AllMovie

Honky Tonk represented an attempt by writer/director Douglas Heyes to create a TV series based on the 1941 Clark Gable-Lana Turner film of the same name. In Heyes' version of Honky Tonk, the role of gambler Candy Johnson, originally essayed by Gable, is filled by Richard Crenna, while Margot Kidder portrays Turner's character Lucy Cotton. A romantic triangle forms between Johnson, Lucy and dance-hall chanteuse Gold Dust (Claire Trevor in 1941, Stella Stevens in 1974). Meanwhile, Johnson and Lucy's old reprobate father (Will Geer) try to take advantage of every boom-town prospector within shouting range. Wisely running some 15 minutes shorter than the original, the TV-movie Honky Tonk was originally telecast April 1, 1974.