The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas Information

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is a 1982 American musical comedy film co-written, produced and directed by Colin Higgins (in his final film as director). It is an adaptation of the 1978 Broadway musical of the same name and stars Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.

The cast also features Jim Nabors, Charles Durning, Dom DeLuise, Noah Beery, Jr., Robert Mandan, Lois Nettleton, Theresa Merritt, Barry Corbin, Mary Jo Catlett, and Mary Louise Wilson.

Durning was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Texas governor. Golden Globe nominations went to the film for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) and Parton for Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical). It was the highest-grossing live-action musical film of the 1980s.

Plot

Ed Earl, the sheriff of Gilbert, Texas, has a relationship of long standing with Miss Mona, who runs a brothel there called the "Chicken Ranch." Illegal or not, Ed Earl doesn't interfere with her business, which has been a fixture in the town for as long as either can remember.

Lovers on the side, occasionally interrupted by Deputy Fred, the sheriff and madam have a pleasant arrangement. Not everyone in town approves of her, but Miss Mona is a public-minded citizen, decent and law-abiding in every respect but her line of work.

A big-city television personality, do-gooder Melvin P. Thorpe, is about to do a segment about the town, so the sheriff travels there to introduce himself to Thorpe, who greets him warmly. He is shocked by Thorpe's live telecast, in which he reveals to a huge audience his discovery that "Texas has a whorehouse in it."

The Chicken Ranch is an institution, where the winning team from the football game between Texas A & M and the University of Texas traditionally is brought to "celebrate" its victory. The negative publicity puts a spotlight on the place, so Ed Earl gets Miss Mona's word that she'll shut its doors until the attention goes away. She elects to let the football players have their party, at which point Thorpe and his TV cameras ambush them all.

Ed Earl compounds the problem by assaulting Thorpe and using profanity against him in a public square, all also caught on TV. A quarrel and bitter breakup between the sheriff and Miss Mona ensues, punctuated by him calling her "a whore."

The governor of Texas, who can't or won't make a decision on a single issue until he first sees what voters say in the polls, listens to Ed Earl's appeals to keep the Chicken Ranch open, but the polls say no. The working girls leave the Chicken Ranch for good. Miss Mona is disconsolate, at least until finding out the effort made by the sheriff on her behalf.

Adaptation

The plot is basically the same as that of the stage production, with one significant difference. In the original, Ed Earl and Miss Mona had a one-night stand fifteen years earlier, but in the film they maintain an ongoing affair.

The relationship in the film brings about not only the accusatory scene, when the sheriff—disappointed that Mona has broken her promise to close the Chicken Ranch down long enough for things to cool off—calls her a whore, but also the happy ending, when he proposes marriage to Mona, even though that might endanger his chances to be elected as a state legislator. (The epilogue comments state that he is elected anyway.)

The house used in the film is located at Universal Studios in Hollywood and can be viewed as part of the backlot tram tour. (It was also seen in the Ghost Whisperer television series episode "The Lost Boys.") The inspiration for the set came from a real ranchhouse located outside Austin, Texas, which is featured in scenes from the movie.

The role of Melvin P. Thorpe (portrayed by Dom DeLuise) is based on Marvin Zindler, an eccentric consumer reporter for Houston's KTRK-TV.

Cast

• Burt Reynolds as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd
• Dolly Parton as Mona Stangley
• Dom DeLuise as Melvin P. Thorpe
• Charles Durning as The Governor
• Theresa Merritt as Jewel
• Jim Nabors as Deputy Fred
• Lois Nettleton as Dulcie Mae
• Robert Mandan as Sen. Charles Wingwood
• Barry Corbin as C.J.
• Mary Jo Catlett as Rita Crowell
• Mary Louise Wilson as Miss Modene
• Howard K. Smith as Himself
• Harvey Christiansen as Old Farmer
• Donald F. Colson as Jeff Gerald
• Helen Kleeb as Dora
• Mickey Jones as Henry
• Bobby Fite as Dulcie Mae's Son
• Paula Shaw as Wulla Jean
• Kenneth White as Sheriff Jack Roy
• Ted Gehring as Sheriff Chapman
• Wayne Heffley as TV Station Manager
• Verne Lundquist as Football Announcer
• Lee Grosscup as Football Color Man
• Lee Ritchey as Governor's Aide
• Alice Drummond as Governor's Secretary
• Thomas Myers as Senator's Aide
• Victoria Wells as Washing Girl
• Terri Treas as Chicken Ranch Girl: Taddy-Jo
• Randy Bennett as Privates Boy
• Trish Garland as Chicken Ranch Girl: Beatrice
• Andrea Pike as Chicken Ranch Girl: Shy

Production

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas was Dolly Parton's second film appearance (her first being 9 to 5, 1980). The film launched her yet again as a major movie icon; however, after the release of Rhinestone, in 1984, Parton's film career faltered.

The book of the play was restructured to make it a vehicle for Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds. Colin Higgins prepared for directing it by watching old George Cukor movies and Dr Pepper commercials.

Musical score

Much of Carol Hall's original Broadway score was performed in the movie version.Omitted were Good Old Girl, The Bus From Amarillo, and Doatsie Mae . Two additional Parton compositions appear in the film: "Sneakin' Around", performed as a duet with Parton and Reynolds, and a two-stanza version of Parton's 1973 composition "I Will Always Love You". The film version of "I Will Always Love You" -- the original recording having been a U.S. country chart topper for Parton in the spring of 1974 -- was released as a single in July 1982, and again reached number one on the U.S. country singles chart. (It also was a mid-level hit on Billboard pop and adult contemporary charts.) An altered version of Hall's "Hard Candy Christmas", in which Parton sings both the chorus and the verses of the song (as opposed to the film version, which is partially sung by some of the other female cast members), was also released as a single, reaching the top-ten on the country singles chart in late 1982.

Parton wrote several additional new songs for the film which were ultimately not used, including "Down At The Chicken Ranch" and "Where Stallions Run" -the latter was filmed (performed by Reynolds), but cut prior to the film's release. It was restored for the network television broadcast of the film, as the film was too short for its time slot after the censors finished their broadcast edits and additional material was needed. Parton recorded two of the deleted songs, "A Gamble Either Way", and "A Cowboy's Ways" (a reworking of "Where Stallions Run"), and included them on her 1983 album Burlap & Satin.

Film censorship

The film version presented some difficulties for Universal, particularly with advertising it. In 1982, the word "whorehouse" was considered obscene in parts of the United States, resulting in the film being renamed The Best Little Cathouse in Texas in some print ads, while television ads were either banned outright in some areas, or the offending word was censored. During interviews, Parton sometimes referred to the film as The Best Little Chicken House in Texas.