The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas

[russell]

Because of the film's provocative title, the movie was briefly seized by Slough Police in the UK during the 1980s UK "Video Nasty" controversy, after they believed it to be a sex film.

[bryan]

This was the first movie production ever allowed to film inside the historic Austin, Texas Capitol building.

[ava]

The original Broadway production of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" opened at the 46th Street Theater on June 19, 1978 and ran for 1,584 performances. The musical, on which this movie was based, was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Best Musical and the 1979 Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical.

[carla]

In terms of box-office, this movie was the most successful movie musical of the 1980s.

[leo]

This movie is one of three movies that Jim Nabors and Burt Reynolds made together in the early 1980s. The other two are Stroker Ace (1983) and Cannonball Run II (1984).

[fred]

Journalist Larry L. King wrote a Playboy article which brought the story to international attention, and he went on to pen the stage musical and numerous drafts of the movie's screenplay. However, King was vehemently opposed to the film's story changes, as well as the casting of Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton, both of whom he publicly vilified on countless occasions. King went as far as to provoke Reynolds into a fist fight in a subsequent 1982 Playboy article, and Reynolds told a reporter for the Austin American-Statesman that he was game, but ultimately nothing came of it.

[chad]

For three consecutive years, Dolly Parton was determined to make a hit out of a melody. She penned "Where Stallions Run" as a ballad for Burt Reynolds, but the song neither made it into the theatrical cut of the movie nor appeared on the soundtrack album. Following a little lyrical tweaking, Parton released her own version on her 1983 album "Burlap & Satin" under the title "A Cowboy's Ways". When that failed to chart, she overhauled the lyrics and released it again as "God Won't Get You" in Rhinestone (1984).

[wesley]

Kris Kristofferson and Gene Hackman were both considered to play Ed Earl.

[tammy]

For its American network tele premiere, an alternate cut of the film was assembled. Several different shots were seen in "20 Fans", "The Aggie Song", and during Melvin Thorpe's raid on The Chicken Ranch to remove nudity, and it included Ed Earl's ballad "Where Stallions Run", which was omitted from the theatrical version. Variations of this version of the film (oftentimes with further editing) went on to play regularly on television until early in the twenty-first century, when most stations switched to high definition, and needed a higher-quality print, at which point, an edited copy of the theatrical cut was substituted.

[bessie]

In 1981, it was announced that Larry Hagman would be playing a small role in the film.

[chad]

Dolly Parton has a song about "A Hard-Candy Christmas". This refers to being disappointed or down. Filled candies were not as available in the 1930s through the 1950s, as they are today, and were expensive. Children usually got chocolate-covered filled candy at Christmas time as a treat. If their families were experiencing financial troubles, all they would get were the relatively cheap hard candies, which left them disappointed.

[bernard]

The Chicken Ranch house went on to be the Firefly residence in House of 1000 Corpses (2003).

[albert]

Betty Grable's stepson, Tim James, natural son of big band leader Harry James, was an attorney working with the then Attorney General of Texas, and became responsible for enticing television personality Marvin Zindler of Houston to investigate the famous Chicken Ranch brothel in La Grange, Texas, eventually closing it down.

[violet]

This was based upon a true story in which investigative reporter Marvin Zindler (who inspired Dom DeLuise's "Melvin P. Thorpe" character) closed down the "Chicken Ranch" brothel in LaGrange, Texas, in 1973. Zindler remained with ABC affiliate KTRK-TV in Houston until his death in 2007.

[camila]

Wide exterior shots of The Chicken Ranch were filmed on a little ranch east Pflugerville, Texas, just north of Austin. A duplicate exterior was also erected at Universal Studios in Hollywood.

[eli]

The world premiere of this movie in Texas was held at the Paramount Theater in Austin, Texas. To celebrate the occasion, cast and crew flocked to the area for a two-day celebration, which included a lavish parade through the city, and a concert held in front of the house which was used as The Chicken Ranch. The festivities were chronicled in The Best Little Special in Texas (1982), a syndicated television special.

[lena]

At the time of its release, it had the highest weekend box-office opening for an R-rated movie, with 11,874,268 dollars. A record broken by Beverly Hills Cop (1984), with its 15,214,805 dollar weekend gross.

[javier]

Peter Masterson and Tommy Tune, who'd helmed the original Broadway production, were initially hired to co-direct the film. However, Universal executives got cold feet due to the duo's lack of film experience. Colin Higgins was later given the job as a result of his writing and directing work on the wildly successful comedy 9 to 5 (1980), which also starred Dolly Parton.

[jesus]

The complete version of "The Aggie Song" (as featured on the soundtrack album) included an additional verse in the shower room, as well as an extended dance sequence while the guys were getting dressed. The full number was never included in wide releases. However, it was leaked and went on to be regularly played as a sing-along in a Chicago gay bar. Later, the bootlegged scene briefly blipped on YouTube, and a "reconstructed" edit was ultimately uploaded to Vimeo.