The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (film)

Originally, Larry King and Pete Masterton were going to write the script and Masterton and Tommy Tune, who had directed the stage production, were to direct the film together. King recommended Shirley MacLaine, Dyan Cannon, Cari Glynn and Jill Clayburgh as the possibles to star but was told they were not a sufficient box office draw.[5]

When Dolly Parton was cast King suggested Willie Nelson as a co-star and Universal executives met with him but at the end Burt Reynolds was cast. Reynolds was paid $3.5 million and Parton $1.5 million.[5]

Reynolds wanted script changes and wanted to sing. Universal became nervous about giving the film to first-time directors and ended up replacing Masterton and Tune with Colin Higgins.[5]

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."[6]

Higgins prepared for directing it by watching old George Cukor films and Dr. Pepper commercials ("They have a lot of wonderful movement", said Higgins.[7])

Reynolds said he 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.' "[6]

The book of the play was restructured to make it a vehicle for Parton and Reynolds.

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 15 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.

Parton described her experience making the movie as 'a nightmare.'[8] For his part, Reynolds described Parton as 'very self deprecating – in public.'[9]

Much of Carol Hall's original Broadway score was performed in the movie version. Omitted were "Good Old Girl", "The Bus From Amarillo", "24 Hours of Lovin", "No Lies" 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 has 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 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 new songs which were filmed but ultimately not used, including "A Gamble Either Way" and "Where Stallions Run". The latter was restored for the ABC 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. "A Gamble Either Way" replaced "Girl You're a Woman" from the Broadway score and was sung by Parton after Miss Mona interviewed "Shy" (Andrea Pike) for a job at the Chicken Ranch. The characters of Shy and Angel from the Broadway show were reduced in the film. Their footage was eventually edited out. "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 included them on her 1983 album Burlap & Satin.

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.

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 Terrestrial's six-week run at the top of the box office.[10] It was the biggest weekend for a musical film ever.[11] The film grossed $69,701,637 domestically.[3]

The film received mixed reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 50% rating based on 10 reviews.[12] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two out of four stars, stating, "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."[13]

In February 2010, Universal Pictures announced that Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith would make a modernized remake of the movie.[17]