The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
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The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
What's the general opinion of this movie musical on the DL?  I personally like it, despite it's flaws.
I know it had a bitch of a time getting made in the first place.  There's a book called  "The Whorehouse Papers" written by the guy who created the show, where he goes into great depth about the chaos surrounding the shoot.
The film and Burt Reynolds performance both wound up getting panned.  The only two to get universally praised were Dolly and Charles Durning.  There was also oscar talk for both of them (only Durning got nominated).  But for that moment, Dolly seemed to be heading towards a big acting career.  (She was offered "Educating Rita" shortly after the film wrapped)
by Anonymous
Were they going to Americanize "Educating Rita" for Dolly?
by Anonymous
reply 1
02/06/2010
It's alright. The Broadway show was much much better. They cut alot of course but Dolly gets to sing "I Will Always Love You" on screen and that is never a bad thing.
by Anonymous
reply 2
02/06/2010
The play was co-written and co-directed by Peter Masterson who is Mary Stuart Masterson's Father and her Mother Carlin Glynn starred as Miss Mona.
by Anonymous
Carlin Glynn perhaps best known as Molly Ringwald's mother in Sixteen Candles.
by Anonymous
reply 4
02/06/2010
Directer Colin Higgins made three films, "Foul Play", "9 to 5" and then "Whorehouse". He died of AIDS a few years after. What a talent and what might have been.
by Anonymous
They kept "The Aggie Song" intact from the show.
by Anonymous
reply 6
02/06/2010
Funny how "Hard Candy Christmas" a whore's lament of leaving the business and having abosultely nothing to do with Christams has become a holiday favorite. It's all over the radio through out the season.
by Anonymous
reply 7
02/06/2010
I always wondered how many of the Aggie dancers got to fuck with Burt off-set. He apparently likes macho, straight-acting guys.
by Anonymous
I love Miss Mona's no-no rules!
by Anonymous
reply 9
02/06/2010
I have always had a soft spot for it - I guess because I was living in Houston when the real events happened.  I love "Dance a Little Sidestep."
by Anonymous
reply 10
02/06/2010
I tortured my boyfriend by making him watch it this Christmas! I love it! It's so funny. He hates country music and somehow doesn't get Dolly's appeal.
by Anonymous
The writer, Larry King, wanted Jill Clayburgh in Dolly Parton's role.
by Anonymous
Carlin Glynn singing "Bus From Amarillo" on the Broadway cast album is fabulous.
by Anonymous
My favorite is "Doatsy Mae" which wasn't used in the movie either.
by Anonymous
reply 14
02/06/2010
Thought Linda Ronstadt would have been great for the film as Doatsy Mae and would have sung the shit out of that song but they cut it and basically her part. Lois Nettleton's character was in name only
by Anonymous
Aggie BOYS!?! Why it looks just like the original cast!
by Anonymous
reply 16
02/07/2010
Years ago, I came upon Best Little Whorehouse on CMT and it included "Where Stallions Run" performed by Reynolds, which was cut from the theatrical print and, strangely, isn't even on the DVD as an extra.
by Anonymous
Is that clip from Community Theatre?
They kept their underwear on under the towel, never showered and then got dressed...gross.
by Anonymous
reply 18
02/07/2010
The fact that some were in their forties and fities playing high school kids didn't matter to you?
by Anonymous
02/07/2010
The criticism at the time was directed at Dolly's and Burt's ages.
In the play, the Sheriff and Miss Mona are much older and world-weary, and there's no real romance between them.
by Anonymous
reply 20
02/07/2010
There was lots of changes, Jim Nabors was given a lot more to do than on stage and Melvin P. Thorpe became more of a cartoon fool, than a real villian that destroyed the Chicken Ranch.
by Anonymous
There WERE lots of changes
by Anonymous
I prefer "The Best Little Warehouse in LA"
by Anonymous
reply 23
02/07/2010
Dolly Parton in Educating Rita? Thank fuck she turned it down. Julie Walters was ace in that.
by Anonymous
Dom DeLuise was hilarious in this film.
by Anonymous
reply 25
02/07/2010
Hard to believe that the amazing Charles Durning who survived the Normandy Invasion of France on D-Day AND the Battle Of the Buldge, then became a professiobnal boxer would then sing and dance himself into an Oscar nomination for five minutes of screen time.
by Anonymous
Gee, r26, where did you find that?
by Anonymous
"Dance a Little Sidestep" could have been the theme for the G. W. Bush regime.
by Anonymous
reply 29
02/08/2010
OP, there was never any Oscar talk for Dolly Parton in Whorehouse - get a grip. The reviews were pretty grim when it was released and it was agreed that Parton and Reynolds were about as sexy as Ma and Pa Kettle. I mean, Dolly is lovely, of course, and back then she had already given that unexpectedly great comic performance in 9 to 5 so it's not like anyone had the knives out for her. But Oscar? No way.
I enjoyed the stage musical. It was a great story, it was earthy and had real poignancy. The dances were great, esp. the Aggies who were really beefy and built like football players.
The film was kind of coy and annoying. In some ways this works better on stage because it's under a proscenium and gives the audience a little necessary distance from the material. The staging was also pretty spare and just suggested a kind of discreet little house. Of course, in film, it's all close-up and overblown and I think this material seemed a little tasteless - for that reason, it always seems like the principal performers are trying too hard not to be tainted by the material, like when straight actors play gay. It's all "wink, wink - isn't this kind of sexy?" rather than a frank approach to the material.
I saw this film again recently and it blows. It's pretty dull. Colin Higgins was no genius; he was quite the hack.
by Anonymous
02/08/2010
Settle down R30.  Talk about taking the fun out of a thread.
And I remember there being buzz about Dolly possibly getting an oscar nomination for her performance.  Yes, the film was panned, but she was praised by many of the critics.  She was also nominated for the Golden Globe.
by Anonymous
reply 31
02/08/2010
A friend was involved with the film.  He said that the first time Dolly Parton read for the part, she gave a brilliant reading without any of her usual quirks, but when it came to filming she was terrified that her audience would not accept her as Miss Mona because they had come to see "Dolly"*.  I don't think it helped that Burt Reynolds was cast opposite her.  I remember that the film was dubbed "Smokey and the Bandit got to a Whorehouse", which is pretty much how it turned out.
* Yeh, I know that story has been told about many actresses who are know as personalities.  Another friend worked with Carol Channing in Pygmalion.  She was apparently brilliant in rehearsals, but slipped into her "Carol" schtick after about 15 min in front of an audience.
by Anonymous
02/08/2010
[quote]Colin Higgins was no genius; he was quite the hack.
Dickhead, he directed three movies, "Foul Play" and "9 To 5", both smash hits and "Whorehouse" a success, but not a huge hit. He didn't live long enough to be a hack.
by Anonymous
reply 34
02/08/2010
Erm, loser at R34: Both Foul Play and 9 to 5 opened to mixed reviews and Whorehouse was panned. Foul Play has a lifetime gross of, erm, USD 44 M; 9 to 5 did considerably better with USD 103 M and Whorehouse only did about USD 70 M. Mindless holiday fare, maybe, but no great loss to cinema.
Just because you have no taste doesn't mean your commentary has to pass unchallenged.
And Dolly got a Golden Globe nomination, obviously, in the comedy/musical category in 1983...only one year after Pia Zadora won for Butterfly so the Golden Globes were pretty much at their lowest ebb. Back then if they were televised it was strictly on UHF channels...lol!
by Anonymous
I loved the film!
And I loved the music.
"Funny how "Hard Candy Christmas" a whore's lament of leaving the business and having abosultely nothing to do with Christams has become a holiday favorite."
That's because it wasn't written for the film!
by Anonymous
reply 38
02/08/2010
"Hard Candy Christmas" is a song written by composer/lyricist Carol Hall for the musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Near the end of the original play, individual girls of the brothel sing lines of the verses as they are preparing to leave; they join together on the refrains. This pattern was adopted for the film version of the musical, except for the fact that Dolly Parton (who played Miss Mona) is featured as soloist on the refrains, with the girls accompanying her. A further alteration can be found on the soundtrack album for the film, in which Parton alone sings the verses.
Parton's version of the song was released as a single and reached the top ten on the U.S. country singles chart in November 1982. In 1998, the song re-entered the country charts and peaked at #73 based on unsolicited airplay.
In 1997, the song was covered by Rupaul on the album "Ho Ho Ho" featuring Michelle Visage and Barbara Mitchell. The song has also been recorded by indie rocker Dan Bryk, and former Sixpence None The Richer vocalist Leigh Nash on their respective 2006 releases "Christmas Record" and Wishing for This.
The Venture Bros. released a version of the song in 2005 as performed by Henchmen nos. 21 and 24 and The Monarch.
by Anonymous
No whips or rough stuff?
Nore three or more in a bed?
No kissing on the mouth?
Jesus Christ, why don't I just stay at home and fuck my wife?!
by Anonymous
02/08/2010
RE: Hard Candy Christmas,
I believe that both this song and Bus to Amarillo we constantly moved to different spots in the play and given to different characters during the Broadway run.  I saw the show numerous times and I swear Tommy Tune re-directed the play each time a new Mona went in.  The tour with Ann Margaret was different from any of the Broadway productions.
by Anonymous
02/08/2010
RE: Carol Channing
I believe it was the White Barn Theater in CT.  I told the story to someone and he said the poster for the production is still up in the lobby.
by Anonymous
reply 43
02/08/2010
[quote]Erm, loser at [R34]: Both Foul Play and 9 to 5 opened to mixed reviews and Whorehouse was panned. Foul Play has a lifetime gross of, erm, USD 44 M; 9 to 5 did considerably better with USD 103 M and Whorehouse only did about USD 70 M. Mindless holiday fare, maybe, but no great loss to cinema...Just because you have no taste doesn't mean your commentary has to pass unchallenged.
What are you 12? $44 Million in 1978 dollars. Movies cost $2.00 then knucklehead. "Foul Play" was a hit, ask Goldie Hawn, I know she'll agree because she told me so. It made a movie star out of Chevy Chase. Ask Jane Fonda if "9 to 5" was hit. She'll say yes, I know because I talked to her about that film too. I've worked my whole life in movie theaters so don't fuck with me with your taste. Maybe if you didn't sit with your head up your ass, you might actually enjoy a movie. Now go to bed, little boy.
by Anonymous
Didn't Higgins also direct Silver Streak?
And here's an article about the proposed remake:
Carol Hall's 1978 musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas will get a film makeover from "Legally Blonde" screenwriters Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith, according to Variety.
The new, updated version for Universal Pictures will be a departure from both the stage musical and the subsequent 1982 film that starred Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. "Twilight" producers Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey are producing the contemporary take on Whorehouse.
While the latest incarnation is set to include musical numbers, those involved have not revealed whether songs from the original stage and film versions will remain intact. (The earlier film used some of Hall's songs from the Broadway show but also included new songs written by Parton).
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which traces the fate of the infamous Texas brothel, the Chicken Ranch, had a book by Larry L. King and Peter Masterson, with a score by Hall. The musical, co-directed by Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune, opened on Broadway in 1978, playing 1,584 performances.
by Anonymous
reply 50
02/11/2010
The Broadway version has a kick ass score and a very well constructed libretto. It was very touching and entertaining on stage. The orchestra was mostly an onstage country-western combo, and they were excellent. It was like being at a honky tonk, while a story unfolded behind them.
My favorite song is the show's opener Twenty Fans", it's charming and catchy as hell.
by Anonymous
reply 51
02/11/2010
Colin Higgins wrote "Silver Streak" and "Harold & Maude" before he started directing. He only directed three films.
by Anonymous