MACTBy Steven LaVigne
If writer and director Colin Higgins (1941-1988) is remembered at all, it’ll be for both the novel and screenplay of the 1971 cult film, Harold and Maude, which began as his Master’s thesis at UCLA. Due to the films’ popularity (including a 3-year engagement at Edina’s Westgate Theater, which has since been demolished), it’s also been adapted for the stage as both a play and a musical. Productions have featured both Glynnis Johns and Janet Gaynor in the role created by Ruth Gordon.
Higgins went on to write and direct Foul Play and 9 to 5, both box office successes. The latter was re-imagined as a 2005 stage musical with a score by Dolly Parton. Higgins would work with Parton on one more project before his life was cut short by AIDS: the film version of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
The Chicken Ranch
First of all, there was a real Chicken Ranch. Opening in 1844, it was a successful brothel in Fayette County, Texas. It stayed open until a TV journalist riled up viewers and forced its closing in 1973. One part of its mythology is how it got its name. During the Great Depression, when money was short, customers often paid with poultry. Edna Milton took over the business in the 1950s, she established protocols, including weekly health checkups for and background checks on her girls. Texas A&M established the tradition of sending Freshmen to the brothel for initiation.
In 1980, author Jan Hutson published The Chicken Ranch: The True Story of the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Actor and writer Peter Masterson teamed with Larry L. King, composer Carol Hall and director-choreographer Tommy Tune to turn the story into a musical. The show opened off-Broadway, but it moved uptown to the 46th Street (now Richard Rodgers) Theater where it played for 1,585 performances and was nominated for 7 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It spawned several road companies, one which starred Alexis Smith. It’s since become a staple of community theaters and a Broadway revival is planned.
For the film version, elements of plot were adjusted to placate its stars, Parton and Burt Reynolds (who wanted to sing in the film). While quite a bit of Carol Hall’s score was maintained, Parton wrote 29 new songs, of which two, “Foolin’ Around,” and “I Will Always Love You” were used. The film costarred Jim Nabors, Dom DeLuise, Lois Nettleton and Charles Durning.
Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Reynolds) and Mona Stangley (Parton), who runs the brothel are lovers. Most of the town tolerates the friendly Mona, who’s civic-minded, donating to charity and supporting local businesses. However, TV consumer advocate Melvin P. Thorpe (DeLuise) host of The Watchdog Report begins a crusade to close down the Chicken Ranch. He accuses the Sheriff of taking bribes and payoffs when he films a segment in the town square, but is sent packing because he doesn’t have a permit.
Dodd convinces Mona to lay low for a while and she agrees, but the Texas A & M Aggies (after their high-stepping “Aggie Song” done in various stages of undress in their locker room) visit the brothel following a triumphant football game, so the party quietly goes on. Thorpe and company break in, exposing a State Senator (Robert Mandan). Dodd and Mona argue after the fact, but Dodd goes to Austin and appeals to the Governor.
Because the polls reveal that the population wants the Chicken Ranch closed (Durning steals the film with his song, “The Sidestep”), so that’s the start of a “Hard Candy Christmas.” As Mona says goodbye to her girls, Dodd arrives and proposes to her. The pair move to Austin where Dodd becomes a state legislator, so the story has a happy ending.
A pair of finer moments from the stage version are hurtfully missing from the film. Doatsy Mae, a waitress at the local café has a song about her secret desires, but this was excluded, so even with Lois Nettleton in the role, Doatsy Mae has become a thankless role. Even though “I Will Always Love You” would become a huge hit for Whitney Houston, it would have been nice if Parton had also sung “The Bus from Amarillo,” a lovely song that explains how Mona wound up at the Chicken Ranch.
Following the film’s release some venues and the press felt they needed to change the title to The Best Little Cathouse in Texas. When it was shown on television, after it was trimmed, it didn’t fit into the allotted running time, so the sequence where Reynolds did a solo song, cut from the original release, was restored.
Like several other musicals brought to the screen, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas isn’t a great representation of its stage counterpart, but the leading characters are having a lot of fun and it’s a truly entertaining time! Just don’t demand anything more from it!