A town's Sheriff and regular patron of a historical whorehouse fights to keep it running when a television reporter targets it as the Devil's playhouse.
Director: Colin Higgins
Writers: Larry L. King (play), Peter Masterson (play).
Stars: Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, Dom DeLuise.
Plot
Ed Earl Dodd, the sheriff of Gilbert, Texas, has a relationship of long standing with Miss Mona Stangley, who runs a brothel called the "Chicken Ranch" outside of town. Illegal or not, Earl does not interfere with her business, which has been a fixture in the town for as long as either can remember.
Lovers on the side, occasionally interrupted by Deputy Fred, the sheriff and madam have a pleasant arrangement. Not everyone in town approves of her, but Miss Mona is a public-minded citizen who regularly donates to charity, decent and law-abiding in every respect but her line of work.
A big-city television personality, do-gooder Melvin P. Thorpe, is about to do a segment about the town, so the sheriff travels there to introduce himself to Thorpe, who greets him warmly. He is shocked by Thorpe's live telecast, in which Thorpe reveals to a huge audience his discovery that "Texas has a whorehouse in it."
The Chicken Ranch is an institution, where the winning team from the football game between Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies traditionally is brought to "celebrate" its victory. The negative publicity puts a spotlight on the place, so Ed Earl gets Miss Mona's word that she will shut the doors until the attention goes away. She shuts it down to regular customers, but elects to let the football players have their party, at which point Thorpe and his TV cameras sneak onto the property and ambush them all.
Clasificación [ CM DVD 00329 ] Disponible en DVD, 4 Piso BJB)