The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas *** (1982, Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise, Charles Durning, Jim Nabors, Robert Mandan) – Classic Movie Review 7115

Larry L King and Peter Masterson’s merely pleasant but long-running Broadway musical (this very American show did not do well in London’s West End) is refurbished to suit the talents and personalities of Dolly Parton as Miss Mona Stangley, the madame of a Texas brothel, Burt Reynolds as the friendly good ol’ boy sheriff Ed Earl Dodd, and Dom DeLuise as Melvin, a right-wing TV watchdog star. Melvin wants the best little whorehouse in Texas, provocatively tagged The Chicken Ranch, closed down for good after a TV reporter exposes it as ‘the Devil’s playhouse’.

Director Colin Higgins’s 1982 movie musical boasts amiable, professional performances, plenty of jolly Country and Western-style tunes and dances, and one really rousing highlight when the football team celebrates a win.

The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas is tuneful, entertaining and saucy fun enough, but it has nothing to amaze and nothing to shock either. The film was a Golden Globe nominee for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.

Charles Durning steals the movie in all of his few moments at the end as the Texas state governor and he was Oscar nominated as Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Parton was Golden Globe nominated as Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and squeezes in her own hit I Will Always Love You, which Whitney Huston sang again in The Bodyguard.

Also in the cast are Jim Nabors, Robert Mandan (who plays Senator Wingwood), Lois Nettleton, Noah Beery Jr, Barry Corbin, Theresa Merritt and Raleigh Bond.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7115

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