The 3 Guys Podcast Recorded on 7/28/2022 The dancing's over. Now it gets dirty. In this podcast, we review the 80s action classic Road House starring Patrick Swayze, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott and directed by Rowdy Herrington. WARNING: There will be SPOILERS! The 3 Guys Rating 3.2/5
Notes From The Show * Quick Synopsis * Released: May 19, 1989
Directed By: Rowdy Herrington
Screenplay By: David Lee Henry & Hilary Henkin
Story By: David Lee Henry
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott, Kevin Tighe, Marshall Teague and a bunch of other actors
Plot: A tough bouncer is hired to tame a dirty bar.
Taglines: “Dalton lives like a loner, fights like a professional. And loves like there’s no tomorrow.” & “The dancing’s over. Now it gets dirty.”
How did this movie do? Budget: $15 Million Box Office: $62 Million * 80s Action Cuts * + Body count: 8 + Car: Silver light blue 1986 Mercedes-Benz SEC 560 (C126) + Top One-Liners - Dalton: I want you to be nice until it’s time to not be nice. - Dalton: Take the biggest guy in the world, shatter his knee and he’ll drop like a stone. - Dalton: Pain don’t hurt. - Dalton: Nobody ever wins a fight. - Wade Garrett: That gal’s got entirely too many brains to have an ass like that. - Emmett: Calling me ‘sir’ is like putting an elevator in an outhouse, it don’t belong. I’m Emmett. - Wade Garrett: This place has a sign hangin’ over the urinal that says, “Don’t eat the big white mint”. - Dalton: My way… or the highway. - Everyone: I thought you’d be bigger. * Sequel & Musical * + A sequel, Road House 2, was released directly to DVD in July 2006. Set many years later and telling the story of Dalton’s adult son, it featured no characters from the original cast and only a few references to Dalton (who was reportedly shot dead before the film took place). + The sequel confirmed that Dalton’s first name was James, which could be seen momentarily on the medical chart in the original film’s hospital scene. + In 2003, an off-Broadway musical production of Road House was staged as a campy comedy by Timothy Haskell, as seen by its full title of Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic “The Last Dragon” Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig. * Trivia * + According to Kelly Lynch, whenever Bill Murray sees her sex scene with Patrick Swayze on television, he calls her husband, Mitch Glazer, to tease him about it. + Due to a knee injury he sustained during filming, Patrick Swayze turned down the roles of Gabriel Cash in Tango & Cash (1989) and Mike Harrigan in Predator 2 (1990). He chose to make Ghost (1990) as his follow-up instead, as it was a less physically strenuous role. The knee injury ended up being a blessing in disguise, as Ghost (1990) ended up being a big hit, and received critical acclaim. “Tango & Cash” was a box office flop, as was “Road House.” + Marshall R. Teague (Jimmy) initially didn’t get along with Patrick Swayze (Dalton), but while filming their big fight, both men quickly realized they shared a dedication to realistic stunts, which improved their relationship. They developed so much mutual trust that they improvised a lot, and allowed each other to throw real punches and kicks. When Jimmy swings a log at Dalton, Teague mistakenly thought it was a breakable prop log. By the end, Swayze was covered in bruises and had two broken ribs and a busted knee. + The monster truck that drives through the Ford dealership is Bigfoot 7, driven by former vice president of Bigfoot 4×4 Jim Kramer. It cost $500,000 and was done in one take. Bigfoot had to be repainted after the scene, and went on to crush cars throughout the country and the world. + Marshall Teague told a story that he took his mother to the premiere of the movie. When the fight against Dalton happens and he says the line, “I used to F* guys like you in prison!” his mother jumped up and proudly shouted, “That’s my boy!” + After the five-day long shoot fighting Marshall R. Teague, Patrick Swayze needed 2.5 ounces of fluid drained from his left knee. He apparently had been suffering through knee problems before, needing a similar procedure during production on Dirty Dancing (1987). + Patrick Swayze wrote one song, “Cliff’s Edge,” and sang two for the movie’s soundtrack, that one and “Raising Heaven (in Hell) Tonight.” + The garage where Dalton’s Mercedes is stored is the same one where Reggie Hammond’s Porsche is stored in 48 hrs. + It’s a toss-up who used more hair spray in the movie: Patrick Swayze or Kelly Lynch. Swayze joked, “That hair turned into the bane of my existence.” + Patrick Swayze and Ben Gazzara died of pancreatic cancer, Swayze in 2009 and Gazzara in 2012. + Many of the characters’ names are taken from infamous or famous wild west personalities: Wade Garrett shares his surname with Pat Garrett, the Sheriff who shot and killed Billy the Kid. Brad Wesley, the main villain in the film, has the same last name as the middle name of John Wesley Hardin, one of the most notorious and cold-blooded killers in the history of the west (he once fired through a wall into the next room of a hotel where he was sleeping and killed a man whose snoring was bothering him). Kelly Lynch’s character was nicknamed “Doc,” a nickname shared with gunfighter John Henry “Doc” Holliday. The character who owns the barn where Dalton rents a room, Emmett, has the first name of Emmett Dalton, leader of the notorious bandit ring The Dalton Gang. The “Double Deuce” bar owner “Tilghman” is named after lawman Bill Tilghman of Dodge City and Oklahoma fame. Finally, there is a character named Younger, which was the last name of Cole Younger, another notorious western bandit and killer. + On Family Guy (1998) season eight, episode four, “Brian’s Got a Brand New Bag,” Peter Griffin buys the Road House DVD at a going-out-of-business sale at Quahog Video. After watching the film, Peter comically decides that all of life’s problems can be solved by kicking. After kicking his target, he would say the film’s title as a catchphrase. The episode was dedicated to Patrick Swayze, who had died of pancreatic cancer several weeks before the episode aired. + The movie’s humor is somewhat intentional. Director Rowdy Herrington said he wanted to make the fights “like a Keystone Cops melee.” + According to cast and crew, and also the 1989 interview with actor Sam Eliot, original cut of the movie was three hours and twenty minutes long, which meant that lot of the stuff had to be cut out. Some of the deleted scenes include Dalton making the other bouncers wear ballet outfits and dance as part of their training, and there is also a still picture showing Dalton fighting with Ketchum (guy with knife-boot) inside the Double Deuce in a different fight than the one in the film, and most of Kathleen Wilhoite’s scenes (who played Carrie Ann) were deleted. + Joel Silver thought the set of the Double Deuce was too nice. He ordered the crew to really tear it up so it would look more like a dive. + Kelly Lynch spent a month in a real emergency room preparing for her role. She also learned how to sew a proper stitch for one scene, but it was changed to staples. + Red’s Auto Supply Store explosion woke the neighbors. They thought that MGM studios was burning down. It cost $25,000 to shoot that scene. + The car that Dalton bought at the used car lot was a 1965 Buick Riviera, the only year that Buick used the “clamshell” headlight covers for the Riviera. The other car that he drives near the beginning of the movie before picking up his Mercedes-Benz and leaving for Missouri was a 1964 Buick Riviera. + The film’s knife maker, Jack Crain, made blades for Predator (1987), Die Hard (1988), and Demolition Man (1993). All four movies were produced by Joel Silver. + The film was inspired by a real story where a local bad guy was killed in plain view. Nobody saw anything then either. + Red West, once a member of Elvis Presley’s “Memphis Mafia, played characters named Red in this movie, Almost Made (2004), The A-Team (1983) season four, episode seventeen, “Waiting for Insane Wayne.” and “Walking Tall Part 2″(1974). + Patrick Swayze had to have bodyguards during filming because female fans would mob him. + It was Sam Elliott’s idea for his character to call Dalton “mijo,” which is Spanish for “son.” + The book Dalton (Patrick Swayze) is reading is Jim Harrison’s “Legends of the Fall.” + The different fighting styles used in the movie, include basic street scuffling, boxing, kickboxing, karate, jiujitsu, Taekwondo, hapkido, judo, and tai chi. + The film was a severe disappointment for Patrick Swayze, as he was hoping to have another major hit like “Dirty Dancing.” + Patrick Swayze reportedly agreed to do this movie so long as he could keep any and all of his wardrobe once filming was completed. He had made a similar demand for his costuming from Ghost but his agent at the time was unable to secure the deal. + Director Rowdy Herrington wanted to show that Dalton still had to do regular things like laundry. + Dalton’s rules of bouncing goes as followed: 1) Never underestimate your opponent. Expect the unexpected. 2) Take it outside. Never start anything inside the bar unless it is absolutely necessary and 3) Be nice. + There are several things that are related to Elvis Presley: Back in the Double Deuce after Red’s auto-parts store is blown up, Brad Wesley tells Cody “Elvis, play something with balls”; Marshall R. Teague (Jimmy) played Rick Colton, a martial arts instructor who had an affair with Priscilla Presley) in Elvis and Me (1988), which was based on Priscilla’s autobiography; Red West, who played Red Webster, knew Elvis Presley in high school and was a member of “The Memphis Mafia.” + According to director Rowdy Herrington, there were about 50 stuntmen in the movie, mostly for the bar brawls. + Dalton doesn’t strike anyone until 26 minutes into the film. + Swayze had both groins insured for over $3 million such was their importance to the plot. Towards the end of filming, production was briefly stopped when Patrick felt what he thought was muscle tightness but the medic discovered Swayze had accidentally put on 2 pairs of underpants that day. + When Bigfoot drove through the auto showroom at the Ford dealership, there was no roof on the building. + Patrick Swayze considered Road House to be a modern day western with Dalton being the gunfighter for hire and Brad Wesley being the local bully. + Patrick Swayze and Marshall R. Teague became very close friends after filming was completed. + Sam Elliott and Ben Gazzara were in The Big Lebowski (1998). + There are nine major fights in the movie. Rowdy Herrington tried to make each one unique. + According to Rowdy Herrington, Ben Gazzara probably ate around 12 eggs while filming one scene. + Producer trademark [Joel Silver]: Explosions, which occur after Red’s shop and Emmett’s house are both set on fire. + Michael Kamen recycled some of the musical cues from Die Hard. + Dalton has a degree in philosophy from NYU. + Screenwriter R. Lance Hill has said that while he named the protagonist of Dalton out of his respect for the town of Dalton, GA, that no sane parent would name their son Dalton. + The make, model and color of Dalton’s (Patrick Swayze’s) Mercedes-Benz, according to the IMCDb, was a silver light blue 1986 Mercedes-Benz SEC 560 (C126). + When Wade has been stabbed to death, with a note saying, “It was tails,” referring to Wesley flipping a coin. Later, it’s shown the knife belongs to Ketchum, then Dalton stabs Ketchum saying, “Tails again!” If you look at the scene with the Mercedes when you see Dalton stuck this same knife in the gas pedal, as Ketchum goes to retrieve it, the handle of the knife is capped off with a quarter, tails side showing. + Kelly Lynch wore padding for the love scene between Dalton and Doc for protection because Patrick Swayze was slamming Kelly Lynch against the wall. + The fight between Dalton and Jimmy took 5 – 6 days to film. + Kelly Lynch got into trouble because she laughed when Jimmy’s death scene was shot.
Released: May 19, 1989
Directed By: Rowdy Herrington
Screenplay By: David Lee Henry & Hilary Henkin
Story By: David Lee Henry
Stars: Patrick Swayze, Ben Gazzara, Kelly Lynch, Sam Elliott, Kevin Tighe, Marshall Teague and a bunch of other actors
Plot: A tough bouncer is hired to tame a dirty bar.
Taglines: “Dalton lives like a loner, fights like a professional. And loves like there’s no tomorrow.” & “The dancing’s over. Now it gets dirty.”
How did this movie do? Budget: $15 Million Box Office: $62 Million
Top One-Liners
A sequel, Road House 2, was released directly to DVD in July 2006. Set many years later and telling the story of Dalton’s adult son, it featured no characters from the original cast and only a few references to Dalton (who was reportedly shot dead before the film took place).
In 2003, an off-Broadway musical production of Road House was staged as a campy comedy by Timothy Haskell, as seen by its full title of Road House: The Stage Version Of The Cinema Classic That Starred Patrick Swayze, Except This One Stars Taimak From The 80’s Cult Classic “The Last Dragon” Wearing A Blonde Mullet Wig.
According to Kelly Lynch, whenever Bill Murray sees her sex scene with Patrick Swayze on television, he calls her husband, Mitch Glazer, to tease him about it.
About The Movie From IMDB
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