Rancho Deluxe
Encyclopedia
Rancho Deluxe is a comedy western film that was directed by Frank Perry
and released in 1975. Jeff Bridges
and Sam Waterston
star as two cattle rustlers in modern-day Montana
who plague a wealthy ranch owner, played by Clifton James
.
The film also stars Harry Dean Stanton
, Richard Bright
, Elizabeth Ashley
and, as the aging detective Harry Beige hired to find the rustlers, Slim Pickens
.
Jimmy Buffett
contributed the music, and performed "Livingston Saturday Night" with alternate lyrics within the film in a scene set at a country/western bar.
Charlene Dallas
, who stars as Laura Beige, was Miss California 1966.
The script was by novelist Thomas McGuane
, who was romantically involved with Ashley.
Equally bored are wealthy Montana rancher John Brown and his wife, Cora. They once ran a beauty parlor in Schnectady, New York, but now they have bought up most of the land in this corner of Montana. Cora is so bored that she tries to catch the eye of her husband's dim ranch hands, Burt and Curt, but she can't seem to work up much interest on their part.
The rustling of his livestock lights a fire under Brown, who sends Burt and Curt up in a helicopter to try to catch the thieves in the act. Jack and Cecil continue to single out Brown's cattle, even kidnapping his $50,000 prize bull, Basehart of Bozeman, for ransom.
Brown decides to call upon Henry Beige, said to be the scourge of rustlers everywhere. A legendary stock detective who once served time on a prison farm for rustling, Beige turns out to be a feeble old fool who doesn't seem to be interested in anything except watching TV and being waited on hand and foot by his niece, Laura, who is almost sickeningly sweet.
Jack and Cecil are feeling cocky, so much so that when Burt and Curt figure out that they must be the rustlers, Jack and Cecil bribe them into a scheme to steal a semi-truck full of John Brown's cattle.
Curt, however, has fallen head over heels in love with the luscious Laura, even though she still mistakenly calls him Burt. She is nowhere near as innocent as she seems, as she proves in a sexual encounter in the woods. Burt intends to use his rustling profits to take an expensive vacation in Mexico, but Curt has chosen to propose marriage to Laura.
Henry Beige's ineptitude and disinterest in identifying the rustlers is infuriating to Brown, who angrily fires him. A distressed Laura explains to Curt that she needs to take care of her uncle and therefore will be leaving with him, unable to marry Curt.
Curt decides to help Henry catch the rustlers instead. Henry proceeds to do exactly that, making a show of it before the town's citizens. Burt and Curt are also arrested, Curt coming to realize that Laura's sweetness and love for him was all an act.
Henry Beige comes to Brown to say goodbye, nonchalantly accepting his payment because he says he's in it now simply for the sport. Brown can see now that Henry is shrewd, not doddering at all, and Laura is a sexy, all-business woman, not innocent in any way.
Jack and Cecil end up sent to a prison farm, presumably the same one where Henry Beige served time in his youth. They spend their days on horseback, seemingly no more or less bored than they had been before. The final scene shows the two rustlers riding under a sign reading "Rancho Deluxe".
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Rancho Deluxe only one-and-a-half out of four possible stars. He wrote: "I don't know how this movie went so disastrously wrong, but it did."
Frank Perry
Frank J. Perry, Jr. was an American stage and film director, producer and screenwriter. His directorial debut, the 1962 film David and Lisa, earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director....
and released in 1975. Jeff Bridges
Jeff Bridges
Jeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
and Sam Waterston
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
star as two cattle rustlers in modern-day Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
who plague a wealthy ranch owner, played by Clifton James
Clifton James
George Clifton James is an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as the bumbling Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond films Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun and his role alongside Sean Connery in The Untouchables .-Personal life:James was...
.
The film also stars Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
, Richard Bright
Richard Bright
Richard Bright may refer to:*Richard Bright , English physician and early pioneer in the research of kidney disease*Richard Bright , English Member of Parliament, 1868–1878...
, Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley
Elizabeth Ashley is an American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play.-Early life:...
and, as the aging detective Harry Beige hired to find the rustlers, Slim Pickens
Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
.
Jimmy Buffett
Jimmy Buffett
James William "Jimmy" Buffett is a singer-songwriter, author, entrepreneur, and film producer. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffett's musical hits include "Margaritaville" , and "Come Monday"...
contributed the music, and performed "Livingston Saturday Night" with alternate lyrics within the film in a scene set at a country/western bar.
Charlene Dallas
Charlene Dallas
Charlene Diane Dallas was Miss California for 1966, as well as first runner-up to Miss America for 1967.She had a number of minor acting roles, including one as Laura Beige in the 1975 film Rancho Deluxe. She had second billing in the 1989 film Criminal Act, playing Sharon Fields.-References:*...
, who stars as Laura Beige, was Miss California 1966.
The script was by novelist Thomas McGuane
Thomas McGuane
Thomas Francis McGuane III is an American author. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors.-Early life:...
, who was romantically involved with Ashley.
Plot summary
Jack McKee and Cecil Colson are a couple of young, restless rustlers. Jack has turned his back on his wealthy family and his wife. Cecil is a Native American who is a sharpshooter with a long-range rifle. Together, more out of boredom than anything else, they have begun rustling cattle, cutting them up with a chainsaw and paying bills with fresh meat in lieu of cash.Equally bored are wealthy Montana rancher John Brown and his wife, Cora. They once ran a beauty parlor in Schnectady, New York, but now they have bought up most of the land in this corner of Montana. Cora is so bored that she tries to catch the eye of her husband's dim ranch hands, Burt and Curt, but she can't seem to work up much interest on their part.
The rustling of his livestock lights a fire under Brown, who sends Burt and Curt up in a helicopter to try to catch the thieves in the act. Jack and Cecil continue to single out Brown's cattle, even kidnapping his $50,000 prize bull, Basehart of Bozeman, for ransom.
Brown decides to call upon Henry Beige, said to be the scourge of rustlers everywhere. A legendary stock detective who once served time on a prison farm for rustling, Beige turns out to be a feeble old fool who doesn't seem to be interested in anything except watching TV and being waited on hand and foot by his niece, Laura, who is almost sickeningly sweet.
Jack and Cecil are feeling cocky, so much so that when Burt and Curt figure out that they must be the rustlers, Jack and Cecil bribe them into a scheme to steal a semi-truck full of John Brown's cattle.
Curt, however, has fallen head over heels in love with the luscious Laura, even though she still mistakenly calls him Burt. She is nowhere near as innocent as she seems, as she proves in a sexual encounter in the woods. Burt intends to use his rustling profits to take an expensive vacation in Mexico, but Curt has chosen to propose marriage to Laura.
Henry Beige's ineptitude and disinterest in identifying the rustlers is infuriating to Brown, who angrily fires him. A distressed Laura explains to Curt that she needs to take care of her uncle and therefore will be leaving with him, unable to marry Curt.
Curt decides to help Henry catch the rustlers instead. Henry proceeds to do exactly that, making a show of it before the town's citizens. Burt and Curt are also arrested, Curt coming to realize that Laura's sweetness and love for him was all an act.
Henry Beige comes to Brown to say goodbye, nonchalantly accepting his payment because he says he's in it now simply for the sport. Brown can see now that Henry is shrewd, not doddering at all, and Laura is a sexy, all-business woman, not innocent in any way.
Jack and Cecil end up sent to a prison farm, presumably the same one where Henry Beige served time in his youth. They spend their days on horseback, seemingly no more or less bored than they had been before. The final scene shows the two rustlers riding under a sign reading "Rancho Deluxe".
Cast
- Jeff BridgesJeff BridgesJeffrey Leon "Jeff" Bridges is an American actor and musician. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Otis "Bad" Blake in the 2009 film Crazy Heart....
as Jack McKee - Sam WaterstonSam WaterstonSamuel Atkinson "Sam" Waterston is an American actor and occasional producer and director. Among other roles, he is noted for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Sydney Schanberg in 1984's The Killing Fields, and his Golden Globe- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning portrayal of Jack McCoy...
as Cecil Colson - Elizabeth AshleyElizabeth AshleyElizabeth Ashley is an American actress who first came to prominence as the ingenue in the Broadway play Take Her, She's Mine, which earned her a Tony Award as Best Featured Actress in a Play.-Early life:...
as Cora Brown - Clifton JamesClifton JamesGeorge Clifton James is an American actor. He is probably best known for his role as the bumbling Sheriff J.W. Pepper alongside Roger Moore in the James Bond films Live and Let Die and The Man With The Golden Gun and his role alongside Sean Connery in The Untouchables .-Personal life:James was...
as John Brown - Slim PickensSlim PickensLouis Burton Lindley, Jr. , better known by the stage name Slim Pickens, was an American rodeo performer and film and television actor who epitomized the profane, tough, sardonic cowboy, but who is best remembered for his comic roles, notably in Dr...
as Henry Beige - Charlene DallasCharlene DallasCharlene Diane Dallas was Miss California for 1966, as well as first runner-up to Miss America for 1967.She had a number of minor acting roles, including one as Laura Beige in the 1975 film Rancho Deluxe. She had second billing in the 1989 film Criminal Act, playing Sharon Fields.-References:*...
as Laura Beige - Harry Dean StantonHarry Dean StantonHarry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...
as Curt - Richard BrightRichard BrightRichard Bright may refer to:*Richard Bright , English physician and early pioneer in the research of kidney disease*Richard Bright , English Member of Parliament, 1868–1878...
as Burt - Patti D'ArbanvillePatti D'ArbanvillePatricia "Patti" D'Arbanville is an American actress and former model.-Early life:D'Arbanville, born May 25, 1951 in New York City, New York, is the daughter of Jean , an artist, and George D'Arbanville, a bartender, and attended PS 41 on Eleventh Street...
as Betty Fargo - Maggie Wellman as Mary Fargo
- Bert Conway as Wilbur Fargo
- Joe SpinellJoe SpinellJoe Spinell was an American character actor, who appeared in numerous films in the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:...
as Mr. Colson, Cecil's father
Reaction
The film was described as a form of "parody Western" by critic Richard Eder in his Nov. 24, 1975 New York Times review. "It is so cool that it is barely alive," he wrote of the film's general tone. Among the positive elements: "Slim Pickens for once has a strongly written comic role. He plays it with great effect, and Charlene Dallas, as his sluttish assistant, is almost as good."Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times gave Rancho Deluxe only one-and-a-half out of four possible stars. He wrote: "I don't know how this movie went so disastrously wrong, but it did."