Wanda Nevada (1979)

Director:

Peter Fonda

Writer:

Dennis Hackin (written by)

Release Date:

June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Western

Plot:

Romantic drama following the fortunes of a drifter named Beaudray Demerille (Peter Fonda) who wins a...

Plot Keywords:

Grand Canyon | Orphanage | Crooked Gambling | Shot With Arrow | Gold Digger

Cast

Peter Fonda	...	Beaudray Demerille
Brooke Shields	...	Wanda Nevada
Fiona Lewis	...	Dorothy Deerfield
Luke Askew	...	Ruby Muldoon
Ted Markland	...	Strap
Severn Darden	...	Bitterstix
Paul Fix	...	Texas Curly
Henry Fonda	...	Old Prospector
Larry Golden	...	Slade, the Card Hustler
John Denos	...	Billy, the Gas Station Greaser
Bert Williams	...	Trading Post Owner
Fred Ashley	...	The Barber
Jason Clark	...	Alonzo
Robert V. Walker Jr.	...	Poker Player
H. Samuel Hackin	...	Poker Player

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG (certificate #25642) | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Colorado River, Moab, Utah, USA

Company:

Hayward-Fonda Productions

Goofs:

Factual errors: I am always amused at Hollywood portrayals of actors handling bags of gold. Reality is clearly a missing element. As in this film, they easily loft and toss them around with ease. I calculate that the volume of the bags they threw over the edge of the Grand Canyon could hold two quarts at least. The weight of this volume of gold would be over ninety pounds. It would take two hands and the use of the back to lift one bag, let alone lifting and throwing two or three bags as done by Peter Fonda. Even the weight of the standard bar of gold which is 7 inches by 3 5/8 inches by 1 3/4 inches is 27.5 pounds. Not easily lifted by one hand as is always shown in film.

Quotes:

Wanda Nevada: Why do we always have to do it your way?
Beaudray Demerille: Because I got all the money and the guns.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Fonda on Fonda (1992) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Looking Out From Behind Shadowed Walls

A fantasy masterpiece

For some strange reason, the odd couple consisting of Peter Fonda and Brooke Shield works in this movie. The movie plot is basically a fantasy and you shouldn't try to see it as a western or a drama. Both of them somehow wind up being partners in a gold prospecting trip inside the Grand Canyon. Brooke Shields is portrayed in her usual role as a much more mature than her natural age girl, who's an even match to the older prospector played by Peter Fonda. The comical part is the way she tries to sell herself as an adult to Fonda, and eventually Fonda takes her in as his partner. The plot may not work for mature audiences in this country, but in other parts of the world, such genre exists as fantasy/adventure and might be getting high marks. I give two thumbs up for Brooke Shields and Peter Fonda.