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Junior Bonner (1972)

PG | | Drama, Western | 2 August 1972 (USA)
Junior Bonner Poster
Ace Bonner returns to Arizona several years after he abandoned his family, Junior Bonner is a wild young man. Against the typical rodeo championship, family drama erupts.

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2 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
... Junior Bonner
... Ace Bonner
... Elvira Bonner
... Buck Roan
... Curly Bonner
... Charmagne
... Ruth Bonner
... Red Terwiliger (as William McKinney)
... Del
Sandra Deel ... Nurse Arlis
... Homer Rutledge (as Donald Barry)
... Burt (as Charles Gray)
Matthew Peckinpah ... Tim Bonner
Sundown Spencer ... Nick Bonner
Rita Garrison ... Flashie
See full cast »
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Storyline

A week with Junior Bonner, a rodeo pro on the wrong side of 40, broke, bruised, and headed into Prescott, his home town, for the annual 4th of July Frontier Days. His dad, Ace, is a dissolute dreamer fixed on finding gold in Australia; his mom is resigned to Ace's roving; his brother Curly is tearing up the countryside to make a million in real estate. Junior just wants to stay on a bucking Brahma for eight seconds, hang out with Ace, find a way to spend time with a beautiful woman whose eyes catch his, and earn enough to get to next week's rodeo. As the old West and its code give way to progress, Junior is lonesome, laconic, and on the road - just where he wants to be. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

neo western | father son relationship | accordionist | card game | cowbell | See All (178) »

Taglines:

Steve McQueen going down his own road, tougher than ever, as "Junior Bonner" See more »

Genres:

Drama | Western

Certificate:

PG | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

2 August 1972 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Junior Bonner  »

Filming Locations:

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Box Office

Budget:

$3,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,900,000, 31 December 1972

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,800,000, 31 December 1972
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Production Co:

,  »
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Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Preston and Lupino play the parents of Junior Bonner, but both were born in 1918, making them just twelve years older than McQueen. See more »

Goofs

When Ace and Junior are sharing a bottle of whiskey, the bottle jumps from Ace's right hand to his left between shots. See more »

Quotes

Ace Bonner: By hook or by crook, I'm goin' to Australia.
Elvira Bonner: Well, you always were good at puttin' distance between us.
See more »

Connections

References The Wild Bunch (1969) See more »

Soundtracks

Rodeo Man
Words and Music by Rod Hart
Sung by Rod Hart
See more »

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User Reviews

 
A gem of a film
25 August 2002 | by – See all my reviews

I grew up with these people, and watched, with them, the end of the mythic West and the beginning of traffic-clogged urban West. When Junior watches the bulldozers flattening the old ranch, I can empathise completely.

This is a melancholy film, superbly acted (everyone was completely authentic in the movie), and a tragic document of the West as it once was, when there were stll heroic bull riders and classic vistas unpolluted by smog.
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