"The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" was a minor musical that had its beginnings on Westheimer Road in Houston, then went on to Broadway, where it had a reasonably successful run. This $25 million film version failed miserably at the box office, however. Dolly Parton stars as the madame of
a well-known Texas bordello that is threatened when public pressure forces the governor of the state, Charles Durning, to order the closing of the whorehouse. Burt Reynolds is the sheriff who is given the unenviable task of seeing that the operation is shut down. All the tunes are forgettable, and
Reynolds and Dom DeLuise, who plays a crusading moralist, ham it up mercilessly. Parton's southern charm is well-suited to her role, and Durning's performance as the put-upon governor earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
