Wild Texas Wind (High Quality +Extras) - Dolly Parton & Gary Busey

About

PLOT

Dolly Parton stars as Thiola "Big T" Rayfield, a struggling country singer who finds herself trapped in an abusive relationship with her new manager (Gary Busey). Also stars Dennis Letts, Ray Benson and the then-current lineup of band members from "Asleep at the Wheel" (Tim Alexander, Jim Finney, Michael D. Francis, Larry Franklin, Jon Mitchell, David Sanger), plus Willie Nelson appears in a brief cameo.

VIDEO INFO

This was duplicated on studio equipment from a three-quarter-inch broadcast master videotape for syndicated reruns. It includes the tail-end of a scene that was not included in the NBC version (set outside of the nursing home where Thiola's mother resides). Years ago, I did a favor for a guy who worked nights at a cable network, and he sneaked me out a DVD transfer.

Includes custom English subtitles, which are built into the mkv, and were created by me (and that was a royal pain in the rear!).

Jim Ruddy's interviews and behind-the-scenes videos were lifted from Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Shame that he didn't interview Dolly, but there's some cool stuff there, including an alternate view of the Grand Ole Opry performance, and footage of Gary Busey jamming with Asleep at the Wheel (which was just done for the live audience and was never intended to be included in the movie).

Entertainment Tonight also showed up for filming, but I lost everything in a fire a few weeks after this was uploaded, and I can't seem to locate another copy of that segment or the other promos (there were quite a few NBC variants, plus other networks cut their own promos for the film). At least I got the movie itself backed up.

ABOUT THE FILM

This was intended to be the first in a series of recurring TV movies starring the Big T & The Texas Wheel characters, with the follow-up slated to be set in Nashville. Presumably, Thiola and Ben would have become a couple (as alluded to by Benson in the interview above).

Parton conceived, financed and produced the movie and she also battled the network to ensure Ray Benson costarred in a role that was written specifically for him. Several inside-jokes were inserted for the fans, such as a marquee that boasts Big T and The Texas Wheel above Chris O'Connell, who had previously been the female vocalist for Asleep at the Wheel. Parton wrote Willie Nelson into the movie to help him out because he was having a battle with the IRS. This was his first notable project after that debacle.

Fans have speculated that Justice was modeled after Parton's former singing partner, Porter Wagoner (who was known for being psychologically abusive, at least), though this rumor was never confirmed.

The movie was heavily promoted (particularly by the American tabloids, which alternated between salacious photos of Dolly in a skimpy bustier with glamor shots of her bruised up and bloodied), it garnered high ratings and was repeated numerous times, but a sequel never materialized, and today the movie has pretty much been forgotten by all except the devout fans of the various musicians.

Archive

Internet Archive, in The VHS Vault

Licence or status

The Internet Archive states none for this item.

Credit

Sandollar

Language

English

Subtitles

English

Who can watch

The archive gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from its collection and subjects. How films are placed