Urban Cowboy(1980)

Paramount Pictures

PG
2h 12m

Release Date: Jun 6, 1980 | Limited

Bud is a young man from the country who learns about life and love in a Houston bar.

Releases

Original Release | Jun 6, 1980

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Director & Top Cast

James Bridges
Director

John Travolta
Bud Davis

Debra Winger
Sissy

Scott Glenn
Wes Hightower

Madolyn Smith Osborne
Pam

Barry Corbin
Bob Davis

Brooke Alderson

Corene Davis

Cooper Huckabee

Marshall

James Gammon

Steve Strange

Mickey Gilley

Johnny Lee

Bonnie Raitt

The Charlie Daniels Band

Themselves

Betty Murphy

Bud's Mom

Ed Geldart

Bud's Dad

Leah Geldart

Bud's Sister

Keith Clemons

Bud's Brother

Howard Norman

Bud's Brother

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Mono

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English,Spanish

Summaries

Plot Summary

Bud Davis (John Travolta) moves to Houston for a job in the city's oil refinery industry. He hopes to save enough money to move back to his hometown of Spur, Texas and buy some land. Bud stays with his Uncle Bob (Barry Corbin) and his family, with whom Bud is close. Bob takes Bud to the local honky tonk bar, Gilley's. Bud quickly embraces the local nightlife there.At the club, Bud meets Sissy (Debra Winger), who asks if he is a real cowboy. They fall in love, and soon after Bud asks Sissy to marry him. Their wedding reception is held at Gilley's, and they immediately move into a brand new mobile home. Although they are in love and passionate, Bud and Sissy have many quarrels. Sissy is a feisty, independent woman while Bud believes in traditional gender roles (that a man works and a woman's place is in the home). However, both of their lives settle into a routine of work by day and hanging out at Gilley's at night, where Bud takes a liking to riding the mechanical bull. When Sissy also wants to ride, he forbids her.Meanwhile, Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn), on parole from Huntsville Penitentiary, lands a job at Gilley's running the mechanical bull due to his rodeo skills. He flirts with Sissy, who is flattered, but a drunken Bud is enraged, and he and Wes end up in a fist fight. Sissy, against Bud's wishes, spends her free time at Gilley's during the day learning how to ride the mechanical bull. One night, Jessie, Sissy's friend, and Wes convince Sissy to ride the bull. She does it to impress Bud, but he becomes angry and resentful that Sissy defied him, and challenges her. When Bud falls off during his second ride in that challenge, Wes swings the bull around fast, breaking Bud's arm. At home, Sissy accuses Bud of being jealous because she rides the bull better than he can. Bud physically slaps her and throws her out of the trailer.Shortly after, Sissy and Bud see each other at Gilley's, but Sissy, still angry, refuses to talk to Bud. To make Sissy jealous, Bud introduces himself to a beautiful girl named Pam (Madolyn Smith) and dances with her, while Sissy dances with Wes. Bud and Pam leave together but Sissy, upset, declines Wes' sexual advances. Soon after, however, Sissy moves in with Wes, who lives in a run-down trailer behind Gilley's.Bud wants to enter the mechanical bull riding contest at Gilley's and starts training with his uncle Bob, a former rodeo champion. Bob advises Bud to swallow his pride and make up with Sissy. Meanwhile, Sissy returns to their mobile home to pick up her things, but she also cleans house and leaves Bud a note saying she hopes they can get back together. Pam arrives, and after Sissy leaves, Pam throws the note away. Meanwhile, Sissy catches Wes with Marshalene, who works at Gilley's. Wes is abusive when Sissy reacts angrily.A few days later, Uncle Bob is killed in an explosion at the refinery. At his funeral, Sissy tells Bud that Wes was fired from Gilley's and is unable to find another job. They are going to Mexico after Wes wins the $5,000 prize at the bull riding contest. It is Bud who wins the contest, however, and Pam, realizing that he still loves Sissy, encourages him to reconcile with her.Sissy refuses to go to Mexico with Wes, but relents after he hits her. He orders her to wait for him in her car behind Gilley's. Unknown to Sissy, Wes is inside stealing the prize money. Bud finds Sissy in the parking lot and tells her he still loves her. She reciprocates and they embrace. Seeing Sissy's bruised face, Bud goes after Wes and a fight ensues at the bar entrance. The fight causes Wes to drop his gun, and the stolen money falls from his jacket. Bud overpowers Wes and after punching him several times, pins him down on the floor. Gilley's staff, having discovered the robbery, apprehend Wes. Bud and Sissy, reconciled, go home together.

Storyline

Bud Davis is a country boy who moves to the city to visit his uncle and his family. He starts hanging out at Gilley's, the popular nightclub owned by Mickey Gilley himself. He takes a job at the oil refinery where his uncle works, hoping to save enough money to buy some land. He also meets a cowgirl named Sissy, they dance together and fall in love. When a bull-riding contest at Gilley's is announced, Bud decides to sign up. Can he win the contest? — watzdabigdeal <watzdabigdeal@aol.com> Bud - short for his full name of Buford Uan Davis - has just moved from his parents' home in rural Spur, Texas to the Houston home of his Uncle Bob and Aunt Corene in order to earn more money than he could in Spur. Introduced by Bob and Corene, Bud ends up spending much of his after hours at Gilley's, a honky-tonk bar and club. As the new guy in town, he could have his pick of most any woman at the bar, but he ends up mutually falling for Sissy, a feisty working class gal, the two who end up quickly getting married and moving into a trailer Bud bought as a surprise wedding present. As both Bud and Sissy are stubborn, headstrong, emotional, passionate and prideful, the honeymoon phase of their marriage is soon over as issues, including of jealousy, violent behavior and roles within their relationship, arise. In their arguments, both Bud and Sissy feel the need to hurt the other emotionally, the best way they knowing how being to make the other jealous in each knowing deep in his/her own heart how much each loves the other. They, however, may end up crossing lines in their marriage, pass which it may be difficult to turn back. Factored into that crossing lines are the agendas of the two people to who they turn. For Bud, it's Pam, an uptown girl with downtown sensibilities who has a penchant for cowboys. For Sissy, it's Wes, an ex-con bank robber on parole who gets a job at Gilley's and who lives in a trailer behind the bar. The symbol of many of Bud and Sissy's problems is the newly installed mechanical bull featured at Gilley's. — Huggo Bud, a young heartbreaker, embarks on a quest for a fresh start in Pasadena's thriving oil industry. However, his life takes an unexpected twist when Bud tries to juggle a daytime job at a refinery with sleepless nights at Gilley's, a legendary Texas nightclub. After all, Sissy, a charming country dancer, has stolen his heart. Now fascinated by the club's mechanical bull, Bud soon locks horns with Wes, a formidable rodeo champion. But it takes guts to be an American hero. Can Bud overcome the odds and win the grand prize? — Nick Riganas