Wanda Nevada

I have to say I'm not sure what to make of this film after seeing Peter Fonda with Brooke Shields at the tender age of 14 making this film in the title role. Does the concept jailbait have any meaning here?

The film is set in the more innocent early 50s, in fact 1950 as one of our villains is worried about just getting a draft notice for Korea. Gambler/Drifer Peter Fonda winds young Brooke Shields in a poker game and then Brooke happens to get the map and some gold nuggets courtesy of a recently deceased Paul Fix. Fonda and Shields decide to go prospecting in the Grand Canyon.

You know had Wanda Nevada been cast with someone Brooke's age as the lead, say Christopher Atkins for instance this film might have worked as a kid's adventure film. But with Fonda or anyone his age the movie is strange at best.

Henry Fonda plays a grizzled old prospector with a beard like Gabby Hayes which completely covers his face together with goggle glasses. But his voice is unmistakable. He's only got one scene with his son and Wanda Nevada as mediocre and strange as it is has some historical significance as a joint project with father and son. Sister Jane did a whole lot better with On Golden Pond.

Wanda Nevada is probably one of the oddest movies ever made, yet it ends up working very well. Brooke Shields is salty and sassy and delightful but the two bad guys in this movie actually steal the show and they're performances are a 'must see' reason to watch this movie. Entertaining in a Pups, Ghost World kind of way.

I've read a lot of negative reviews for the film, and yes, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but somehow I've always enjoyed the movie in a "dumb fun" sort of way. But maybe I'm biased because the town scenes were shot in Prescott, Arizona where I lived, and as a teenager, I remember the excitement of the film crew hitting town. I can identify all of the town locations---the Mt. Breeze Motel (sign clearly seen on screen) is no longer standing today. And, of course, all of the teenage boys I knew thought Brooke Shields was hot! As far as the film goes, its whimsy worked well on me. It has been on video, and it has had a few TV airings, but it seems to have done quite a disappearing act these last few years. I don't know why---maybe it is because of the strongly implied love affair between the middle-aged Peter Fonda and the 13 year old Brooke Shields (whose on-screen character is 13 as well). Such things don't sit too well, and rightly so, in the present day, but people didn't think so much of it back in 1979.

Man oh man! What a bizarre piece of filmmaking! But this is a guilty pleasure from my childhood even though I hate to admit it. They showed this movie on my basic cable system all the time. Where I grew up in San Jose, California (right on the border of Cupertino) we had this thing called The G Channel on our cable system where they basically showed the same one movie over and over and over again. Wanda Nevada was one of those movies. I fell in lust and love with the young Brooke Shields and loved her adventures in the Grand Canyon in the 1950s. The script at times makes almost no sense, the film contains one of the lamest four character gun shootouts ever, highlights are that Henry Fonda makes an appearance, some beautiful shots of the Grand Canyon, a cool 1970s film score, a lot of dialog that's so bad it's good and a nice Carole King song played over the end credits. Maybe you have to be stoned to truly enjoy this flick. And hey, everybody knows there ain't no gold in the Grand Canyon!

For some strange reason, the odd couple consisting of Peter Fonda and Brooke Shield works in this movie. The movie plot is basically a fantasy and you shouldn't try to see it as a western or a drama. Both of them somehow wind up being partners in a gold prospecting trip inside the Grand Canyon. Brooke Shields is portrayed in her usual role as a much more mature than her natural age girl, who's an even match to the older prospector played by Peter Fonda. The comical part is the way she tries to sell herself as an adult to Fonda, and eventually Fonda takes her in as his partner. The plot may not work for mature audiences in this country, but in other parts of the world, such genre exists as fantasy/adventure and might be getting high marks. I give two thumbs up for Brooke Shields and Peter Fonda.