One-Trick Pony (film)

This article is about the film. For the album, see One-Trick Pony (album).

One-Trick Pony
Directed by	Robert M. Young
Produced by	Michael Tannen
Written by	Paul Simon
Starring	Paul Simon Blair Brown Rip Torn
Music by	Paul Simon
Cinematography	Dick Bush
Editing by	Edward Beyer Barry Malkin David Ray
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	3 October 1980
Running time	98 min
Country	United States
Language	English

One-Trick Pony is a 1980 film written by and starring Paul Simon. Simon plays Jonah Levin, a once-popular folk rock star who has not had a hit in ten years, and who now opens for punk rock bands. He is trying to record a new album, but faces a number of obstacles, including a trendy but talentless producer who is trying to convince him to compromise his principles, and an indifferent record company which is pressuring him for something that will sell. He is also trying to restore his relationship with his former wife and his young son. The character wears a baseball cap for much of the film.

The title derives from a colloquial American expression meaning a person specializing in only one area, having only one talent, or of limited ability.^[1] The OED's first citation is from 1905.^[2]

The film has been said^{[citation needed]} to be based on experiences in Simon's professional and personal life. Walter Fox, the record company executive portrayed by Rip Torn, was rumored to be based on Walter Yetnikoff, who was President of CBS Records, Simon's former label, in the 70s. (Simon went to Warner Bros. Records in 1979.) The film featured the last appearance of the original members of The Lovin' Spoonful, in a simulated TV show appearance.

An album of the same name was released concurrently. All of the songs on the album are featured in the film, most in a differently mixed version; e.g. the song "Jonah" features a harmonica solo (probably by Toots Thielemans) that is removed from the album version. The film contains one Paul Simon song not featured on the original album, Jonah Levin's fictional sixties hit "Soft Parachutes".

The song "Late in the Evening", from the film's soundtrack, hit #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

After years of being available only on videocassette and laserdisc, in 2009 the film was released by Warner Brothers on DVD.

Cast

Actors

• Paul Simon as Jonah
• Blair Brown as Marion
• Rip Torn as Walter Fox
• Joan Hackett as Lonnie Fox
• Allen Garfield as Cal van Damp
• Mare Winningham as Modeena Dandridge
• Michael Pearlman as Matty Levin
• Lou Reed as Steve Kunelian
• Steve Gadd as Danny Duggin
• Eric Gale as Lee-Andrew Parker
• Tony Levin as John Dibatista
• Richard Tee as Clarence Franklin
• Harry Shearer as Bernie Wepner
• Daniel Stern as Hare Krishna

Musicians

• Sam & Dave
• Lovin' Spoonful
• Tiny Tim
• The B-52's
• David Sanborn

External links

• One-Trick Pony (film) at the Internet Movie Database

References

1. ^ "Oxford English Dictionary, Third edition, June 2004; online version March 2011". 
2. ^ Oregon Pioneer Assoc. 32nd Ann. Reunion. 1905. p. 264.