City Slickers (1991)

On the verge of turning 40, an unhappy Manhattan yuppie is roped into joining his two friends on a cattle drive in the southwest.

Director:

Ron Underwood

Writers:

Lowell Ganz, Babaloo Mandel

Stars:

Billy Crystal, Jack Palance, Daniel Stern

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Crystal	...	Mitch Robbins
Daniel Stern	...	Phil Berquist
Bruno Kirby	...	Ed Furillo
Patricia Wettig	...	Barbara Robbins
Helen Slater	...	Bonnie Rayburn
Jack Palance	...	Curly
Noble Willingham	...	Clay Stone
Tracey Walter	...	Cookie
Josh Mostel	...	Barry Shalowitz
David Paymer	...	Ira Shalowitz
Bill Henderson	...	Ben Jessup
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Lou
Phill Lewis	...	Steve Jessup
Kyle Secor	...	Jeff
Dean Hallo	...	T.R.

Storyline

Mitch is a middle aged big-city radio ads salesman. He and his friends Ed and Phil are having mid-life crisis. They decide the best birthday gift is to go on a two week holiday in the wild west driving cattle from New Mexico to Colorado. There they meet cowboy Curly who not only teaches them how to become real cowboys, but also one or two other things about life in the open air of the west.

---

Plot Keywords:

fish out of water | cowboy | cattle | new mexico | colorado | 

---

Taglines:

Yesterday They Were Businessmen. Today They're Cowboys. Tomorrow They'll Be Walking Funny.

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 June 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Amigos... siempre amigos

Filming Locations:

Abiquiu, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$27,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$13,032,121, 9 June 1991, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$124,033,791

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$179,033,791

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Nelson Entertainment, Face Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Incorrectly regarded as goof. Phil (Daniel Stern) mentions that he had to work every weekend for a year to afford the trip. As a grocery store manager, he is in a salary position and required to work weekends anyways. However, given how his father in law owned the store and treated him terribly, he may be paid hourly and worked seven days a week for a year. Or he is salary, and worked seven days a week for a bonus.

---

Goofs

In the scene where Curly explains the "One thing", you can see a cord on Jack Palance for his mike.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
[running through the streets in front of angry bulls, deliberately]
Mitch Robbins: Whose idea was this anyway?

---

Crazy Credits

The opening credits show a cartoon of a cowboy practicing with a lasso

---

Alternate Versions

AMC version makes two changes in the scene where Mitch talks to his son's class; Sal's story is removed entirely, and the scene begins with the kids cheering, and Sal's "masturbation" hand gesture during Mitch's speech is replaced with an alternate take where Sal instead makes the "Whoopee!" gesture with his index finger.

---

Connections

Featured in Svengoolie: City Slickers (2003)

---

Soundtracks

Rawhide
(1959)
Written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington
Published by VOLTA MUSIC CORP. / MRS. NED WASHINGTON / CATHERINE HINEN

User Reviews

Hilarious and Well-Meaning Comedy.

"City Slickers" is one of those curiosities that is just good pure entertainment that works in spite of itself. Billy Crystal is going through a mid-life crisis. It is time to get away. So he goes on a trail ride with friends Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby. What follows is a funny film that is full of outlandish delight. Oscar-winner Jack Palance dominates in a very short role as the man hired to look after Crystal, his friends and a group of interesting characters. Charming little film. 4 stars out of 5.