Who came up with City Slickers?
Having made a name for himself in the long running ‘Soap’ a spoof of daytime soap opera comedy saw Billy Crystal quickly move into film and formed a successful working relationship with the late great Rob Reiner firstly in a small role in ‘The Princess Bride’ and then in the hugely popular ‘When Harry met Sally’ in 1989. And it was Crystal who initiated the idea for City Slickers, a film about a man facing his 40th birthday with trepidation borne from Crystal’s own fear having turned 40 himself in 1998. It was screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel who would write the screenplay. A reliable pair of hands they had written the popular US sitcom ‘Laverne & Shirley’ before finding success with their scripts for ‘Splash’, ‘Spies Like Us’ and ‘Parenthood’.
The City Slickers story…
They fleshed out the idea that would see Crystal as Mitch Robbins a disillusioned New Yorker on the verge of a midlife crisis. Along with his two best friends, Ed (Bruno Kirby) and Phil (Daniel Stern), he signs up for the ultimate getaway: a two-week cattle drive across the rugged landscapes of New Mexico to Colorado. Trading their desk chairs for saddles, the trio quickly discover that wrangling cattle under the watch of the grizzled trail boss Curly (Jack Palance) is a lot tougher than they ever imagined.
Getting the team together….
All of this would be orchestrated by director Ron Underwood who had earned much kudos for the success of ‘Tremors’ a comedy horror also set in the south. It was a good cast with Crystal’s friends played by the late Bruno Kirby who had appeared as his friend in ‘When Harry met Sally’ but also had serious acting kudos having appeared as De Niro’s pal in The Godfather Part II. The other friend would be played by Daniel Stern who, having worked with directors Woody Allen, Robert Redford & Barry Levinson, had hit pay dirt with Home Alone. But the role saw him stepping aside then persuaded back because originally it was Rick Moranis who was going to play the role but stepped down when his wife was diagnosed with terminal cancer but then returned to the role when his wife said it was a role he should play but then having returned to the role and filmed for a couple of days found himself stepping down again understandably unable to focus on the role knowing that his wife had cancer. Stern was persuaded back to the role with the help of a pay rise.
Oscars beckoned……
City Slickers was modestly budgeted at only $27m but audiences took to it immediately and the film earned a huge $179m and owed much of its success to Jack Palance in a rare comic role that saw him earn and eventually win an Oscar for the role that saw him accept it but not before he proved that he was not so old that he couldn’t do one armed press up which he promptly demonstrated to a worldwide audience. No one seemed more surprised than him that he had won as the other nominees were Tommy Lee Jones, (JFK) Harvey Keitel (Bugsy) , Ben Kingsley (Bugsy) and Michael Lerner (Barton Fink).
Those City Slickers – BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION bonus features……
City Slickers is a comfortable comedy with the often incisive quips for Crystal about age essentially just being a number and this limited edition blu-ray release has a load of bonus features that includes:
- 2K restoration from a 4K scan
• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
• Original stereo audio and optional DTS-HD MA 5.1 surround audio
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Audio commentary with director Ron Underwood and actors Billy Crystal and Daniel Stern
• Go Cowboy!, a newly filmed interview with director Ron Underwood
• Top of the Class, a newly filmed interview with actor Robert Costanzo
• Country Bumpkin, a newly filmed interview with actor Kyle Secor
• Escape to the Country, a newly filmed interview with actor Josh Mostel
• Back in the Saddle: City Slickers Revisited, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette with insights and interviews from the cast and director
• Bringing In the Script: Writing City Slickers, an archive interview with Billy Crystal, screenwriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel
• A Star is Born: An Ode to Norman, an archive interview on how Norman’s birth was filmed
• The Real City Slickers, an archival featurette where guests share why they chose a working ranch for their dream vacation
• Deleted scenes
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Hadley
• Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Barry Forshaw
Best of these is undoubtedly the commentary that sees the director along with Crystal and Stern reveal a whole load of insights and behind the scenes stories that are hugely entertaining with the star on sparkling form and making it only too understandable that he was the obvious host for the Oscars nine times second only to Bob Hope. The new interviews are good and compliment the archive features well especially now that Palance and Kirby are no longer with us both having passed away in 2006.
A sequel followed in 1994 but crashed and burned with a laboured storyline about a treasure map that earned only a meagre $43m and quickly ended any hopes of it becoming a franchise But this new limited edition of City Slickers is an entertaining reminder that age should never whither enjoyment of life.
related feature : How did When Harry met Sally originally end?
related feature : Will a Police Academy remake see the return of Bobcat Goldthwait?
Here’s the City Slickers trailer….
City Slickers blu-ray limited edition is available from 19th January 2026
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