The Bear (1984)

Biopic about the great college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of the University of Alabama.

Director:

Richard C. Sarafian

Writer:

Michael Kane

Stars:

Gary Busey, Cynthia Leake, Carmen Thomas

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gary Busey	...	Paul W. Bryant
Cynthia Leake	...	Mary Harmon Bryant
Carmen Thomas	...	Mae Martin Bryant
Cary Guffey	...	Grandson Marc
Harry Dean Stanton	...	Coach Thomas
Jon-Erik Hexum	...	Pat Trammell
Steve Greenstein	...	Joe Namath
Michael McGrady	...	Gene Stallings
William Wesley Neighbors Jr.	...	Billy Neighbors
Brett Rice	...	Don Hutson
Buddy Farmer	...	Herman Ball
Owen Orr	...	Ermal Allen (as Owen E. Orr)
Charles Gabrielson	...	Steve Meilinger
D'Urville Martin	...	Billy
Ken Taylor	...	Jimbo / Ball Player

Storyline

Biopic about the great college football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant of the University of Alabama.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | nickname as title | two word title | paul bryant character | college football | 

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Taglines:

WINNING. That was the difference between playing football and playing for "The Bear".

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Family | Sport

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 September 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Der Bär

Filming Locations:

Georgia Tech Football Practice Field, Rose Bowl Field, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$221,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,160,644, 30 September 1984, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$2,687,148

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Alabama fans in and around Tuscaloosa protested the making of this movie which resulted it being filmed in other locations.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson: Gary Busey/Roseanne Barr/Steve Trotter (1985)

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Soundtracks

I'll Be Home Again
Music by Bill Conti
Lyrics by Dennis Lambert

User Reviews

Extra Also

I was an extra also for this movie although the entire Cadet Corps of Texas A&M University were extras. Busey sure had a hard time with those lines. We stood out there for a couple hours while he struggled over a handful of lines, and honestly it started getting ridiculous the way he would fumble over the same sentence time and time again. Reading other peoples comments he was apparently drunk a lot over the course of the film's shooting. From an Oscar winner we all expected a bit more class and professionalism from him considering how we spent extra hours that afternoon spit shining our shoes and, polishing brass to the utmost, just in case the camera showed on us and then gave up a few hours of our study that night. Goofing your lines over and over in front of 1600 disciplined Aggie Cadets was pretty sad. They also filmed the Bonfire that year as filming took place only a few days before the Texas A&M vs Texas game, but i've no idea if any of that was in the film or even the scene we all shot. I didn't catch it at the theater when it came out unfortunately i've not found it on DVD or VHS. If anybody knows where to get it please post.