Colin Higgins directs Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds and Dom DeLuise in this sex comedy musical where a town’s Sheriff and the Madame of a historical whorehouse fight to keep the institution running when a television reporter targets it as the Devil’s playhouse.

This was a runaway smash back in its day. Faded into the background of cultural consciousness purely as it has hard R rated content made with cutesy PG sensibility. Where do you put it on TV schedules? Afternoons with nearly a third of the scenes censored? The Grease / Dirty Dancing dilemma. They are adult movies that the kids adore. Sunny innocence in a sexy package. As a vehicle for Dolly this has exactly the right mix of glamour, sass, perkiness and joy. She shimmers through it. Reynolds has surprisingly great chemistry with our beloved Country superstar. The energy coarsing throughout is wholly seductive. The big musical set pieces are camp and no holds barred. Charles Durning steals the show in a cameo as a twinkle-toed politico. This is now part of the Carroll household Hall Of Fame. RIP Dolly.

9

Perfect Double Bill: Rhinestone (1984)

You can follow me on Letterboxd here https://letterboxd.com/ValVerdeNights/