| Good Times | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | William Friedkin |
| Written by | Tony Barrett Nicholas Hyams |
| Produced by | Steve Broidy Lindsley Parsons |
| Starring | Sonny Bono Cher George Sanders Norman Alden Larry Duran Kelly Thordsen Lennie Weinrib |
| Cinematography | Robert Wyckoff |
| Edited by | Melvin Shapiro |
| Music by | Sonny Bono |
Production companies | American Broadcasting Company Motion Pictures International |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 92 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1.115 million[2] |
| Box office | $800,000[2] |
Good Times is a 1967 American Western musical comedy film directed by William Friedkin in his feature directorial debut, starring Sonny & Cher. The film also co-stars George Sanders, Norman Alden, Larry Duran, Kelly Thordsen, and Lennie Weinrib.
Sonny and Cher appear as themselves in this spoof of various genres, including mysteries, Westerns, Tarzan films and spy thrillers. The plot revolves around a film contract offered to Sonny by powerful executive Mr. Mordicus, played by George Sanders, who also plays the antagonist in each of Sonny's ideas for the proposed film, which are played out in a number of skits featuring music and dancing by the star duo.
Sonny Bono wanted to make a film starring himself and Cher. He was introduced to William Friedkin, a young documentary filmmaker who had just moved into drama and who, like Bono, was represented by the William Morris Agency. They got along well and Abe Lastfogel persuaded Steve Broidy to agree to finance a film.[3]
Bono and Friedkin started reading through scripts and received a letter from novice screenwriter Nicholas Hyams, who suggested Sonny and Cher make a film about them making a film. Hyams was hired, but Friedkin says the collaboration with him was not easy: "He was condescending to Sonny and disdainful of me."[4] Hyams was fired and Friedkin and Bono wound up writing the script themselves based on Hyams' original idea. Broidy wanted to call the film I Got You Babe but Bono preferred Good Times, based on a song he was writing.[5] All songs in the film were released on a soundtrack album.
The film was originally meant to be made for $500,000, but the budget came in at $800,000. Broidy then sold the film to Columbia for $1.2 million, ensuring he was in profit before shooting even began.[6]
Good Times received generally negative reviews as a pastiche of so-so skits, though one critic credited veteran character actor Sanders for making the film "slightly less unbearable."[7]
Friedkin later commented that "I've made better films than Good Times but I've never had so much fun".[8]
The film earned $600,000 in rentals domestically and $200,000 internationally. After the distribution fee, prints and advertising and the negative cost were deducted, ABC reported a loss of $1,050,000.[2]
