I had assumed, incorrectly, that this film was some sort of biography about the old silent movie cowboy star, Bronco Billy Anderson. Well, despite the title, it is not. Instead, Bronco Billy (Clint Eastwood) is a modern fictional character--much like Buffalo Bill Cody with his wild west show, but on a much, much, much, much smaller scale. In fact, Bronco Billy's show is pathetically small and not the least bit impressive. And, as far as Billy is concerned, he is an ex-show salesman from New Jersey--hardly the western star you'd expect him to be. But Billy WANTS to be the prototypical western hero and often walks and talks like Roy Rogers and is a genuinely nice person.
Into this poor but nice outfit comes a very spoiled and disagreeable young heiress (Sondra Locke). After treating her brand-new husband like dirt, he takes off--and with all their possessions. As she's in the middle of nowhere, she is forced, despite her haughty ways, to take up with Bronco Billy's show--and a long series of bad luck follows. In addition, Locke's nasty ways alienate her from practically everyone. While her clichéd transformation to a nice person is totally predictable and not one bit convincing, the film, inexplicably, is fun and worth seeing--mostly because it is so quirky and fun. For my wife and myself, we stayed up very late watching this one because there was this strange watchability to the film--possibly because the characters were just so darn strange...but likable. Worth seeing...but I am not 100% sure why!
By the way, there did seem to be a hole in the film--but perhaps the Encore Channel somehow cut a piece from the movie. When Eastwood's character is being challenged by the nasty Sheriff, the scene suddenly ends. What happened here?! Did Bronco Billy kill the Sheriff, did angels divinely intervene or what?!
Into this poor but nice outfit comes a very spoiled and disagreeable young heiress (Sondra Locke). After treating her brand-new husband like dirt, he takes off--and with all their possessions. As she's in the middle of nowhere, she is forced, despite her haughty ways, to take up with Bronco Billy's show--and a long series of bad luck follows. In addition, Locke's nasty ways alienate her from practically everyone. While her clichéd transformation to a nice person is totally predictable and not one bit convincing, the film, inexplicably, is fun and worth seeing--mostly because it is so quirky and fun. For my wife and myself, we stayed up very late watching this one because there was this strange watchability to the film--possibly because the characters were just so darn strange...but likable. Worth seeing...but I am not 100% sure why!
By the way, there did seem to be a hole in the film--but perhaps the Encore Channel somehow cut a piece from the movie. When Eastwood's character is being challenged by the nasty Sheriff, the scene suddenly ends. What happened here?! Did Bronco Billy kill the Sheriff, did angels divinely intervene or what?!