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North Dallas Forty

North Dallas Forty
North-dallas-forty-poster-1.jpg
Promotional poster for North Dallas Forty
Directed by Ted Kotcheff
Produced by Frank Yablans
Written by Peter Gent
Ted Kotcheff
Frank Yablans
Nancy Dowd (uncredited)
Starring Nick Nolte
Mac Davis
Charles Durning
Dayle Haddon
Bo Svenson
John Matuszak
Steve Forrest
G. D. Spradlin
Dabney Coleman
Savannah Smith Boucher
Music by John Scott
Cinematography Paul Lohmann
Edited by Jay Kamen
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Release date
  • August 3, 1979 (1979-08-03)
Running time
119 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Box office $26,079,312

North Dallas Forty is a 1979 American sports comedy-drama film starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, and G. D. Spradlin set in the world of American professional football. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff and based on the best-selling novel by Peter Gent. The screenplay was by Kotcheff, Gent, Frank Yablans and Nancy Dowd (uncredited). This was the first film role for Davis, a popular country music recording artist.

Wide receiver Phil Elliott (Nolte) plays for a 1970s era professional football team based in Dallas, Texas named the North Dallas Bulls, which closely resembles the Dallas Cowboys.

Though considered to possess "the best hands in the game", the aging Elliott is struggling to stay competitive and relies heavily on painkillers. Elliott and popular quarterback Seth Maxwell (Davis) are outstanding players, but they also characterize the drug-, sex-, and alcohol-fueled party atmosphere of that era. Elliott wants only to play the game, retire, and own a home with his girlfriend Charlotte (Dayle Haddon), who appears to be financially independent, and has no interest whatsoever in football.

The Bulls play for an iconic coach (Spradlin) who turns a blind eye to anything that his players may be doing off the field or anything that his assistant coaches and trainers condone to keep those players in the game. The Coach is focused on player "tendencies", a quantitative measurement of their performance, and seems less concerned about the human aspect of the game and the players. As one player (John Matuszak) finally erupts to a coach (Charles Durning): "Every time I call it a game, you call it a business. And every time I call it a business, you call it a game."


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