The Vintagent Classics: Little Fauss and Big Halsy

LITTLE FAUSS AND BIG HALSY (1970)

Run Time: 1:39:00
Producer: Alfran Productions, Furie Productions, Paramount Pictures
Director: Sidney J. Furie
Writer: Charles Eastman
Key Cast: Robert Redford, Michael J. Pollard, Lauren Hutton

FILM MAKERS

Little Fauss and Big Halsy is an American comedy-drama following the exploits of two motorcycle riders. The inept, unsuspecting Little Fauss (Michael J. Pollard), and the opportunistic, womanizing Halsy Knox (Robert Redford). Lauren Hutton plays the supporting role of Rita Nebraska, a role originally offered to Grace Slick.

The screenplay was written by the “gifted and eccentric” Charles Eastman, and published prior to the film release. In Redford’s biography, he called Little Fauss and Big Halsy “the best script of any film I’ve ever done, in my opinion. It was without a doubt the most interesting, the funniest, the saddest, the most real and original.”

Despite the quality of the script however, Redford may in fact have signed on to the project reluctantly as a way to settle a contract dispute with Paramount Pictures who sued Redford when he dropped out of the film Blue. He agreed to star in Little Fauss and Big Halsy, thereby fulfilled his three-picture deal with the studio, and the matter was dropped.

Later on, while filming All the President’s Men (1976), Redford confided in Alan J. Pakula that he considered the film a stain on his filmography. Partly because the character portrayed was a cad, and partly because the film was unsuccessful, unlike so many of his other films. Pakula told Redford that the film showcases one of the best performances the star had ever given, stating that his performance in it was “the last unself-conscious revelation of the actor’s real-life edge.” Incidently, The film is also Redford’s son Jamie’s favorite of all his father’s.

Johnny Cash contributed the title song and other parts of the soundtrack, which also features both Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan. The title song, “The Ballad of Little Fauss and Big Halsy”, written by Perkins, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

*The stunt double for Little Fauss in the closing road racing scenes were performed by Scottish born road racing champion Davey Scott. Much of the footage was captured during an actual national race.