Nashville (1975)

Over the course of a few hectic days, numerous interrelated individuals prepare for a political convention as secrets and lies are surfaced and revealed.

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Joan Tewkesbury

Stars:

Karen Black, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine

Won 1 Oscar. Another 22 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Arkin	...	Norman
Barbara Baxley	...	Lady Pearl
Ned Beatty	...	Delbert Reese
Karen Black	...	Connie White
Ronee Blakley	...	Barbara Jean
Timothy Brown	...	Tommy Brown
Keith Carradine	...	Tom Frank
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Opal
Robert DoQui	...	Wade (as Robert Doqui)
Shelley Duvall	...	L. A. Joan
Allen Garfield	...	Barnett
Henry Gibson	...	Haven Hamilton
Scott Glenn	...	Pfc. Glenn Kelly
Jeff Goldblum	...	Tricycle Man
Barbara Harris	...	Albuquerque

Storyline

This movie tells the intersecting stories of various people connected to the music business in Nashville. Barbara Jean is the reigning queen of Nashville but is near collapse. Linnea and Delbert Reese have a shaky marriage and 2 deaf children. Opal is a British journalist touring the area. These and other stories come together in a dramatic climax.

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Plot Keywords:

reporter | candidate | assassination | title appears in text | deafness | 

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Taglines:

Wild. Wonderful. Sinful. Laughing. Explosive.

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Genres:

Drama | Music

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 September 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

Nashville, i polis ton ekplixeon

Filming Locations:

Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$2,200,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Entertainment, American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

159 min

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the opening sequence, the character played by Henry Gibson demanded that his piano player be replaced by the "Pig". At that time in Nashville, one of the most in-demand session players was a blind pianist named Hargus "Pig" Robbins. The man playing the piano in that scene is Richard Baskin, the actual music supervisor on the film.

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Goofs

In the crowd near the end of the film, Kenny Fraiser is just wearing his regular blue shirt he has worn through out the film. However, after Barbera Jean starts singing solo, we see him come into the crowd wearing a brown jacket.

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Quotes

Opal: Let me see. Um, have you any children?
Linnea Reese: Yes, I have two children. I have a boy and a girl.
Opal: Oh, isn't that nice. How old are they?
Linnea Reese: Twelve and eleven.
Opal: Do they want to be singers like their mummy?
Linnea Reese: Uh, well, my children are deaf. They're... They are deaf. They were born deaf.
Opal: Oh, my God, how awful. It's so depressing.
Linnea Reese:

• Now, just a minute. That's not so. I wish you could see my boy.

Opal: Oh, I couldn't.
Linnea Reese: He has the most incredible personality.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

The song "It Don't Worry Me" continues to play long after the end credits have stopped rolling.

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Connections

Referenced in The Town Is Quiet (2000)

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Soundtracks

"It Don't Worry Me"
Music and Lyrics by Keith Carradine
Performed by Barbara Harris
Lions Gate Music Co. / Easy Music (ASCAP)

User Reviews

An often-misunderstood masterpiece - full of life like no other movie

Much like some of the other comments about "Nashville" that are circulating around IMDB, the reviews I've seen of Robert Altman's 1975 Oscar contender have been completely adulatory or completely dismissive. Contrary to some comments I've read, "Nashville" looks as prescient and magnificent now as it appeared to some critics nearly thirty years ago. Dated? Absolutely not. "Nashville" is a movie about people more than anything else, but a political campaign van that appears throughout the movie shows the unavoidable nature of politics in people's lives in the 70's. Has that changed since then? It's even more true now, with our war in Iraq and all of the conflicting viewpoints that exist. Annoying overlapping dialogue? To dismiss this unique trait of "Nashville" is to hate the trademark of director Robert Altman. Do people wait their turn as if reading from a screenplay in real life? Muddy cinematography? Certainly not - to show a Nashville vibrant with colors that don't really fit (a crime that most visually overachieving movies commit) would distract from Altman's amazing focus on the relationships of the characters that he builds so well. And the characters....the dozens of cast members lend terrific support to a film that moves forward constantly while never seeming to move too fast, leaving time for moments of poignancy and heartbreak, as well as unintentionally hilarious moments (as every good pseudo-documentary film has). Who can forget Lily Tomlin gazing at her deaf children tenderly as their father completely ignores them as they speak? Or the moment Keith Carradine performs his Oscar-winning "I'm Easy" in front of a night club crowd? Really, "Nashville" is filled with great moments ALL the time that make the nearly three-hour film unmissable, but nothing in the world can prepare the patient viewer for the film's breathtaking finale which seems even more moving today in the midst of everything. Forget the "National Anthem" or "The Battle Hymn of the Republic." The gospel-esque strains of "It Don't Worry Me" make it the American song for the ages, in an American film that ranks among the best of its kind.