Stay Hungry (1976)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Bob Rafelson

Writers:

Charles Gaines (novel)
Charles Gaines (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 April 1976 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

If you've got an appetite for life:

Plot:

A syndicate wants to buy a whole district to rebuild it. They've bought every house except the small gym "Olympic"...

Plot Keywords:

Body Building | Sex On Stairs | Girl Stripped Down To Panties | Competition | Yellow Dress

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Craig Blake
Sally Field	...	Mary Tate Farnsworth
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	Joe Santo
R.G. Armstrong	...	Thor Erickson
Robert Englund	...	Franklin
Helena Kallianiotes	...	Anita
Roger E. Mosley	...	Newton
Woodrow Parfrey	...	Uncle Albert
Scatman Crothers	...	William
Kathleen Miller	...	Dorothy Stephens
Fannie Flagg	...	Amy
Joanna Cassidy	...	Zoe
Richard Gilliland	...	Hal
Mayf Nutter	...	Packman
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Lester

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:18 | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2005) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) | UK:AA (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:18

Filming Locations:

Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Company:

Outov Productions

Trivia:

Arnold Schwarzenegger won a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture", even though his debut was in Hercules in New York (1970).

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Franklin discovers the first burglar on a ladder inside the gym, he knocks over the ladder (with the burglar still on it ). The ladder and burglar crash through a wooden gate and hit the floor, you can see the burglar bounce twice. It is obvious there was a mattress to cushion the fall.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)

Attempts to be too many things

For starters, this is not Schwarzenegger's first movie. It is one of his firsts but not the first time he appeared in a movie. Remembered for many things, Staying Hungry is an interesting movie that attempts to be too many things besides a quick comedy. The movie jumps into a drama too often to confuse its audience whether this is just a comedy or a dramatic movie. Although this movie stars Jeff Bridges, he is not the highlight of the movie. The supporting cast, which includes Sally Field, Arnold Schwarzenegger, R.G. Armstrong, Robert Englund, Helena Kallianiota, Ed Begley Jr. and Joe Spinelli not only add to the quality of the movie, but are in fact, the main draw to the story. While Bridges does a good job as the star of the film, he doesn't hold the movie together, the rest of the cast does. By the third act, the movie turns into something completely different than the comedy it opened up to be. A very different, yet interesting movie.