Nashville (1975)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Robert Altman

Writer:

Joan Tewkesbury (written by)

Release Date:

21 September 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Wild. Wonderful. Sinful. Laughing. Explosive.

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Nashville | Candidate | Reporter | Assassination | Nashville Tennessee

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 20 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

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
David Hayward	...	Kenny Fraiser
Michael Murphy	...	John Triplette
Allan F. Nicholls	...	Bill (as Allan Nicholls)
Dave Peel	...	Bud Hamilton
Cristina Raines	...	Mary
Bert Remsen	...	Star
Lily Tomlin	...	Linnea Reese
Gwen Welles	...	Sueleen Gay
Keenan Wynn	...	Mr. Green
James Dan Calvert	...	Jimmy Reese
Donna Denton	...	Donna Reese
Merle Kilgore	...	Trout
Carol McGinnis	...	Jewel
Sheila Bailey	...	Smokey Mountain Laurel
Patti Bryant	...	Smokey Mountain Laurel
Richard Baskin	...	Frog
Jonnie Barnett	...	Himself
Vassar Clements	...	Himself
Misty Mountain Boys	...	Themselves
Sue Barton	...	Herself
Elliott Gould	...	Himself
Julie Christie	...	Herself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steve Earle	...	Concert-goer (uncredited)
Thomas Hal Phillips	...	Hal Phillip Walker (uncredited)
Patrick Reynolds	...	Grand Ole Opry Performer (uncredited)
Gailard Sartain	...	Man at Lunch Counter (uncredited)
Howard K. Smith	...	Himself (TV Correspondent) (uncredited)
Joan Tewkesbury	...	Tom's Lover / Kenny's Mother (uncredited) (voice)

Directed by
Robert Altman

Writing credits
Joan Tewkesbury		(written by)

Produced by
Robert Altman	....	producer
Scott Bushnell	....	associate producer
Robert Eggenweiler	....	associate producer
Martin Starger	....	executive producer
Jerry Weintraub	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Arlene Barnett
Jonnie Barnett
Karen Black
Ronee Blakley
Gary Busey
Juan Grizzle
Allan F. Nicholls
Dave Peel
Joe Raposo

Cinematography by
Paul Lohmann		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Dennis M. Hill		(as Dennis Hill)
Sidney Levin

Set Decoration by
Robert M. Anderson		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Marvin C. Thompson	....	makeup artist (as Tommy Thompson)
Ann Wadlington	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alan Rudolph	....	assistant director
Tommy Thompson	....	assistant director

Art Department
Robert M. Anderson	....	property master (as Bob Anderson)

Sound Department
Randy Kelley	....	assistant sound editor
Chris McLaughlin	....	sound
Richard Portman	....	sound re-recording mixer
William A. Sawyer	....	sound editor
James E. Webb	....	sound (as Jim Webb)
Richard Oswald	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Randy Glass	....	electrical gaffer
Edmond L. Koons	....	camera operator (as Ed Koons)
Eddie Lara	....	grip
J. Michael Marlett	....	electrical gaffer (as Mike Marlett)
Harry Rez	....	grip
Robert Reed Altman	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Jules Melillo	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
Tony Lombardo	....	assistant editor
Tom Walls	....	assistant editor
Mark Eggenweiler	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Maysie Hoy	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Richard Baskin	....	music arranger
Richard Baskin	....	music supervisor
Gene Eichelberger	....	music recordist
Johnny Rosen	....	music recordist
Daniel J. Johnson	....	assistant music editor (uncredited)
Ken Johnson	....	music editor (uncredited)
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Gene Clinesmith	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Stephen Altman	....	production assistant (as Steve Altman)
Jac Cashin	....	assistant to producer
Elaine Di Bello Bradish	....	production secretary (as Elaine Bradish)
Angel Dominguez	....	production assistant
Mark Eggenweiler	....	production assistant
Roger Frappier	....	production assistant
Ron Hecht	....	production assistant
J. Allen Highfill	....	production assistant (as Allan Highfill)
Maysie Hoy	....	production assistant
Joyce King	....	script supervisor
Kelly Marshall	....	production coordinator
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Thomas Hal Phillips	....	political campaign
Noreen Beasley	....	assistant: Dan Perri (uncredited)

Production Companies

• ABC Entertainment (presents)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC)
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1975) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1975) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1976) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1978) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Paramount Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD) (widescreen)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)

Other Companies

• Lion's Gate 8 Track Sound  sound system
• Solters & Digney  publicity (uncredited)

Runtime:

159 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (magnetic prints)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Netherlands:12 | West Germany:12 | UK:AA (original rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Centennial Park, Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Company:

ABC Entertainment

Trivia:

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #59 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When attempting to interview Tommy Brown, Opal says that she is from the BBC. When questioned, she explains that this stands for the British Broadcasting Company. It actually stands for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Quotes:

Opal: I'm Opal, from the BBC!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

For the Sake of the Children

Altman's Masterpiece: "The Damnedest Thing You Ever Saw"

Robert Altman is an extremely divisive director in the sense that you either "get it" or you don't--and those who don't despise his work and take considerable pleasure in sneering at NASHVILLE in particular. But there is no way around the fact that it is an important film, a highly influential film, to most Altman fans his finest films, and to most series critics quite possibly the single finest film made during the whole of the 1970s.

According to the movie trailer available on the DVD release, NASHVILLE is "the damnedest thing you ever saw"--and a truer thing was never said, for it is one of those rare film that completely defies description. On one level, the film follows the lives of some twenty characters over the course of several days leading up to a political rally, lives that collide or don't collide, that have moments of success and failure, and which in the process explore the hypocrisy that we try to sweep away under the rug of American culture. If it were merely that, the film would be so much soap-opera, but it goes quite a bit further: it juxtaposes its observations with images of American patriotism and politics at their most vulgar, and in the process it makes an incredibly funny, incredibly sad, and remarkably savage statement on the superficial values that plague our society.

What most viewers find difficult about NASHVILLE--and about many Altman films--is his refusal to direct our attention within any single scene. Conversations and plot directions overlap with each other, and so much goes on in every scene that you are constantly forced to decide what you will pay attention to and what you will ignore. The result is a film that goes in a hundred different directions with a thousand different meanings, and it would be safe to say that every person who sees it will see a different film.

In the end, however, all these roads lead to Rome, or in this case to the Roman coliseum of American politics, where fame is gained or lost in the wake of violence, where the strong consume the weak without any real personal malice, and where the current political star is only as good as press agent's presentation. For those willing and able to dive into the complex web of life it presents, Altman's masterpiece will be an endlessly fascinating mirror in which we see the energy of life itself scattered, gathered, and reflected back to us. A masterpiece that bears repeated viewings much in the same way that a great novel bears repeated readings. A personal favorite and highly, highly recommended.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer