Junior Bonner (1972)

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.

Director:

Sam Peckinpah

Writer:

Jeb Rosebrook

Stars:

Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Ida Lupino

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steve McQueen	...	Junior Bonner
Robert Preston	...	Ace Bonner
Ida Lupino	...	Elvira Bonner
Ben Johnson	...	Buck Roan
Joe Don Baker	...	Curly Bonner
Barbara Leigh	...	Charmagne
Mary Murphy	...	Ruth Bonner
Bill McKinney	...	Red Terwiliger (as William McKinney)
Dub Taylor	...	Del
Sandra Deel	...	Nurse Arlis
Don 'Red' Barry	...	Homer Rutledge (as Donald Barry)
Charles H. Gray	...	Burt (as Charles Gray)
Matthew Peckinpah	...	Tim Bonner
Sundown Spencer	...	Nick Bonner
Rita Garrison	...	Flashie

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.

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Plot Keywords:

neo western | father son relationship | accordionist | card game | cowbell | 

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Taglines:

"Tell 'em Junior sent you"

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Genres:

Drama | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 July 1972 (UK)

Also Known As:

Junior Bonner

Filming Locations:

Prescott, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,200,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$1,900,000, 31 December 1972

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,800,000, 31 December 1972

Company Credits

Production Co:

Joe Wizan-Booth Gardner Productions, Solar Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gene Hackman was originally going to play the Joe Don Baker role, but Steve McQueen wouldn't agree to his salary demands and vetoed the casting.

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Goofs

About 20 minutes into the movie, Junior is drinking a beer at the bar. Just before he walks over to the booth to talk with Buck, Homer offers to buy him another beer. Junior tells him to leave it on the bar, and then Junior walks to the booth. We see Del, the bartender, put the beer on the bar next to another beer, but we see Junior carrying his first beer with him.

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Quotes

Elvira Bonner: As far as I'm concerned, you can go to hell or Australia, but not with me!
Ace Bonner: Well, they're both down under.

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Connections

Referenced in Grindhouse (2007)

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Soundtracks

Rodeo Man
Words and Music by Rod Hart
Sung by Rod Hart

User Reviews

Violently quiet

Steve McQueen is my favorite actor. Bullitt is my favorite McQueen movie, but Junior Bonner is my favorite McQueen character. McQueen, as usual (and this is what makes him great), communicates more with silence than in delivering a line. The violence of the rodeo is juxtaposed against one man's unwillingness to let go of a lifestyle that is obviously coming to an end. The open west is giving way to trailers, his parents are separating forever, and his home has become a place for strangers. Junior is aging as an athlete, and as a-no-longer- young man. Even his Cadillac is on the downward side of a once successful career. The split screens and slow motion are interesting without being intrusive. This movie is about the triumph of a man who stays true to his own values, regardless of how irrelevant his environment may soon become. One man CAN make a difference. Steve McQueen was always that one man.