Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985)

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Rustlers' Rhapsody is a 1985 American comedy–Western film. It is a parody of many Western conventions, most visibly of the singing cowboy films that were prominent in the 1930s and the 1940s. The film was written and directed by Hugh Wilson, who was supposedly inspired by working at CBS Studio Center, the former Republic Pictures backlot. It stars Tom Berenger as a stereotypical good-guy cowboy, Rex O'Herlihan, who is drawn out of a black-and-white film and transferred into a more self-aware setting. Patrick Wayne, son of Western icon John Wayne, co-stars, along with Andy Griffith, Fernando Rey, G.W. Bailey, Marilu Henner and Sela Ward.

Production

The film was a passion project of director Hugh Wilson, who grew up loving Westerns he would see at the Saturday afternoon matinee. He was able to make it after the success of Police Academy (1984). In the mid-1980s, there was a brief revival in the popularity of the Western, with the studios making films like Pale Rider, Lust in the Dust and Silverado (1985). In May 1984, it was announced Wilson would direct the film for Paramount.

"This isn't really a send up", said Wilson. "We're playing it very straight. We loved those old films and we really are trying to say something about them, like how can the hero keep changing his shirt?" Wilson wanted George Gaynes to play a lead role but the actor was unable to due to his role on Punky Brewster.

Shooting took place in Almería, Spain, in October 1984. The film used sets that had once been featured in Sergio Leone films. Patrick Wayne was hired to appear in the film mid-shoot after the producers were unhappy with the performance of another actor already cast in the part of Bob Barber. Wayne later described it as "probably the best acting I've done on film."

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