The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (film)

Deputy Fred Wilkins introduces the story ("20 Fans") of Ed Earl Dodd, the Sheriff of Lanville County, Texas, who has been in a 12-year relationship with Miss Mona Stangley, who runs the "Chicken Ranch", a brothel outside the town of Gilbert in his jurisdiction. He does not interfere with her business, which has been a fixture of the town since 1910, regardless of legality ("A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place"). Occasionally interrupted by Deputy Wilkins, the pair have a pleasant arrangement as secret lovers ("Sneakin' Around With You"). Almost everyone in town approves of Miss Mona, a public-minded citizen who regularly donates to charity and, except for her line of work, is decent and law-abiding. Mayor Rufus P. Poindexter and insurance salesman C.J. Vernon inform Ed Earl that consumer advocate and television personality Melvin P. Thorpe, who moved to Texas from New Jersey six years earlier, has announced his intention to do an exposé about the Chicken Ranch on his weekly program The Watchdog Report. After visiting Thorpe in his downtown Houston studio, Ed Earl is shocked when Thorpe reveals to the audience during his show that "Texas Has a Whorehouse In It." While filming a segment in the Gilbert town square, Thorpe accuses Ed Earl of taking payoffs and bribes to protect Miss Mona's business. Ed Earl responds by insulting Thorpe and threatening to physically assault or even incarcerate him should he, his crew, or his chorus of singers named the Dogettes, ever reappear in Gilbert. The Chicken Ranch is such an institution that the winner of the annual football rivalry between the University of Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies on Thanksgiving Day traditionally comes to "celebrate" its victory as arranged by the alumni association of the winning school ("The Aggie Song"). Thorpe's negative publicity, coupled with the footage of Ed Earl insulting him, puts an undesirable spotlight on the place, so Ed Earl asks Miss Mona to shutter the property for at least two months until the TV attention subsides. She complies, closing the bordello to her regular customers but allowing the football players to have their party ("Courtyard Shag"). Thorpe and his crew sneak onto the property, break into the house, and catch the winning Aggies and State Senator Charles Wingwood, a 1949 Texas A&M University alumnus who represents the 19th Congressional District where the Chicken Ranch is located, on tape in mid-debauch. The next day, Ed Earl and Miss Mona have a fight over what happened. Mona chastises him for being unavailable to shield her during Thorpe's raid, even going so far as to call him childish and insult his standing; in turn, he responds, "It's a hell of a lot better than bein' a whore." Without telling Mona his intentions, Ed Earl travels to Austin to appeal to the Governor of Texas. The politician, who will not make a decision on any issue without first seeing the results of opinion polls, listens to Ed Earl's eloquent appeal to keep the Chicken Ranch open ("The Sidestep"). However, when the polls say 42% of Texans disapprove of the place (37% are in favour, 21% undecided), he orders the sheriff to close it down. While leaving the capitol building, Ed Earl confronts a jubilant Thorpe, yanks off his wig, and punches him out as a crew films the confrontation. At his office, Ed Earl calls Mona to tell her to permanently close down the whorehouse, and apologizes for their earlier fight. After hearing the news, the brothel girls leave the Chicken Ranch the next day ("Hard Candy Christmas"). Miss Mona is disconsolate, until learning about Ed Earl's attempt to keep it open. As Miss Mona is departing the Chicken Ranch for the last time, Ed Earl stops her and proposes marriage. She turns him down, knowing that having a wife who had once been the madam of a notorious whorehouse would hurt his chances of running for the state legislature ("I Will Always Love You"). Ed Earl insists he wants to marry her, regardless of what people will think or say. To make his point, he tosses her luggage into his pickup truck, then picks up Miss Mona and installs her in the passenger seat. They drive away together. Deputy Fred becomes the new Sheriff, while closing narration mentions that Ed Earl and Miss Mona married and Ed Earl later successfully ran for the Texas state legislature. ==Cast==

• Burt Reynolds as Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd • Dolly Parton as Mona Strangely • Dom DeLuise as Melvin P. Thorpe • Charles Durning as The Governor • Theresa Merritt as Jewel • Jim Nabors as Deputy Fred Wilkins • Lois Nettleton as Dulcie Mae • Noah Beery Jr. as Edsel Mackey • Robert Mandan as Senator Charles Wingwood • Raleigh Bond as Mayor Rufus P. Poindexter • Barry Corbin as C.J. Vernon • Ken Magee as Mansel • Mary Jo Catlett as Rita Crowell • Mary Louise Wilson as Miss Modene Ennis • Howard K. Smith as himself • 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 Wallace • Ted Gehring as Sheriff Chapman • Verne Lundquist as Football Announcer • Lee Grosscup as Football Color Man • Alice Drummond as Governor's secretary • Robert Briscoe, John Walter Davis, Gregory Itzin, Timothy Stack and Larry B. Williams as Thorpe's Crew • Terri Treas as Chicken Ranch Girl: Taddy-Jo • Randy Bennett as Privates Boy ==Production==

Development Originally, Larry L. King and Peter Masterson were going to write the screenplay and Masterson and Tommy Tune, who had directed the stage production, were to direct together. King recommended Shirley MacLaine, Dyan Cannon, Carlin Glynn (Masterson's wife, who had originated the role of Mona on Broadway) and Jill Clayburgh as the possibles to star but was told they were not a sufficient box office draw. Reynolds later said Parton "had two directors fired before we started – they were gone. Because I'd made so many movies and she hadn't, everyone thought it was me. Whether she was right or wrong in those decisions, it was amazing to me that she could do it." Higgins prepared for directing by watching old George Cukor films and Dr. Pepper commercials ("They have a lot of wonderful movement", said Higgins.) Reynolds suggested to Higgins that Charles Durning be cast. "Colin is very smart, very commercial. They wanted Mickey Rooney, so I manipulated him a little. I told Colin, 'Mickey Rooney is a wonderful actor, but everyone knows that. You won't get any credit. Charles Durning can sing and dance and no one knows it, so you'll get all the credit.'" 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 states that he wins the election anyway. King later wrote, "Though I was fond of the screenplay Pete Masterson and I put together, let’s face it: even if the Universal nabobs and Burt and Dolly come up with a movie I hardly recognize, they can’t justly be accused of having tampered with Shakespeare or having done violence to art. Whorehouse is an entertainment, pure and simple." Filming Parton described her experience as "a nightmare." She later wrote in her memoirs: The wonderful time I had on Nine to Five had whetted my appetite for another movie. Whorehouse was a completely opposite experience. It was as if Nine to Five had been my first lover, sweetly seductive before and gentle and caring during our lovemaking. Whorehouse, then, was a rapist. Parton wrote Reynolds was in a bad mood during filming because he had broken up with Sally Field, alleging, "Sometimes he would just walk off the set, unable to deal with things, and I would be called upon to go to his dressing room and try to cheer him up. That was a little like the blind leading the blind, since I was in an emotional and physical turmoil of my own." She added, "On top of that, people were being fired right and left. In fact, at one point there was a bumper sticker circulating around Hollywood that read, 'HONK IF YOU’VE BEEN FIRED FROM BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE'." Parton later wrote, "I’d like to publicly apologize to everyone on that film for any ill will and hurt feelings I might have caused" and said the film was "a miserable, spirit-numbing ordeal." Music Much of Carol Hall's original Broadway score is performed. However, eight songs, "Girl, You're a Woman", "Twenty-Four Hours of Lovin'", "Doatsy Mae", "The Anglette March", "The Bus from Amarillo", "No Lies", "Good Old Girl" and "Finale", were omitted. Two additional Parton compositions appear: "Sneakin' Around", a duet with Parton and Reynolds, and a two-stanza rendition of Parton's 1973 composition "I Will Always Love You". The film version of "I Will Always Love You" — the original recording had 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 was also 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, which is partially sung by the brothel ladies), was also released as a single, reaching the top ten on the country singles chart in late 1982. Parton wrote several new songs that were filmed but ultimately unused, including "Where Stallions Run" and "A Gamble Either Way". The former was restored for the ABC network television broadcast, as the film was too short for its time slot after the censors finished their edits and additional material was needed. "A Gamble Either Way" replaced "Girl, You're a Woman" and was sung by Parton after Mona interviewed "Shy" (Andrea Pike) for a job at the Chicken Ranch. The characters of Shy and Angel from the Broadway show were significantly reduced in the film; their footage was eventually removed entirely. "Down at the Chicken Ranch" was written for the trailer. Parton recorded two of the deleted songs, "A Gamble Either Way" and "A Cowboy's Ways" (a reworking of "Where Stallions Run"), and featured them on her 1983 album Burlap & Satin. ;Musical numbers • "20 Fans" – Company • "A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place" – Mona and Girls • "Sneakin' Around" – Mona and Ed Earl • "Watchdog Report" – The Dogettes • "Texas Has a Whorehouse in It" – Thorpe, The Dogettes and Watchdog Chorus • "Texas Has a Whorehouse in It" (reprise) – Thorpe and The Dogettes • "The Aggie Song" – The Aggies • "Courtyard Shag" (instrumental) • "The Sidestep" – The Governor • "Texas Has a Whorehouse in It/The Sidestep" (reprise) – Thorpe, Chorus and The Governor • "Hard Candy Christmas" – Mona and Girls • "I Will Always Love You" – Mona • "A Lil' Ole Bitty Pissant Country Place" (reprise) – Company ==Release==

Marketing The film presented some difficulties for Universal, particularly with advertising. 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; on WXYZ-TV in Detroit, the announcer on the station's "Now Showing" segment merely clicked his tongue to eliminate the offending word: "The Best Little [click, click] in Texas!" In Canada, the title was generally left alone in print, but televised trailers used a bleep censor over the word. During interviews, Parton sometimes referred to the film as The Best Little Chicken House in Texas. Box office The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opened in 1,400 theaters on July 23, 1982, and earned $11,874,268 in its opening weekend, ranking number one in the United States box office, dethroning E.T. The Extra Terrestrials six-week run at the top of the box office. It was the biggest weekend for a musical film ever. The film grossed $69,701,637 domestically. It went on to become the 10th highest-grossing film of 1982. Critical reception The film received mixed reviews from critics. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two out of four stars, stating the film was surprisingly dull and didn't make good use of Parton's talents: "If they ever give Dolly her freedom and stop packaging her so antiseptically, she could be terrific. But Dolly and Burt and Whorehouse never get beyond the concept stage in this movie." Chris Hicks of The Deseret News gave a mostly negative review, describing the film as slogging "from one poorly staged musical scene to another", but he highlighted some of the supporting cast as offering bright moments, particularly Jim Nabors. Awards and nominations ==Cultural influence==

The film and the original Broadway musical it was based on were spoofed in the 1982 pornographic film Memphis Cathouse Blues, which starred Annette Haven in the Dolly Parton role of the madam and Mike Horner in the Burt Reynolds role as the sheriff. Porn star Kay Parker, who played one of the sex workers in the film, had an uncredited bit role in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. ==Legacy==

The house used in the film is located at Universal Studios in Hollywood and can be viewed as part of the backlot tram tour. The inspiration for the set came from a real ranch house located outside Austin, Texas, which is featured in scenes from the movie. The house was shown in the Ghost Whisperer television series episode "The Lost Boys". The house was also featured in Rob Zombie's 2003 horror film House of 1000 Corpses. The film was mentioned in an episode of The Venture Bros., where Dr. Venture mistakes it for a pornographic film, given its "racy" history. ==References==