The Honkers

I saw the Honkers in the early 70s and loved it and remembered it. I also saw both JW.COOP & JUNIOR BONNER - both excellent. The reason I had to catch Honkers was that Mr.Inhat deeply impressed me in Madigan as Barney - an enduring psycho performance - which I can still quote verbatum. I also made a note of him in Hour of The Gun. I felt grim when he died (just after the Cannes screening?) But rest assured he, and the film, are recalled fondly. .

I was living in Sri Lanka when I saw The Honkers (in 1975, three years after its release). Great rodeo movie. Pity it's not available on DVD or VHS. It had the same real-people feel as Sam Peckinpah's Junior Bonner (a movie I saw six times when it first came out). I remember Steve Ihnat's performance in Madigan and Fuzz. Too bad he passed away so young.

James Coburn is a devilish, lady-loving rodeo-circuit rider down New Mexico way; Anne Archer is a smitten fan who bats her eyes at him; Lois Nettleton plays his wife who puts up with all his comings and goings. The early 1970s were rife with these kind of cowboy character pieces, and all of them have the same scenes: the unloading of the horses at sunrise, the sizing up of the competition, the aged cowpoke sidekick chiming in with his two cents (here it's Slim Pickens), the parade down Main Street and, that old standby, the protagonist getting caught with another man's woman (and escaping with his pants down). Co-written by Steve Ihnat, who also directed, and Stephen Lodge, the lackadaisical film probably made an inoffensive co-feature at drive-in theaters but, on its own terms, the clichéd results are pretty thin. Coburn is energetic and amiable--he's always good when cast as the wily scalawag--but the movie depressingly stacks the deck against him. The western milieu in general doesn't feel like a natural fit for Coburn, who looks like he might be more at home sitting on the Riviera plotting someone's demise. ** from ****

"The Honkers" is probably Slim Pickens best performance of all time. When we were shooting, everyone connected with the production figured that Slim was Academy Award material. Unfortunately, United Artists had a James Bond picture in release at the same time and did not devote much attention to "The Honkers". I personally feel this film was under-rated by most critics. Sam Peckinpaw's "Junior Bonner" was out at the same time and seemed to impress the critics more than our film. Also, Cliff Robertson had a rodeo film out a few months before our release and that might have hurt us, too. The picture is worth watching, if just for the rodeo footage--some of the best ever filmed--shot by James Crabbe. The director and my co-writer, Steve Ianat, died a few weeks after the picture's release, cutting short a promising career and leaving behind his lovely wife Sally, his daughter, Gaby, and newborn son, Stefan. Please give this movie a shot. I'm betting that you'll say it was well worth while. I thank anyone who has taken the time to read this. Stephen Lodge

This is one of those movies that was never publicized and therefore was missed when it originally played in the theaters.

I came across it while switching TV channels and was immediately engrossed in this story of an aging rodeo bum whose recklessness and lack of responsibility hurt everyone around him. I've often wanted to see the movie again but couldn't even remember its name, and have never seen it in the rental stores.

James Coburn and Slim Pickens were excellent in their roles, and the rodeo footage was first rate. While being an action movie and having a western setting and theme it could be enjoyed by anyone regardless of their taste in films.