAnn RisleyAnna "Ann" Risley was a cast member of the TV series Saturday Night Live for the 12 episodes of the 1980–1981 season. These 12 broadcasts were the first episodes after producer Lorne Michaels left the show...
as Actress in Bank - Helen HanftHelen Hanft-Biography:Hanft was born in New York City. She started her theatrical career in the early 1960 during the Golden Age of experimental theater at such venues as La Mama ETC and Caffe Cino and in a few years she became known as "the Helen Hayes of off-off Broadway." Not a great beauty, she...
as Bag Lady - Don Morgan as Jeep Guy
- Paul Keenan as Jeep Guy
- Robert Stoneman as Jeep Guy
- Randy Norton as Jeep Guy
- Al CorleyAl CorleyAl Corley is an American actor, singer and producer. In the late 1970s, he worked as a doorman at Studio 54. He would later appear in a VH1 Behind the Music special on Studio 54 to recount his experiences....
as Car Thief - Murphy DunneMurphy DunneMurphy Dunne is an American actor and musician. He is known for his role as the keyboardist/pianist for the Blues Brothers in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. He reprised his role in the sequel, Blues Brothers 2000...
as Car Thief - Leo BurmesterLeo BurmesterLeo Burmester was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in Passion Fish and Lone Star , and also for directors such as John Schlesinger and Sidney Lumet, and as the Apostle Nathaniel in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ...
as Mortuary Director - Jeffrey CombsJeffrey CombsJeffrey Alan Combs is an American actor known for his horror film roles and his appearances playing a number of characters in the Star Trek franchise.-Early life:...
as Drive-In Teller - Jack MurdockJack Murdock (actor)Jack Murdock was an American actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1973 and 1998.He was born in Ohio, USA and died in Burbank, California at age 78....
as Rhino Wrangler - Ann Coleman as Computer Hotel Clerk
- Gordon Haight as Kevin
- Jack Thibeau as Conventioneer
- Martha GehmanMartha GehmanMartha Gehman is an American actress, perhaps best known for her role as Ophelia in the 1985 cult classic The Legend of Billie Jean.She also had supporting roles in The Flamingo Kid and Threesome....
as Hitchhiker - George SolomonGeorge SolomonGeorge Solomon is a former sports editor and columnist at The Washington Post and was the first ombudsman for ESPN.Solomon is a 1963 graduate of the University of Florida. He began working at the Post in 1972. He served as assistant managing editor for sports from 1975 to 2003. From 2003 to his...
as Turkey House Waitress - Dick ChristieDick ChristieDick Johnson is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Ted Lawson on the 1980s situation comedy Small Wonder....
as Auto Mechanic - Anita Dangler as Saleslady
- Mags Kavanaugh as Salesgirl
- Gloria LeRoyGloria LeRoyGloria LeRoy is an American character actress best remembered for having played voluptuous Mildred "Boom-Boom" Turner in classic 1970s sitcom All in the Family, as well as Bobbi Jo Loomis, wife of army-airforce buddy "Duke" Loomis in the earlier All in the Family episode "The Threat"...
as Fish Restaurant Waitres
Reception
The film was slated by VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
on release and pulled from theatres after just one week
The film can be viewed as a satire on the American way of life and this contributed to its unfavourable critical reception at the time
Since its release on DVD it has attained something of a cult following.