FILM 2062: NASHVILLE (1975)

FILM 2062: NASHVILLE (1975)

TRIVIA: Each actor and actress was required to write and perform his or her own songs for the movie.

The film was very much improvised by the actors and actresses, who used the screenplay only as a guide. They spent a great amount of their time in character, and the movie was shot almost entirely in sequence.

All songs were recorded live rather than being prerecorded in a studio.

Robert Altman originally wanted Susan Anspach to play Barbara Jean, but she refused because she wanted more money. Ready to film in Nashville with no one cast in the role, Altman at the last minute offered it to Ronee Blakley, who was working as a back-up singer in Nashville at the time and had contributed some songs to the film. Blakley ended up receiving an Academy Award nomination for her performance.

The role of Linnea Reese was created for and by Louise Fletcher, who herself was the daughter of two deaf parents and knew sign language. The role was eventually played by Lily Tomlin. Tomlin concluded that things worked out in the end because she was offered the role of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) and turned it down, which enabled Fletcher to eventually get it, so in a sense they simply traded roles.

Gary Busey was originally going to play "Tom" and wrote the song "Since You've Gone" used in the film.

This movie's eleven Golden Globe nominations remains the most for a single film. It also received four nominations in a single acting category, this was and remains unprecedented for major film award shows.

Robert Altman had Gwen Welles take singing lessons to sound better. The end result of those extended lessons is what you hear in the film.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #59 Greatest Movie of All Time. It was the first inclusion of this film on the list.

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

Follow me along in trying to complete the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" here… (This is the latest edition my book is much older…)

Watch the film here…