Appearance
Urban Cowboy
Directed by James Bridges, Urban Cowboy (1980) is a romantic drama starring John Travolta as Buford "Bud" Davis, a young Texan who leaves his small hometown for the refineries and honky-tonk bars of Houston. At Gilley's — a legendary country music club in the suburb of Pasadena — he meets and marries the headstrong Sissy (Debra Winger), and their volatile relationship plays out against the world of mechanical bulls, rodeos, and country music that defines their social universe.
Filmed on location in Houston, Pasadena, and Galveston, Texas, the film captured the real Gilley's club at the height of its fame and helped trigger a nationwide "Urban Cowboy" craze and a mainstream revival of country music. Gilley's itself — at the time the largest honky-tonk bar in the world — was demolished in 2005.
Location(s)
Urban Cowboy was filmed on location in the Houston metropolitan area, with the real Gilley's club in Pasadena serving as the film's central location.
Gilley's Club, Pasadena, Texas (now demolished)
The heart of the film was the real Gilley's Club in Pasadena, Texas — a suburb southeast of Houston — which at the time was the largest honky-tonk bar in the world, owned by country music star Mickey Gilley. Its mechanical bull, its enormous dance floor, and its atmosphere of working-class Texas social life are central to the film's world. The club was demolished in 2005.
Various Houston, Texas Locations
The film's world beyond Gilley's — the petrochemical refineries where Bud works, the streets and apartments of the Houston metropolitan area — was shot on location across Houston and its suburbs, capturing the city's particular blend of industrial sprawl and wide-open Texas sky.
Huntsville State Penitentiary, Huntsville, Texas
The Texas Prison Rodeo sequences — in which the incarcerated Wes Hightower (Scott Glenn) is seen as a convict bull rider — were filmed at Huntsville State Penitentiary. Map Location
Director
James Bridges
Cast
John Travolta
Debra Winger
Scott Glenn
Madolyn Smith
IMDB
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