Lovin' Molly is a 1974 American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Anthony Perkins, Beau Bridges, Blythe Danner in the title role, Ed Binns, and Susan Sarandon. The film is based on Larry McMurtry's second novel, Leaving Cheyenne (1963). Prior to release, the film was also known as Molly, Gid, and Johnny and The Wild and The Sweet.

Over a span of nearly 40 years, Gid and Johnny, a pair of Texas farm boys, compete for the affections of Molly Taylor, a free spirit who cares for both of them. The story is told in three consecutive segments, each narrated by one of the three lead roles.

The first segment is set in 1925 and narrated by Gid, who introduces himself as well as his best friend Johnny and Johnny's girlfriend Molly Taylor with whom Gid becomes smitten. Gid works part-time as a ranch hand at Molly's farm and often competes against Johnny for Molly's affections. Despite their frequent feud and arguments, Gid and Johnny's friendship never ends during their excursions and errands for Molly's father to sell and buy cattle for the family farm. Molly eventually sleeps with Gid, as well as Johnny, but she eventually chooses neither one of them and instead marries school friend Eddie after the death of her father. Gid eventually marries Sarah, a local widow with several children, and Johnny leaves town for places unknown.

The second segment is set in 1945 and is narrated by Molly. It was revealed that Molly had three sons from her three different suitors, and each one of them died in combat during World War II which is currently waging. Molly's husband Eddie also died from an illness several years before. Gid had divorced Sarah and began spending most of his free time with Molly, who withheld the news of their son's death in battle. When he finally did learn the news, Gid took it badly and became more depressed. Johnny re-entered their lives after living away and, having married and divorced his own wife, took a more active part in helping Molly run her late father's farm.

The third and final segment is set in 1964 and is narrated by Johnny. He reveals that Gid is in a local hospital dying from cancer and Johnny has been keeping a bedside vigil over him. Wanting out of the place, Johnny takes Gid away from the hospital for a few days to visit Molly who is still living at her father's farm and is contemplating selling it. After working with Johnny around the farm to relive their "good old days" long gone by, Gid passes away as Johnny is driving him back to the hospital. After Gid's funeral, Johnny meets with Molly where they agree that, despite never getting married or having a life in operating her family farm, they will always be soul mates, before Johnny leaves Molly for the last time.

Larry McMurtry's first novel, Horseman, Pass By had been turned into a successful 1963 film, Hud. In March 1966 The Los Angeles Times reported the film rights to Leaving Cheyenne, McMurtry's second novel, were purchased by Warner Bros for producer William Conrad, with Larry Marcus to write the script. McMurtry later says Warners wanted to call the film Gid, after the lead character Gideon, to cash in on the success of the movie Hud. The writer recalls, "Something like seven scripts ensued, one of them done by Robert Altman, another of them nursed along for years by Don Siegel. Insidiously unfilmic, the book resisted all but the most foolhardy efforts to drag it onto celluloid, until, in 1974, it finally succumbed to the abundantly foolhardy efforts of Stephen Friedman and Sidney Lumet and appeared as Lovin' Molly".

In June 1969 it was announced Don Siegel would produce a version of the book in Oklahoma, with filming to start in October of that year. However this did not proceed.

Film rights were eventually obtained by Stephen J. Friedman, a lawyer who had moved into producing with the 1971 film version of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show. (Friedman appears to have bought them off Universal Studios, who got them from Warner Bros.) Friedman was an admirer of Leaving Cheyenne calling it "full of extraordinary insights into people". He particularly appreciated how "the men have to adapt to the women in the story. Usually it's the other way around."