The Honkers - Misplaced Pages

1972 film by Steve Ihnat

The Honkers
film poster by Robert McGinnis
Directed by	Steve Ihnat
Written by	Steve Ihnat Stephen Lodge
Produced by	Arthur Gardner Jules Levy
Starring	James Coburn Lois Nettleton Slim Pickens Anne Archer Richard Anderson Joan Huntington
Cinematography	James Crabe
Edited by	Tom Rolf
Music by	Jimmie Haskell
Production companies	Brighton Pictures Levy-Gardner-Laven
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	May 17, 1972 (1972-05-17)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$1,500,000

The Honkers is a 1972 American comedy western film directed by Steve Ihnat and written by Steve Ihnat and Stephen Lodge. The film stars James Coburn, Lois Nettleton, Slim Pickens, Anne Archer, Richard Anderson and Joan Huntington. The film was shot in Carlsbad, New Mexico and released on May 17, 1972, by United Artists. The film was the film debut for Anne Archer.

It was one of several films set around rodes made in the early 1970s, others including Junior Bonner and J.W. Coop.

Plot

An aging rodeo rider thinks more of himself than he does of his wife, son, and best friend.

Cast

James Coburn as Lew Lathrop
Lois Nettleton as Linda Lathrop
Slim Pickens as Clete
Anne Archer as Deborah Moon
Richard Anderson as Royce Owens
Joan Huntington as Rita Ferguson
Jim Davis as Sheriff Potter
Ramon Bieri as Jack Ferguson
Teddy Eccles as Bobby Lathrop
Mitchell Ryan as Lowell
Wayne McLaren as Everett
John Harmon as Sam Martin
Richard O'Brien as Matt Weber
Pitt Herbert as Haberdasher
Luther Elmore
Chuck Parkison Jr. as Announcer
Larry Mahan as Himself

Production

Writer-director Steve Ihnat was an experienced character actor who had just written and directed a self funded featre film Do Not Throw Cushions Into the Ring.

Costumer Stephen Lodge wrote his first script with his new writing partner, Dave Cass. Lodge knew Ihnat from working on various television shows; the latter read it and asked Lodge if he would collaborate on a script about a rodeo rider. Lodge said "Steve’s agent heard that rodeo movies were going to be the next big thing, and that’s why he wanted Steve to write one. We didn’t know that there would be two others around town and made at the same time, J.W. Coop and Junior Bonner.”

According to Lodge, the first draft took four weeks, after that they attended a rodeo for research and did original drafts. The script was originally entitled Home Town Boy then this was changed to The Honkers after a slang term used to describe a rough bull. The script sold to United Artists and Levy-Gardner-Laven became attached as producers.

Ihnat wanted to play the lead role but the studio insisted on a star.

Filming took place in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Harry Vold’s rodeo company was used to stage the rodeos. Lodge said "We had a wonderful ending, originally, with Jim riding the yellow bull. This was after the bull had killed Slim’s character, and Jim goes and rides the bull late at night in the empty arena, until they’re both worn out. He faced it down. It was kind of our Moby-Dick, to have that passion of Jim’s character to beat that bull.” However this ending was cut.

Ihnat died of a heart attack in May 1972, at the Cannes Film Festival, shortly after The Honkers was released.

Reception

According to Time, "Ihnat bears partial responsibility for writing this lackluster plot, although as a director he fares a good deal better. Unlike most fledgling film makers, Ihnat has an uninsistent and subtle style. He can catch the fleeting mood of a scene in a few shots, most impressively in a terse, brutal barroom brawl, and he has a good eye for local color."

References

^ Brown, Stewart (2 January 1971). "Steve Ihnat, the local boy who mde good in Hollywood, comes home for a holiday". The Hamilton Spectator. p. 33.
"The Honkers (1972) - Overview - TCM.com". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
"The Honkers". TV Guide. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
"Anne Archer", Misplaced Pages, 2023-08-25, retrieved 2023-09-16
The Honkers at AFI
"Steve Ihat to direct rodeo story in Carlsburg". Carlsbad Current-Argus. 2 May 1971. p. 3.
^ Joyner, C. Courtney (15 July 2014). "Bull Doggin'". True West magazine.
^ Lodge, Stephen. "The Honkers - My First Produced Screenplay". Author's Den. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
"Steve Ihnat, Actor and Director, Dead". New York Times. 20 May 1972. p. 36.
Lodge, Stephen (2008). And ... . Action!. Lulu Press, Inc. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-4357-1204-1.
Cocks, Jay (29 May 1972). "Cinema: Bullpen". Time magazine.

External links

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