Rhinestone

Sylvester Stallone turned down the male lead in Romancing the Stone (1984) and the lead in Beverly Hills Cop (1984) — before it was rewritten as a comedy — in order to make this film. Producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were quick to admit they never wanted Stallone for Beverly Hills Cop. They were also reportedly angered to learn that Paramount executives had gone behind their backs and extended Stallone's pole position to cast the lead role. Don Simpson in particular was determined to hire a director who would not cave to every creative suggestion Stallone made, making the project "uninviting" for the movie star. Ironically, the exact opposite of the [directing] arrangement Stallone ultimately negotiated on Rhinestone.

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Even though he could not stand the film itself, Stallone stated that Dolly Parton is one of his favorite female leads of all time.

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Sylvester Stallone sings in this film. This was not the first time Stallone was heard singing, as he had sung the title song of Paradise Alley (1978).

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In an interview, Sylvester Stallone said that if there is a film he wishes he had not made, this is one of them.

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This film earned Sylvester Stallone the first of his many Razzie Award nominations (and later the award) for Worst Actor.

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Sylvester Stallone spoke about working on this film for Ain't It Cool News in 2006: "… the most fun I've ever had on a film was with Dolly Parton on 'Rhinestone.' I should tell everyone right now that the director should actually have been Mike Nichols, that was the intention, and that it should have been shot in New York with Dolly and me, miserable and dirty, like two rivals thrown together by fate doing brave things. At the time I wanted the music to be written by people who would give it a strange superiority. Believe it or not, I contacted Whitesnake's management and they, along with Dolly's people, were ready to write some very interesting songs. But I was asked to come to Fox and go to director Bob Clark. Bob is a good man, but the film went in a direction that literally shattered my internal corn meter. I would have done many things differently. I would definitely stay away from comedy unless it's dark, like Belgian chocolate. Silly comedy doesn't suit me. I mean, is there anyone who pays to see John Wayne in a weird comedy? Unlikely. Instead of trying to stretch it out and wasting too much time and people's patience, I would have stayed truer to who I am and to what the audience would prefer."

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Sylvester Stallone turned down the role of Jack T Colton in Romancing the Stone (1984) and took a role in this film instead. He later admitted he deeply regretted the decision.

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Writer Phil Alden Robinson did not like the reworking of his screenplay by star Sylvester Stallone. Robinson considered having his name removed from the film's credits for a while, until he was later convinced that keeping a picture of this "caliber" on his billing would look good for his film career.

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Three of the cast members were all born in the same year, 1946: Sylvester Stallone, Dolly Parton and Tim Thomerson.

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The film was nominated for nine Golden Raspberry Awards (Razzies), including Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Actor, Worst Musical Score, Worst Supporting Actor, Worst Original Song ("Sweet Lovin' Friends" and "Drinkenstein") and Worst Musical of Our First 25 Years, but won only two: Worst Actor (Sylvester Stallone) and Worst Original Song ("Drinkenstein").

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The film gave singer Dolly Parton two Top Ten country hits from its soundtrack.

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Some of the film's posters carried a long tagline: "He's betting everything he's got that he can turn this New York cab driver into an overnight sensation, and we mean everything. She's got other things on her mind. But she's never had a trainer like this!"

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AVCO Embassy Pictures acquired the rights to this film project in 1981, but when ownership of the company changed hands in January 1982 after television producers Norman Lear and Jerry Perenchio bought the studio for about 25 million US dollars, it quickly reversed the project.

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Bob Clark replaced Don Zimmerman as the film's director.

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The film features three Oscar nominees: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Farnsworth and Dolly Parton, though the latter's nominations were for songwriting.

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Screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson's first two screenplays were both in films released in 1984. They were for two comedies: Rhinestone (1984), in which Dolly Parton co-starred, and All of Me (1984), in which Lily Tomlin co-starred. Both Parton and Tomlin had appeared together about four years earlier in the comedy 9 to 5 (1980).

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The film was first released about nine years after Glenn Campbell's 1975 recording of "Rhinestone Cowboy," written by Larry Weiss, which was its source. Campbell was initially offered the male lead in the late 1970s, but the song ultimately does not appear in the film at all, even though "Rhinestone Cowboy" is one of his most famous melodies. The source song formed the basis of this film and is heard in the background in its opening scenes.

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It was inspired by George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion," which had previously formed the basis of My Fair Lady (1964), the Three Stooges short Hoi Polloi (1935) and the pornographic film The Opening of Misty Beethoven (1976).

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The country and western band playing in Leiper's Fork, Tennessee, USA, was called the "Wild Possum Band."

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The urban cowboy nightclub in New York City is called "The Rhinestone," after the "Rhinestone" in the film's title. The film was made and first released about four years after the then recently shot Urban Cowboy (1980).

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One of two 1984 comedy screenplays co-written by screenwriter Phil Alden Robinson. The other picture was the comedy All of Me (1984).

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During a freezing night shoot, Dolly Parton took a scarf belonging to Sylvester Stallone and placed it over a shivering homeless man. Enraged, Stallone went over to the man and pulled the scarf off him. When Parton saw this, she confronted Stallone and told him, "That could have been you, you ungrateful son of a bitch! Except for the grace of God. Who knows. He might have been an angel sent to show you how stupid you really are." Afterwards Stallone felt so bad that he bought the man a blanket and gave him some money. Despite the incident, Parton and Stallone remained good friends.

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The nickname Sylvester Stallone gives Dolly Parton in the bar fight scene is "Jane Wayne," a reference to western film star John Wayne, who shot many fight scenes in his movie career.

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Leiper's Fork is a real-life settlement in the US state of Tennessee. It is an unincorporated village in the state's Williamson County.

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It was actor-singer Dolly Parton's second feature film for the 20th Century Fox studio, following 9 to 5 (1980) about four years earlier.

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According to the October 14, 1983 edition of the show business trade paper 'Daily Variety,' Sylvester Stallone's salary check on this picture was reported to be 5 million US dollars.

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According to an article published in the June 11, 1979 issue of the show business magazine 'Box,' the film was announced as part of a seven-picture production deal to be directed by television producer Quinn Martin, who was entering the film industry for the first time.

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Actor Tony Munafo played the character Tony, who shares his own name. He also played characters named Tony alongside star Sylvester Stallone in other later films, namely Over the Top (1987) and The Specialist (1994). Munafo also appeared in small roles in about six Stallone films (though not as a character named Tony).

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The nickname "Slimestone Cowboy" in the bar fight scene is a reference to and a play on Glen Campbell's title song "Rhinestone Cowboy" (see: Glen Campbell: Rhinestone Cowboy (1975)).

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The film's stars Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone would later appear in a film with James Woods in the early 1990s. These were Straight Talk (1992) and The Specialist (1994), respectively.

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At one point Sylvester Stallone mentions the "buddy system." A film also released in 1984 carried that phrase in its title [see: The Buddy System (1984)]. Since both pictures were made by the 20th Century Fox studio, the use of the phrase can be seen as an implicit plug for the film.

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It was the screenwriting debut on a feature film for writer-director-producer Phil Alden Robinson.

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According to an article published in the June 11, 1979 issue of the show business magazine 'Box,' the film's screenplay was attributed to screenwriter Morton S. Fine, also known as Mort Fine. Whether any of Fine's work remained in the finished film has not yet been determined.

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