'Urban Cowboy' turns 40: Hats off to the movie that gave us John Travolta's first great comeback
Jim McKairnes Special for USA TODAY
Published 4:39 p.m. ET Jun. 4, 2020 | Updated 2:46 p.m. ET Jun. 6, 2020



John Travolta sidled up to the bar in a black hat and big buckle for 1980's "Urban Cowboy." PARAMOUNT/EVERETT COLLECTION

In a pop-culture year that’s offered one bronc after another, rein this one in: "Urban Cowboy," the honky-tonk-stirring, line-dancing, soundtrack-selling Western romance that teamed a post-"Grease" John Travolta with newcomer Debra Winger, turns 40 this Saturday.

And that’s no mechanical bull.

A quiet hit in a summer headlined by higher-profiles releases "The Shining," "The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Blues Brothers" – not to mention films targeting the same down-home audience, such as "Bronco Billy" and "Honeysuckle Rose" – "Urban Cowboy" rescued Travolta’s imperiled career, made a future three-time Oscar-nominated star of Winger, and launched a country-music crossover groundswell.

The drama is set against the backdrop of the Houston oil industry, focusing on Bud Davis (Travolta), a small-town newcomer to the big city, working refinery construction. But much of the action takes place inside Gilley’s Club, the rough-and-tumble local juke joint where he ends his long days and meets a feisty local named Sissy (Winger). The sparks that come from the combative coupling, along with the music that underscores it and the dance-floor moves that frame it, made the movie one of the summer's top films.

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Travolta trades in the dance floor for a mechanical bull in the 1980 film "Urban Cowboy." Paramount Pictures

It was considered 26-year-old Travolta’s comeback. Just two summers earlier, he was Hollywood’s biggest star after the back-to-back releases of "Saturday Night Fever" in December 1977 and "Grease" the following June. But his luster was tarnished by the Christmas 1978 release of "Moment by Moment," a box-office dud of a romance that teamed him with Lily Tomlin. The film was scorned and Travolta retreated in its wake.

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Urban Cowboy (7/9) Movie CLIP - Gilley's Rodeo Competition (1980) HD
446,584 views•Oct 6, 2011

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Urban Cowboy



Theatrical release poster

Story by: Aaron Latham
Starring: John Travolta, Debra Winger, Scott Glenn, {snip}

Urban Cowboy is a 1980 American romantic western film directed by James Bridges. The plot concerns the love-hate relationship between Buford Uan "Bud" Davis (John Travolta) and Sissy (Debra Winger). The film captured the late 1970s/early 1980s popularity of country music. Much of the action centers around activities at Gilley's Club, a football-field-sized honky tonk in Pasadena, Texas.