The Electric Horseman

19791979
PGPG
2h 1min

The Electric Horseman (1979)

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Comedy Drama Romance

A rodeo star past his prime steals his company's horse and rides into the desert, with a feisty reporter accompanying him.A rodeo star past his prime steals his company's horse and rides into the desert, with a feisty reporter accompanying him.A rodeo star past his prime steals his company's horse and rides into the desert, with a feisty reporter accompanying him.

Director
- Sydney Pollack
Writers
- Robert Garland(screenplay by)
- Paul Gaer(screen story by)
- Shelly Burton(based on a story by)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Videos3

Official Trailer

Official Trailer

Robert Redford: The Con With Conviction & the End of a Legendary Screen Persona

Robert Redford: The Con With Conviction & the End of a Legendary Screen Persona

Sneak Previews Season 2 Episode 15

Sneak Previews Season 2 Episode 15

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford and Sydney Pollack in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Jane Fonda and Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Jane Fonda in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Jane Fonda in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Robert Redford in The Electric Horseman (1979)

Director
- Sydney Pollack
Writers
- Robert Garland(screenplay by) (screen story by)
- Paul Gaer(screen story by)
- Shelly Burton(based on a story by)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

Havana

6.1

Brubaker

7.2

Legal Eagles

6.0

The Great Waldo Pepper

6.7

The Great Waldo Pepper

Barefoot in the Park

7.0

Barefoot in the Park

The Candidate

7.0

Jeremiah Johnson

7.6

Jeremiah Johnson

The Way We Were

7.1

The Way We Were

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

6.3

Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here

Three Days of the Condor

7.4

Three Days of the Condor

The Great Gatsby

6.4

The Great Gatsby

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

7.9

They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Sonny Steele used to be a rodeo star, but his next appearance is to be on a Las Vegas stage, wearing a suit covered in lights, advertising a breakfast cereal. When he finds out they are going drug the horse in case its too frisky, he rides off into the desert... —Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>

las vegas nevada horse cowboy media journalist 37 more

Trivia
The name of Sonny Steele's horse in the film is "Rising Star". The star steed was played by a five year old bay thoroughbred called "Let's Merge" after a six month equine talent search. Robert Redford bought the horse after production was complete and owned him for 18 years before the horse passed away.

Goofs
The video footage shown on television of Sonny Steele's speech about the horse doesn't match what Alice would have actually shot. The camera movement, lighting and direction of where Steele was facing while talking is completely different.

Quotes
Wendall: I'm gonna get me a bottle of tequila and find me one of them Keno girls that can suck the chrome off a trailer hitch and just kinda kick back.

Alternate versions
The film's original soundtrack has been changed in different ways for its two DVD releases:
The Image DVD replaces Dave Grusin's beautiful "Freedom Epilogue" score music (where the horse is set free) with a reprise of "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" by Willie Nelson, originally heard during the opening credits. This actually works well, though one wonders why a piece of original score had to be changed.
The newer Universal release goes a step further, removing "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" from the opening credits (and in fact from the film completely) as well as "Freedom Epilogue" and replaces them both with a very inappropriate generic harmonica-driven instrumental which is meant to sound like a Willie Nelson song.

Connections
Featured in Sneak Previews: The Electric Horseman, Cuba, Going In Style, The Black Hole, All That Jazz (1979)

Soundtracks
Midnight Rider
(uncredited)
Written by Gregg Allman and Robert Payne
Performed by Willie Nelson

Top review

7/10

pretty good

This movie stars Robert Redford as an five time rodeo champion who is now a has-been promoting a breakfast cereal. Jane Fonda is a reporter who wants to interview Redford, but he just blows her off. Redford is basically upset always being told what to do and he steals a 12 million dollar horse that they're mistreating and he's going to take it out and set it free. The company that owns the horse wants to keep it quiet and then wants to send in the police. Fonda tracks him down and joins up with him so she can get a bigger story and of course, they have to fall in love. This movie seems to be a cross between It Happened One Night and Lonely Are The Brave. This was directed by Sydney Pollock who has worked with Redford several times before and also with Fonda.

helpful•13

2

kyle_furr
Mar 1, 2004

Release date
- December 21, 1979 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Language
- English
Also known as
- Electric
Filming locations
- Grafton, Utah, USA
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Budget
- $12,500,000 (estimated)
Gross US & Canada
- $61,801,971
Gross worldwide
- $61,801,971

See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

Runtime
- 2h 1min
Color
- Color
Sound mix
- Mono
Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1

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The Electric Horseman (1979)

Top Gap

By what name was The Electric Horseman (1979) officially released in Canada in English?

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