Synopsis
An idealistic, modern-day cowboy struggles to keep his Wild West show afloat in the face of hard luck and waning interest.
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Cast
- Clint EastwoodBronco Billy
- Sondra LockeAntoinette Lily
- Geoffrey LewisJohn Arlington
- Scatman CrothersDoc Lynch
- Bill McKinneyLefty LeBow
- Sam BottomsLeonard James
- Dan VadisChief Big Eagle
- Sierra PecheurLorraine Running Water
- Walter BarnesSheriff Dix
- Woodrow ParfreyDr. Canterbury
Recommendations
- 88
Chicago Tribune
Clint Eastwood's most entertaining film in years, a whimsical fable about a Wild West showman with a dream of turning his rag-tag employees into one big happy family. Great country music mixed with Eastwood's natural charm. [11 July 1980, p.8] - 80
Film Threat
Bronco Billy is an odd salute to those clean hearted good guy cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers, and Clint manages to revel in the glory of that myth despite the fact that he is probably more responsible for making that kind of Western unworkable in modern cinema than anyone else I can think of. - 80
Time Out London
Basically, it's the charming tale of a New Jersey shoe-salesman who fantasises about being a cowboy, and takes a group of assorted weirdos on the road with a travelling show. Not a lot to it in terms of plot, but Eastwood manages to both undermine and celebrate his character's fantasy life, while offering a few gentle swipes at contemporary America (the Stars and Stripes tent sewn together by mental hospital inmates). Fragile, fresh, and miles away from his hard-nosed cop thrillers, it's the sort of film only he would, and could, make. - 80
Washington Post
Low-key sentiment sets the stage for the new, improved Clint Eastwood -- relaxed, funny and refreshingly human. Bronco Billy is Dirty Harry with a sense of humor. More fun than a saloon full of six-shooters. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Eastwood is perfection as the New Jersey shoe clerk who, like Miniver Cheevey, dreamed a nostalgic dream and took action to realize it. The actor-director could have gone over the top by satirizing the very character he played so well in spaghetti westerns; instead he gives a sincere, realistic performance that silenced detractors who thought he could only play violent loners. - 70
The New York Times
The best and funniest Clint Eastwood movie in quite a while. - 70
Variety
Bronco Billy is a caricature of many of the strong heroes whom Eastwood has played in other pix and he's obviously having a wonderful time with the satire. - 60
Newsweek
Sweetness is not a quality one normally associates with Clint Eastwood, but true sweetness is precisely what Bronco Billy aspires to -- and occasionally achieves. At once sentimental, arch and harmlessly good-natured, Eastwood's latest is a romantic comedy in which Clint appears as the fast-drawing, trick-riding star of his own Wild West show. [23 June 1980, p.77]
