August 21 1989 

HONKY TONK FREEWAY opens. Directed by John Schlesinger, from a screenplay written by Edward Clinton. When a newly opened freeway bypasses the tiny tourist-dependant Florida hamlet of Ticlaw, the town's outraged citizenry, led by William Devane's rabble-rousing mayor-cum-preacher, sets out to starve off the imminent tourist drought by mounting a demolition-assisted detour. Despite its massively inflated 25 million dollar budget, and cast of familiar faces - Beau Bridges, Beverly D'Angelo, Teri Garr, Daniel Stern and Howard Hesseman - the film is a huge critical and financial disaster prompting the studio to pull it from theatres a mere week after its release.

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