This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
World's Oldest Profession
Plot Overview
In the foster care
system Mona was exposed to so many beliefs she didn't know which
one to embrace so she went with the Bible. She read about space ships in
Ezekiel and dreamed of
them taking her away to outer space. That never happened. When she got a
little older, Mona Stangley wanted to be a ballerina but being top-heavy
she had trouble enough keeping her balance without having to do it on
her toes. Aging out of the foster care system she was just a poor but
pretty woman with upwardly mobile secret ambitions as described by novelist
John Schwartz:
One doesn't stop wanting certain things simply because they've been taken away; one simply wants them more. That's what it is to be young. And later in life it is those youthful desires, sharpened by denial, that are the first of the dreams one is coerced into smothering. The trick is to appear to kill desire while actually storing it away in a place so private that no greater authority will ever know of its existence. A kind of bunker, as in war. (22)
Miss Mona Stangley (Dolly Parton) took
an entry level position at The Chicken Ranch outside of
Gilbert, Texas—so dubbed after their clients who paid
layaway in poultry during Hoover hard times. When the
proprietress Miss Wulla Jean (Paula Shaw) passed, Mona
her fav working girl inherited the
business. She made an accommodation with Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd
(Burt Reynolds) granting him bedroom favors, and with the town
who benefitted from her taxes & civic contributions. When
easterner Melvin P. Thorpe (Dom DeLuise) showed up with a TV crew
to do an exposé during their Thanksgiving football
celebration, it was the end of an era, and time to turn a new page.
Ideology
Mona's stint at the house of ill
repute is an embodiment of, (Prov. 30:20) “Such is the way of
an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith,
I have done no wickedness.” The clients are bathed by the
girls before they do the deed. In fact there's a football
locker room scene in the showers before the team even goes to the place.
Miss Mona belts out in song:
Just lots of goodwill,
And may be one small thrill
But there's nothin' dirty goin' on.
Ironically, however, chickens in the aggregate emit a noxious odor from their ammonia permeated poop. Mona in fact uses this very imagery when she castigates Ed Earl, “You're … a chicken-shit sheriff in a chicken-shit town!” to which he replies, “You may be right, but it's a hell of a lot better than being a whore.” Ouch!
Production Values
“” (1982) was derived from a Broadway play. It was directed by Colin Higgins. Writing credit goes to Larry L. King, Peter Masterson and Colin Higgins. It stars Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton and Dom DeLuise. Also featured are Robert Mandan, Lois Nettleton, Theresa Merritt, Noah Beery Jr., Raleigh Bond, Barry Corbin, Howard K. Smith, Timothy Stack, Mickey Jones, and Alice Drummond. Acting was all good. A nod goes to Jim Nabors playing a Gomer Pyle simulacrum.
The film is certified R—no surprise. The soundtrack is the movie's chief asset, featuring memorable songs sung by Dolly Parton in the flesh. Costumed dances were well choreographed including a black couple who excelled at vigorously cutting the rug. The humor was sometimes cheesy, but what the hey. Runtime is 1 hour 54 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
TBLHIT refrains from serious
moralizing. As Melvin P. Thorpe put it: “Right or wrong don't
interest me! I'm no moralizer. I leave all that to the
preacher.” Mona for her diverse religious upbringing would
have to synthesize the governor's position that, “it behooves
both the Jews and the A-rabs to settle their differences in a
Christian manner!” For all their divergent beliefs, the
matter of fornication is likely six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Mona admits
she “made a mistake.” She tells of Jesus restoring
fallen Mary Magdalene with kind forgiveness. She tells of Him
turning water into wine at a wedding when they ran out; He went
along with the party. The prelude & aftermath of the film
were given in narration. The body of the work was making sin look
like fun but having to “pay the piper” in the end. It
won't be everybody's cup of tea but some will like it.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Well, at least you can't see the strings. Video Occasion: Fit For a Friday Evening. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611. Rev. 1769. Software.
Schwartz, John Burnham. The Commoner. Copyright © 2008 by John Burnham Schwartz. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Print.
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