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The Electric Horseman

  • 19791979
  • PGPG
  • 2h 1m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
The Electric Horseman (1979)
Watch Official Trailer
Play trailer2:32
3 Videos
32 Photos
ComedyDramaRomance
A rodeo star past his prime steals his company's horse and rides into the desert, accompanied by a feisty reporter.A rodeo star past his prime steals his company's horse and rides into the desert, accompanied by a feisty reporter.A rodeo star past his prime steals his company's horse and rides into the desert, accompanied by a feisty reporter.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
9.7K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Sydney Pollack
  • Writers
    • Robert Garland(screenplay by)
    • Paul Gaer(screen story by)
    • Shelly Burton(based on a story by)
  • Stars
    • Robert Redford
    • Jane Fonda
    • Valerie Perrine
  • Director
    • Sydney Pollack
  • Writers
    • Robert Garland(screenplay by)
    • Paul Gaer(screen story by)
    • Shelly Burton(based on a story by)
  • Stars
    • Robert Redford
    • Jane Fonda
    • Valerie Perrine
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 46User reviews
    • 31Critic reviews
    • 64Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Nominated for 1 Oscar
      • 1 win & 1 nomination total

    Videos3

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:32
    Watch Official Trailer
    Robert Redford: The Con With Conviction & the End of a Legendary Screen Persona
    Clip 5:10
    Watch Robert Redford: The Con With Conviction & the End of a Legendary Screen Persona
    Sneak Previews Season 2 Episode 15
    Video 28:45
    Watch Sneak Previews Season 2 Episode 15

    Photos32

    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)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Robert Redford
    Robert Redford
    • Sonny
    Jane Fonda
    Jane Fonda
    • Hallie
    Valerie Perrine
    Valerie Perrine
    • Charlotta
    Willie Nelson
    Willie Nelson
    • Wendell
    John Saxon
    John Saxon
    • Hunt Sears
    Nicolas Coster
    Nicolas Coster
    • Fitzgerald
    Allan Arbus
    Allan Arbus
    • Danny
    Wilford Brimley
    Wilford Brimley
    • Farmer
    Will Hare
    Will Hare
    • Gus
    Basil Hoffman
    Basil Hoffman
    • Toland
    Timothy Scott
    Timothy Scott
    • Leroy
    James Sikking
    James Sikking
    • Dietrich
    • (as James B. Sikking)
    James Kline
    • Tommy
    Frank Speiser
    • Bernie
    Quinn K. Redeker
    Quinn K. Redeker
    • Bud Broderick
    • (as Quinn Redeker)
    Lois Hamilton
    Lois Hamilton
    • Joanna Camden
    • (as Lois Areno)
    Sarah Harris
    • Lucinda
    Tasha Zemrus
    • Louise
    • 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
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The name of Sonny Steele's horse in the film is "Rising Star". The star steed was played by a 5-year-old bay thoroughbred called "Let's Merge" after a 6-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

    User reviews46

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    A simple tale of a simple man who sets himself and a horse, free.
    To those people who didn't understand this movie, perhaps they were expecting something other than a simple tale. In this effective movie, Robert Redford plays "Sonny" Steele, a former 5 time rodeo champion who now hocks breakfast cereal for the sinister corporation, Ampco. Although a world champion cowboy, Sonny is no good at selling cereal. When Ampco buys a thoroughbred horse to solidify a merger, Sonny is outraged at how the horse has been mistreated. When he steals the horse in an attempt to set it free & get it back to nature, he is in fact attempting to make right what is also wrong in his own life. Jane Fonda who plays Hallie Martin, a reporter, is also caught up in the hype when she tries to get the story on an exclusive. As she follows his story & his struggle to set the horse free in an appropriate place, she comes to understand Sonny the man. This charm of this movie is its underlying message of a simple life, unfettered by hypocrisy and falseness as the right way to live and the redemptive quality of a man returning to that. Understated directing and a good supporting cast make this a movie worth watching.
    helpful•27
    3
    • rondine
    • May 9, 1999

    Details

    Edit
    • 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
      • Universal Pictures
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Wildwood Enterprises
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $12,500,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $61,801,971
    • Gross worldwide
      • $61,801,971
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 1 minute
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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