Rancho Deluxe (1975)

Two drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.

Director:

Frank Perry

Writer:

Thomas McGuane

Stars:

Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Bridges	...	Jack McKee
Sam Waterston	...	Cecil Colson
Elizabeth Ashley	...	Cora Brown
Clifton James	...	John Brown
Slim Pickens	...	Henry Beige
Charlene Dallas	...	Laura Beige
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Curt
Richard Bright	...	Burt
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Betty Fargo
Maggie Wellman	...	Mary Fargo
Joe Spinell	...	Mr. Colson (as Joseph Spinell)
Bert Conway	...	Wilbur Fargo
Anthony Palmer	...	Karl
Richard McMurray	...	Mr. McKee
Danna Hansen	...	Mrs. McKee

Storyline

Jack McKee and Cecil Colson are bumbling drifters who make a living by rustling cattle in the wilds of Montana. Jack left his wealthy parents because he resented their posh lives. Cecil is of Caucasian and Native American descent seeking his own path in life away from his father. Both hustle and rustle their way in the world by targeting cattle owned by wealthy ranch-owner John Brown. Frustrated that someone is killing his cattle, John hires a pair of ranch hands, Burt and Curt, to find the rustlers. When Brown realizes he cannot trust his two inept ranch hands, he turns to the grizzled former rustler Henry Beige to find the cattle thieves. Jack and Cecil always stay a step ahead of their pursuers, not realizing that their luck must run out sometime.

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Plot Keywords:

ranch | montana | ranch hand | drifter | rustler | 

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Taglines:

Oh, give me a home, with a low interest loan. A cowgirl and two pickup trucks. A color TV, all the beer should be free. And that, man, is Rancho Deluxe.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 March 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fräcka som fan

Filming Locations:

Livingston, Montana, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elliott Kastner Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (DeLuxe Color)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

At the Wrangler, Jimmy Buffett's backup band features not only local Livingston resident (at the time) Warren Oates, but also neighbor and film screenwriter Thomas McGuane (with the long hair playing mandolin).

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Quotes

Henry Beige: Here's my bill. You can pay it, or use it to wipe the pablum off your chin.
John Brown: I'll pay it.
Henry Beige: Don't make me no never mind; I'm just in this for the sport.

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Connections

References Bambi (1942)

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Soundtracks

"Rancho Deluxe"
Performed by Jimmy Buffett

User Reviews

Sires and Maidens -- All Ready to Go

Rancho Deluxe is a rare delight. It's a Western with a modern twist. The `good guys' are the ranchers. The `bad guys' are rustlers, down and out young men who poach cattle just to get by, pay their rent, and eat. Naturally, your sympathies lie with the rustlers, because they're the underdogs.

We also sympathize with the rustlers because the ranchers are wealthy, socially prominent and dominant – everything the rustler's aren't. They have everything they could want, so they're bored. And when the rustling problem appears, they treat it as sport – like hunting a predatory animal. But their boredom takes other amusing forms as well. In one scene, the lady of the house tries to light a fire with the ranch hands. She's one of many cowgirls in the movie, women who like to be in the saddle, and to be the saddle. `Come on, goddamit,' she yells at the cowboys, Burt and Kurt. `I want some Gothic ranch action around here! I want some desire under the elms! I want to see some smoldering blazes down at the old corral!' It's hilarious. These guys are worthless. So it's a sad irony that her husband, who boasts that the B-Bar-Lazy-T has `the best matrons and the best sires,' must confine his boast to the non-human mammals on the ranch. When he takes his prize stud-bull to the county fair, the announcer describes it as having `tremendous thickness and length… This bull has it all: size, bone, trim and color. It just brings tears to my eyes.' One can almost see the tears of unsatisfied desire in his wife's eyes as well – that all the virile sires are bovine.

Slim Pickens, a former horse-thief turned cattle detective, is brilliant, funnier than ever. And then there are the scenes that provide a little social satire. Speaking of the Western love of pickup trucks, for example, one character denounces them as `a sickness here worse than alcohol or dope. It's the pickup truck death. And there's no cure for it.' I wonder sometimes if I don't recognize the disease right here in Flagstaff.

All in all, Rancho Deluxe is a very entertaining hour and a half.