”One of the things about the movie that makes it work, rather than just this weird patchwork of various scenes—this movie actually is one of the more realistic movies about a drug deal gone wrong I think I’ve ever seen.”
—Quentin Tarantino on the 1979 movie Cocaine Cowboys
The Video Archives Podcast
Until I listened to The Video Archives Podcast last week, I didn’t even know there was a 1979 movie titled Cocaine Cowboys. But after listening to Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary discuss the movie, I tracked down the movie on YouTube and watched it. Between the movie and the podcast I realized there was enough there to have a mini-film school. Let’s call it a ten point takeaway class.
Back in 2009, I wrote a post called Cocaine Cowboys and the Future of Film. I wrote it the day after I watched my first streaming movie—the 2006 doc Cocaine Cowboys. It was a fascinating look about how Miami became the cocaine capital in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
Point #1: The film business is always changing.
The first Blockbuster store opened in 1985 to take part in the booming business of VHS movie rentals. In 2004 there were over 9,000 Blockbuster stores, but in 2010 (just a year after I watching that first streaming movie) Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy and began closing stores. Today there is only one Blockbuster store still open.
Point #2: Giants often have feet of clay.
The lead actor in the feature Cocaine Cowboys was a fellow named Tom Sullivan. He also co-wrote the film, composed the music, sang lead vocals, and self-financed the film in part or in whole with money he thought to have made as a drug dealer.
Point 3: Movies get made with money. And while John Sayles made the indie classic Return of the Secaucus 7 around the same time for only $60,000, Tarantino said he heard the budget for Cocaine Cowboys was as high as a million dollars.
When Avary called the movie a vanity project, Tarantino replied, “Absolutely.” The movie failed at the box-office, and it failed to launch an acting or singing career for Sullivan. But Sullivan does emerge as a charismatic and multi-talented guy. And if he didn’t live to be a rock star, he certainly died like one. After making quite a stir on the New York City party scene, he died in 1981 at age 26 under mysterious circumstances. Here’s his obituary from the Tampa Tribune in June 1981.
Between 1979 and 1981, I was in finishing high school and starting college and spent most of my time in either Orlando, Tampa, or Miami. I never heard of Tom Sullivan, but I met a few Tom Sullivan-like characters. He would have fit in at any country and western bar in Florida in the wake of the movie Urban Cowboy (1980), and here he is—snake skin boots and all—at Studio 54 dancing with none other that Margaret Trudeau (former wife of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau).
They knew all the right people, they took all the right pills
They threw outrageous parties, they paid heavenly bills
—Life in the Fast Lane
Point #4: Interesting characters make interesting movies.
And to top that off, Sullivan was a part of artist Andy Warhol’s inner circle. How he went from being a teenager in Tampa, Florida to the New York social scene and starring in a movie in just a few years sounds like a compelling story by itself. One musician I think had to influence Sullivan was Gram Parsons. Parsons was born in Winter Haven, Florida (an hour east of Tampa) and went on to play and sing on The Byrds 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo. His love of the country/rock influenced the Eagles, he hung-out with The Rolling Stones for an extended time in England, and in 1973 he too died at age 26 (from an overdose of morphine and alcohol). And while he didn’t reach commercial success, his relationship with Emmylou Harris resulted in the hauntingly beautiful song Bolder to Birmingham (which Harris co-wrote with Bill Danoff as a tribute to Parsons).
Another musician that probably influenced Sullivan was Jimmy Buffett who arrived in Key West, Florida in 1971 and carved out a niche with his unique blend of folk/country/rock, and stories of pirates and drug smugglers. Buffett did find commercial in 1974 with Come Monday and then in 1977 with Margaritaville. I saw Buffett open for the Eagles in Tampa Stadium in 1980. (Still have my ticket stub from that one. The best $12.50 I ever spent—and free parking if I recall correctly.)
I’ve done a bit of smuggling, I’ve run my share of grass
I made enough money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast
Never meant to last, never meant to last
—A Pirate Looks at Forty written by Jimmy Buffett (about a colorful character he met in Key West)
Cocaine Cowboys is not a great film, but it’s an interesting one. I found Sullivan’s singing, smuggling, horse-back riding character compelling. But, again, maybe more compelling is how he pulled off a movie that included a small part for legendary actor Jack Palance,and a cameo with Warhol. And they used Warhol’s Montauk estate as the primary location.
Point #5: A proven way to keep your budget low is to shoot primarily in one location. Cocaine Cowboys was shot in Montauk on the far eastern section of Long Island. Closer to Martha’s Vineyard that New York City. I imagine the alternative locations in the film—marina, airport— are not far from Warhol’s place. Even a section meant to be NYC could have been shot in a luxury home or hotel on Long Island, with just an establishing insert shot of the city. By keeping cast and crew staying in homes or hotels in one place prevents downtime doing a company move.
John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), Spike Lee’s Joe’s Bed-Stay Barbershop: We Cut Heads, and Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (co-written with Avary) kept their budgets low by maximizing scenes in minimal locations.
Point #6: Always nice to have one or two name actors or personalities in your film. Jack Palance and Andy Warhol fit the bill there. This whole movie could have been shot in three weeks, but they could have shot scenes with Palance and Warhol in a few days each. Actors take on roles for various reasons. An older Palance may have taken the role for the script, the paycheck, a chance to hangout on Montauk, a favor, or even just to meet Andy Warhol.
Point #7: Establish main conflict/plot early. Around nine minutes into Cocaine Cowboys, some drug smugglers abort landing their small plane with 20 kilos of coke because they see a cop car at the small airport. At around the 10 1/2 minute mark they decide to drop the cocaine package near the shoreline of the house. Problem is no one appears to know exactly where the drugs are located. There goal is to find the missing drugs they’re on the hook for.
Point #8: Stakes
“These people have connections literally everywhere. I mean, there aren’t many places to hide when you owe these individuals two million dollars.”
Point #9: Cinematography & Music
Cinematographer Jochen Breitenstein did a wonderful job utilizing everything he could to capture the beauty of the area. “Embrace your limitations” is the mantra of filmmakers of every budget. Perhaps another reason that Cocaine Cowboys didn’t look like your run of the mill 70s low-budget feature is the director was Ulli Lommel who was apart of the New German Cinema. Credited for the music on the film is Elliot Goldenthal who would go on to win an Oscar for his work on Frida. While he also was orchestrator on Heat, Batman Forever, and Drugstore Cowboy, his first credit was score arranger on Cocaine Cowboys.
Point #10 End Strong
Cocaine Cowboys had a satisfying ending. It was an ending setup in act one. And it even was a twist on a twist.
Here’s the whole movie:
Scott W. Smith is the author of Screenwriting with Brass Knuckles
Screenwriting from Iowa 