Trailer
Plot summary
Bud Davis leaves his hometown of Spur for Pasadena, Texas, to take a job at the refinery where his uncle Bob works. He hopes to save enough money to buy land near home, and he spends his evenings at Gilley's, the club where patrons dance. There he meets Sissy, a cowgirl who holds that the sexes are equal. They fall in love and marry. Bud rides the mechanical bull himself, but he will not allow Sissy to try it, saying the bull is not for women.
Cast
- Johnny Leeas Himself
Show all 20 cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Urban Cowboy (1980)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Producer Robert Evans sought someone other than Debra Winger for the role of Sissy, reportedly dismissing her in crude terms, but director James Bridges threatened to quit if she was not cast.
- To prepare for the film, Travolta installed a mechanical bull and a dance floor at his ranch in Santa Barbara; the dance scenes were choreographed by Patsy Swayze, work that launched her career as a film choreographer.
- Two months after the article was published, producer Irving Azoff reportedly paid $200,000 to Esquire and to Gilley's owner Mickey Gilley for the story rights.
- Dennis Quaid was initially Latham's first choice to portray Bud, while Sissy Spacek and Michelle Pfeiffer were considered for the role of Sissy; John Travolta, the first actor cast, had previously been attached to star in American Gigolo but left before production and signed on to play Bud.
- The film's influence contributed to the early-1980s "Urban Cowboy" movement, which brought country music, western fashion and the associated nightlife into greater mainstream popularity in the United States.
- The screenplay was adapted from an article titled "The Ballad of the Urban Cowboy: America's Search for True Grit", written by Aaron Latham and first published in the September 12, 1978 issue of Esquire.
- The film featured a hit soundtrack album spawning numerous Top 10 Billboard Country Singles, among them the number ones "Lookin' for Love" by Johnny Lee, "Stand by Me" by Mickey Gilley and "Could I Have This Dance" by Anne Murray; in December 2018 it was certified triple platinum for sales of three million copies.
