Goin' South (1978)

Due to the lack of men after the Civil War, a small western town allows a bachelorette with ulterior motives to save a horse thief from the gallows by marrying him. They must deal with his old gang, the Sheriff, the bank, and each other.

Director:

Jack Nicholson

Writers:

John Herman Shaner (story), Al Ramrus (story)

Stars:

Jack Nicholson, Mary Steenburgen, Christopher Lloyd

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jack Nicholson	...	Henry Lloyd Moon
Mary Steenburgen	...	Julia Tate Moon
Christopher Lloyd	...	Deputy Towfield
John Belushi	...	Deputy Hector
Veronica Cartwright	...	Hermine, Moon's Old Gang
Richard Bradford	...	Sheriff Andrew Kyle
Jeff Morris	...	Big Abe, Moon's Old Gang
Danny DeVito	...	Hog, Moon's Old Gang
Tracey Walter	...	Coogan, Moon's Old Gang
Gerald H. Reynolds	...	Polty, Rail Road Manager
Luana Anders	...	Lorette Anderson
George W. Smith	...	Mr. Anderson
Lucy Lee Flippin	...	Diane Haber
Ed Begley Jr.	...	Whitey Haber
Maureen Byrnes	...	Mrs. Warren

Storyline

Texas, shortly after the Civil War. Henry Moon is an outlaw, on the run from the law. He is captured trying to escape to Mexico and taken back to town to be hanged. The town has a special law that a condemned man can walk free if one of the single women of the town offer to marry him. Henry is in luck - at the last moment Julia Tate offers to marry him, and pretty soon they are married. However, Henry soon discovers that Julia's motives are purely business-orientated - she needs someone to work the mine on her property. This makes for a very cold marriage.

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Plot Keywords:

bare chested male | hairy chest | implied nudity | implied male nudity | man undressing | 

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Taglines:

Saved from the hangman, for a fate worse than death!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Romance | Western

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 October 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Con el lazo al cuello

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Box Office

Gross USA:

$7,435,671

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$7,435,671

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 109 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Mono)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie's promotional materials formed a large heart symbol out of the bottom serif of the "t" character in the movie's title logo reflecting the romantic-comedy storyline.

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Goofs

At approximately 1 hour 35 minutes Henry rides into town after meeting Hermine. He stops the horse and carriage directly over a pile of horse droppings, implying this was not the first take.

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Quotes

Sheriff Andrew Kyle: Julia, are you drunk?
Julia Tate: Sheriff Kyle, you know I don't drink.
Henry Moon: 'Course she don't drink!

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Crazy Credits

The Paramount logo plays in reverse.

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Connections

Referenced in The 53rd Annual Academy Awards (1981)

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Soundtracks

Available Space
Music by Ry Cooder (uncredited)
Performed by Ry Cooder
Courtesy Warner Bros. Records, Inc.

User Reviews

What's the fascination with the city of Motherly Love?

My late father and I always referred to this as the movie we "accidentally" watched on HBO late one night. We were hooked when the posse rode right across the Rio Grande into Mexico and "Ol' Speed" fainted! For the rest of his life he always greeted me in the morning with "Good mornin' Spot!" In much the same vein as another of his favorites (Evil Roy Slade), it is difficult to find two lines together from this movie that can be taken seriously ("Please wipe your feet." . . "I always do!")("I'll be outside running a reference test." . . "Why don't you run one on your skull while you're at it?"). I have watched my home-recorded VHS upwards of 25-30 times and now that the DVD has been released, I look forward to adding it to my collection once again because . . . . "I can do this all day long! I'm talking about . . All Day Long!" Give it a spin and give it a chance.