Wanda Nevada (1979)

Brooke Shields plays Wanda Nevada, an orphan and aspiring country singer who is gambled away by one much older man to another over a hand of poker.

The new “owner” of the precocious 13-year-old is World War II veteran Beaudray Demerille (Peter Fonda), now a drifter who gambles for a living.

He’s betting on a game of pool at their next stop when an old-timer named Texas Curly shows up in the bar, claiming he’s found gold in the Grand Canyon.

No one believes him — everyone knows there’s no gold in the Grand Canyon — until he buys a round of drinks with a gold nugget.

Drunk, he drops his bag of gold on the way out of the bar. Then he’s followed by two goons — Ruby Muldoon and Strap Pangburn — who slit his throat, hoping to find that bag of gold.

Wanda has it. And it not only contains a handful of gold nuggets, but a map to Texas Curly’s claim.

So Wanda and Demerille head off to the Grand Canyon to get rich.

The goons follow, planning to rob them.

Oh, and word has it the canyon is haunted by a deadly Apache Ghost.

Brooke Shields as Wanda Nevada, wondering about her future after being wagered in a poker game in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Peter Fonda as Beaudray Demerville, engaged in a poker match with unusual stakes in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Review:

An odd film that features cameos by Brooke’s mother (as a hotel clerk) and Peter Fonda’s dad Henry (as an aging prospector).

But what’s most odd is that the film plays like a comedy romance in which the romantic partners are Brooke, age 13, and Peter Fonda, age 39.

Brooke’s character is quite made up and quite worldly for her age. And while Fonda’s character points out the age difference at one point, it’s not until after he’s professed his “love” for Wanda.

It’s all a bit unsettling. The Washington Post visited the set of this film while doing a story on the Brooke Shields’ phenomenon. It’s title: “The Little Sex Godess.”

This was actually already Brooke’s fifth film. The year before she’s starred as a teenage prostitute in “Pretty Baby” (1978).

As for the plot … well, it’s entertaining in spots and would have been much better without the Apache Ghost nonsense.

Luke Askew as Ruby Muldoon, doubting Texas Curly’s story of a gold strike in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Ted Markland as Strap Pangburn, Ruby’s partner in larceny in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Directed by:
Peter Fonda

Cast:
Peter Fonda … Beaudray Demerille
Brooke Shields … Wanda Nevada
Fiona Lewis … Dorothy Deerfield
Luke Askew … Ruby Muldoon
Ted Markland … Strap Pangburn
Severn Darden … Merlin Bitterstix
Paul Fix … Texas Curly
Henry Fonda … Old Prospector
Larry Golden … Slade
John Denos … Billy, gas station worker
Bert Williams …. Trading post owner
Jason Clark .. Alonzo

Runtime: 107 min.

Henry Fonda as the old prospector Wanda and Demerville encounter in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Paul Fix as Texas Curly, the prospector who tells of a gold strike in the Grand Canyon in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Memorable lines:

Slade, finding himself with a hot hand and short on cash: “You gotta honor my marker.”
Demerille: “I wouldn’t honor your mother.”

Ruby Muldoon: “Where’s that pretty little girl you were with?”
Demerille: “Hell, a tramp like that could be halfway to Phoenix with a truckload of drunk Indians by now.”

Trading post owner, after Demerille pays an Indian’s bill: “Don’t ever come in my place and do a thing like that again. Or I’ll chew off your ear!”
Demerille pulls a gun and puts it under the man’s chin: “Start chewing.”

Fiona Lewis as Dorothy Deerfield in a woman to girl talk with Wanda in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Severn Darden as Merlin Bitterstix, the man who offers to take Wanda off Demerille’s hands in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Wanda Nevada: “Why do we always have to do it your way?”
Demerille: “Because I got all the money and the guns.”

Dorothy Deerfield: “When I was your age, I had my hair in pigtails and I was in bed by 10. You are quite a lady, Wanda.”

Demerille: “The gold ain’t worth a hill of beans if you’re dead, woman.”

Wanda Nevada: “Everyone knows there ain’t no gold in the Grand Canyon.”

Brooke Shields as Wanda Nevada, about to get a lesson in how to fire a pistol in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Larry Golden as Slade, the man who gambles away Wanda in a poker game in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Teri Shields, Brooke Shields mom, in a small part as a hotel clerk in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Peter Fonda as Beaudray Demerville, searching for gold with Wanda by his side in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Brooke Shields as Wanda Nevada, a 13-year-old who falls for a much older man in Wanda Nevada (1979)

Brooke Shields as Wanda Nevada fussing over a wounded Beaudray Demerille (Peter Fonda) in Wanda Nevada (1979)