Country singer Maury Dann lives life in the fast lane, counting on his rakish charm and raw talent to excuse his reckless behavior. Touring on the road in the rural south with his dedicated manager, his loyal driver and his long-suffering girlfriend, Maury seduces groupies, brawls and breaks the law, brashly relying on his team to cover for him. Heedlessly alienating all those who care for him, Maury blindly keeps the pedal to the metal.
Acting
Rip Torn's lived-in, terrifyingly authentic self-loathing.
Direction
Daryl Duke makes the road feel like a trap closing.
Director
Daryl Duke
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rip Torn based Maury partly on his own struggles and knew actual Nashville villains; he reportedly stayed in character off-set, terrifying the crew.
Released the same year as 'Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid,' this was part of a brief 1973 moment where Hollywood let country music be genuinely ugly, not romanticized.
US
