Paramount Pictures
Not part of a collection.
Goin' South
In 1868 Longhorn Texas, a convicted outlaw had two choices: get hung, or get married.
Henry Moon is captured for a capital offense by a posse when his horse quits while trying to escape to Mexico. He finds that there is a post-Civil War law in the small town that any single or widowed woman can save him from the gallows by marrying him.
- Original title
- Goin' South
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- —
- Revenue
- $7,435,671
John Chard
Jun 30, 2017 · via TMDB
Your wife will have to do that. Us ordinance husbands aren't allowed to. Going' South is directed by Jack Nicholson who also stars. It's co- written by John Herman Schneider, Al Ramrus, Charles Shyer and Alan Mandel. Co-starring with Nicholson is Mary Steenburgen and Christopher Lloyd. Music is by Perry Botkin Junior and cinematography by Nestor Almendros. 1866, Longhorn, Texas and plot finds Nicholson as Henry Lloyd Moon, a small time outlaw who is captured and sentenced to hang. But a strange ordinance from Civil War days allows a condemned man to escape the gallows if an unmarried lady of the town is prepared to take him as a husband. Enter Julie Tate (Steenburgen), a virginal lady who is poles apart from the crude and scruffy Moon, who takes him in purely to help her work in the mine on her land that she insists contains gold. Could these two opposites actually develop a relationship? Can there be trust there? Will Moon survive the wrath of vengeful deputy Towfield (Lloyd) who believes Moon stole his gal? Barely noticed upon release, where few critics of the day were prepared to give it some credit, Jack Nicholson's second film as a director found a firm fan base down in the cult basement. The advent of DVD has seen it get more exposure to film fans and critics and its stock has risen. Yes! It's still a bit too off-beat for some, the quirky comedy Western has always struggled to get mainstream praise anyway, but viewing these days it plays out as enjoyable fare whilst simultaneously giving us early glimpses of future stars of film. In truth the film's comedic high points come in the first quarter and Nicholson strains to reach those heights again. Once the odd couple retreat to the genteel out of the way matrimonial home, the simple premise takes over and the couple engage in a battle of wills between horny beast and angelic being. On the edges of the frame popping in to view from time to time are hostile railroad officials putting the squeeze on Julia as they want her land, deputy Towfield and his cronies and Moon's old gang, the latter of which provides the catalyst for chaos. Sometimes crude, sometimes silly, the film does retain amusing worth throughout, with some zippy lines that remain quotable. Nicholson and Steenburgen are perfect foil for each other, so it's well performed and it also looks nice thanks to Almendros' photography. The likes of John Belushi, Danny DeVito, Veronica Cartwright and Tracey Walter are in the support slots, none of whom get time enough to really impact upon the proceedings as their fans would like. It's interesting to see Lloyd and Steenburgen working together in the genre this early, because they would reteam in the Western themed third part of the Back to the Future trilogy 12 years later. While further continuation novelty sees Lloyd, DeVito and Nicholson back together after working on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 75. DeVito would swap chairs with Nicholson and direct the star in Hoffa in 1992. More a amiable smile inducer than a side splitter, Going' South is worth seeking out if you have a kink for off-beat Oaters. 7/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Jack Nicholson
Henry Moon
Mary Steenburgen
Julia Tate
Christopher Lloyd
Towfield
John Belushi
Hector
Veronica Cartwright
Hermine
Richard Bradford
Sheriff Kyle
Jeff Morris
Big Abe
Danny DeVito
Hog
Tracey Walter
Coogan
Luana Anders
Mrs. Anderson
Lucy Lee Flippin
Mrs. Haber
Ed Begley Jr.
Mr. Haber
Britt Leach
Parson Weems
Barbara Ann Grimes
Spinster I
Anne Ramsey
Spinster II
Lin Shaye
Parasol Lady
Don McGovern
Bartender
Dennis Fimple
Hangman
Néstor Almendros
Director of Photography
Jack Nicholson
Director
Richard Chew
Editor
Harry Gittes
Producer
Van Dyke Parks
Original Music Composer
Charles Shyer
Screenplay
Gums and Noses
The Pinto Kid
Nas Entranhas de Nicolópolis
Numero 69
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
Santa Secreto
The Gold Rush
Adam's Apples
The Magnificent Ambersons
Take My Eyes
Christmas Town
Gremlins
The Lost Boys
Hart op de Juiste Plek
Death Rides a Horse
Stagecoach Outlaws
Winner
Bone Tomahawk
The Naked Truth
Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash
Key Lime Pie
Kendra and Beth
Sommersby
Living Among Us
What I Did for Love
Monster Trucks
Can't Help Singing
Flaming Bullets
The Last New Year's Eve
The Swedish Moment
Cowboys & Aliens
Drunk Bus
The New Age
Inside Daisy Clover
Let's Kill Ward's Wife
Easy Sex
Prom Night III: The Last Kiss
Kickboxer 4: The Aggressor
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Les Aristos
Django the Condemned
After School Lunch Special
Uka-Uka
The University of Las Colinas
Door to Door
Diggers
Two Women Make a Lunch Plan
A Man Walks Into a Bar...
Out of Plastic
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Jesse James Unchained
The Woman Upstairs
Panic at the Disco
Puffer Rhapsody
IDUS
Cla'am
Timothy
Not Now
The Man Who Surfed The World
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Prom Pact
People We Meet on Vacation
A Perfect Pairing
Zoey 102
The Thing About Harry
Chasing Papi
Holiday Harmony
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Boss Nigger
Mischief
McLintock!
North to Alaska
Made of Honor
Easy Virtue
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Angel and the Badman
Shanghai Noon
The Cheyenne Social Club
¡Three Amigos!
Paint Your Wagon
Relationship Goals
Heartbreakers
Intolerable Cruelty
Whisky Galore
The Right Kind of Wrong
Oct 6, 1978
