Gary Busey Movies

Angels Hard as They Come is a melange of sex, violence, leather, and souped-up Harleys with a note of topicality added in by having some of the bikers dress and behave like hippies. One of the things distinguishing Angels Hard as They Come other pictures of its ilk is the fact that it was produced and written by Jonathan Demme. Also worth noting is the presence in the cast of stars-to-be Scott Glenn and Gary Busey, together with broken-nosed cult fave Charles Dierkop. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Circuitously commenting upon the drug culture of the 1970s, this Bonanza episode probes the dangers of the onetime "wonder drug" morphine. Future MASH regular Mike Farrell is cast as Dr. Will Agar, who is revealed to be a morphine addict after he inadvertently causes the death of a young patient during routine surgery. Also in the cast are Gary Busey as Dr. Agar's hapless victim Henry Johnson, David Huddleston as Henry's father, Melissa Murphy as Agar's wife Nancy, and Mons Kjellin (the son of director Alf Kjellen) as Agar's son Chris. Written by Stanley Roberts and Jack B. Sowards, "The Hidden Enemy" first aired on November 28, 1972. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Dirty Little Billy thankfully does not try to glorify its subject. Instead, Billy the Kid (Michael J. Pollard) is depicted as the homicidal mental defective that history has proven him to be. The film recounts Billy's formative years, exploding legends and myths all along the way. The Old West is not prettied up in the least; there seems to be mud everywhere, even in the houses. Dirty Little Billy was the last production to be supervised by legendary mogul Jack L. Warner, who had severed his ties with Warner Bros. in 1972 and was releasing through onetime arch rival Columbia Pictures. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lamont Johnson's subtle direction graces this true-life success story about racecar driver Junior Jackson (Jeff Bridges), based on stock-car champion Junior Johnson. As a child in North Carolina, Jackson stays one step ahead of reform school until his father (Art Lund) is thrown in prison for moonshining. Seeing the error of his ways, Jackson begins to concentrate his driving skills, hoping to become a professional stock car racer to raise money to get his father released from jail. Jackson rises from the ranks into the highest rung of professional stock car racing, but Jackson finds his independent nature is compromised by the corporate realities of the professional sports world. The real Junior Johnson served as technical advisor on the film. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Bloodsport began life under the less alluring title Poetry in Motion. Gary Busey and Ben Johnson star as, respectively, a high-school football quarterback and his "winning is the only thing" father. The more his dad pushes him, the less Busey truly wants to be an athlete. The inter-family hostility comes to a head during an excitingly filmed climactic gridiron battle. Made for TV, Bloodsport was initially telecast on December 5, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In 1945, private Eddie Slovik, a "born loser" who made no secret of his desire to escape the army in any way possible, became the first American to be executed for desertion since the Civil War. William Bradford Huie's chronicle of this unfortunate wartime episode, The Execution of Private Slovik, was published in 1954. Frank Sinatra optioned the movie rights for the book, intending to cast Steve McQueen as Slovik and to have blacklisted writer Albert Maltz write the screenplay. The US military reluctantly agreed to okay the film on the proviso that Slovik would not be portrayed sympathetically. Out of deference to his friend John F. Kennedy, Sinatra abandoned the project, and that was that -- until the award-winning TV-writing team of Richard Levinson and William Link became intrigued in the Huie book. After a series of convoluted negotiations, Levinson and Link were finally able to put The Execution of Private Slovik on the small screen on March 13, 1974 (Albert Maltz, upset that the pair had decided upon a strict "no villains" policy in their adaptation, washed his hands of the whole affair). Martin Sheen was selected to play Slovik, though for a while Dustin Hoffman was seriously considering taking a cut in salary to essay the role. Abandoning the linear style of Huie's book, the writers adopted a Citizen Kane approach, using flashbacks to illustrate the events leading up to the execution. It is made clear throughout the film that no one, neither the military brass nor Slovik himself, truly believed that the private would ever face a firing squad; the usual custom was to postpone the execution until after the war, then reduce the sentence to a long prison term. Thanks to an unfortunate chain of misunderstandings and snafus, Slovik ended up dying by gunfire in a lonely French courtyard -- a fact long withheld from the public (Slovik's wife Antoinette learned of her husband's true fate for the first time from author Huie). The film's most famous scene, in which Slovik nervously repeats his "Hail Marys" as the hood is being fitted over his head, was Martin Sheen's own idea. Filmed on location in California and Canada, The Execution of Private Slovik won a Peabody award for the NBC television network. Originally running a full 120 minutes, it was re-edited into a 97 minute version for theatrical release overseas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For better or worse, The Gumball Rally was the catalyst for a short-lived cycle of "illegal cross-country race" flicks. As thick-headed cop Roscoe (Norman Burton) does his best to stop the titular rally, a vast and varied contingent of contestants prepare to burn rubber from New York to California. The best-looking of the racers is played by top-billed Michael Sarrazin; Franco, a delightfully narcissistic Italian road jockey played by Raul Julia, also competes. Producer/director Chuck Bail was formerly a stunt coordinator, which helps to explain the incessant car crashes and near-misses in the film. Surprisingly, the doggedly low-budget Gumball Rally was produced by First Artists, a company formed by such major stars as Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, and Steve McQueen for the purpose of creating "prestige" film fare. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Paroled criminal Max Dembo (Dustin Hoffman) is compelled to withstand the calculated cruelties of slimy parole officer Earl Frank (M. Emmet Walsh). The more Max tries to go straight, the more he is defeated by circumstance or hectored by the sadistic Frank. It becomes clear after a while that neither Max nor his fellow ex-cons will be able to survive looking for legitimate work. Max is too "far gone" as a human being to succeed at anything other than crime. He goes back to his old thieving ways, inveigling reformed crook Jerry Schue (Harry Dean Stanton) into helping him. A climactic "big caper" goes tragically awry, thanks in great part to the tragic flaws in Max's personality. Based on a novel by Edward Bunker, Straight Time is possibly the most realistic cinematic probe into the sociopathic psyche of the career criminal. Famed theatrical director and instructor Ulu Grosbard directed, with an uncredited assist from star Hoffman; it was their second film together, after Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

From the time he was a high-school student in Lubbock, Texas until his tragic death at age 22 in 1959, Buddy Holly ignored the condemnation by townspeople and his conservative relatives and dedicated his life to the new music he became famous for performing: rock 'n roll. Gary Busey stars as Buddy Holly in this widely acclaimed big-screen biography and sings well enough on camera for the film's adapted musical score to win an Oscar. Among the classic songs by Buddy Holly and the Crickets which can be heard are: Oh Boy, That'll Be The Day, Peggy Sue, and Not Fade Away. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In Robert Kaylor's Carny, the world of the carnival is an illusion manipulated by the carnies to fleece the suckers. The marks generally deserve what they get, because of their greed, corruption, or just plain stupidity. It's share and share alike for Frankie (Gary Busey) and Patch (Robbie Robertson), partners in a dunk-the-bozo act in a carnival travelling through the American South. At one of the small-town stops, Donna (Jodie Foster), an alienated teenager, dumps her obnoxious boyfriend and, with Frankie's encouragement, joins up and moves into their trailer (and Frankie's bed). Feeling displaced, Patch schemes to get Donna out of the carnival. However, the carnival's owner needs Donna to foil a loathsome pair of local officials who demand payoffs. She plays her part perfectly and is accepted by all, although she moves into another trailer. ~ Steve Press, All Movie Guide

Barbarosa is a western starring the unlikely screen team of Willie Nelson and Gary Busey. Nelson is an outlaw, Busey his country-bumpkin buddy. They decide to ride together, since both are on the run from separate family feuds. Directed by Australian filmmaker Fred Schepisi, the screenplay for Barbarosa was written by William D. Wittliff who would later gain acclaim for his adaptation of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this casual, uninvolved comedy running on a low-octane script, a scruffy taxi company is about to be wiped out when its owner Harold (Max Gail) exhorts his cabbies to do what they can to help save the company -- and what they can do turns out to be a surprise to everyone concerned. Saving the day (and the film) are the likeable, eccentric drivers, introduced by means of a new trainee (Adam Baldwin) who rides around with each in turn. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Aimed primarily at American football fans, this dramatized biography of Paul Bryant, a celebrated football coach nicknamed the "Bear," focuses on the man's early career as a player and his later work as a coach in the locker rooms and on the field with his own players -- in Kentucky, Texas, and Alabama. While the Bear's personality is clearly brought forward in Gary Busey's interpretation -- he is alternately caring and verbally abusive, depending on the situation at hand -- the people who must have meant a lot to him in his life outside of football are underwritten here, and a sense of unfolding drama -- outside of his career and the football field -- is missing. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide