Nashville (film) - Production

Production

The film was shot on location in Nashville in the summer (late July, August, and early September) of 1974. All the musical scenes are 'live' concert footage.

The original script was written by Joan Tewkesbury, who had collaborated with Altman on several of his films, including McCabe and Mrs. Miller and Thieves Like Us. Altman had been approached to work on a film set in Nashville which he wasn't interested in. However, he became interested in the setting and sent Tewkesbury to Nashville to observe the area and its citizenry. Tewkesbury's diary of her trip provided the basis for the film's script, with many observations making it into the finished film, such as the highway pileup. However, as with most Altman projects, much of the dialogue was improvised with the script acting as a "blueprint" dictating the actions of the characters and the plot. Other Altman trademarks prevalent in the film are the large ensemble cast and the overlapping dialogue with several characters speaking at once.

Several characters are based on real country music figures: Henry Gibson's Haven Hamilton is a composite of Roy Acuff, Hank Snow, and Porter Wagoner; Ronee Blakely's Barbara Jean is based on Loretta Lynn; the black country singer Tommy Brown (played by Timothy Brown) is based on Charley Pride; and the feuding folk trio is based on Peter, Paul and Mary; within the trio, the married couple of Bill and Mary were inspired by Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, who later became Starland Vocal Band. Keith Carradine's character is believed to be inspired by Kris Kristofferson and Karen Black's Connie White strongly resembles Lynn Anderson.

The speeches given by candidate Hal Phillip Walker, who is never seen, were written by actor-screenwriter Thomas Hal Phillips. Walker, the climactic assassination, the political theme and various associated characters (such as Haven Hamilton) do not appear in the earliest versions of the script.

Altman had enough footage to produce a four-hour film, and assistant director Alan Rudolph suggested he create an expanded version of "Nashville" to be shown in two parts, "Nashville Red" and "Nashville Blue," but the film ultimately remained intact. After a rush of critical acclaim, ABC expressed interest in a proposal for a ten-hour miniseries of "Nashville", based on the footage not used in the final cut, but plans for the project were scrapped. The additional footage has not been made available on DVD releases.

However, in a 2000 interview with the AV Club, Altman disputed the claim that he had several hours worth of deleted scenes to cut another feature-length film (or two) out of. Altman claimed that there "were no deleted scenes" and that "almost everything we shot is in that film". Altman further stated the unseen, extra footage that wasn't used in the final cut of the film was mainly music and not much else.