The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia poster & wallpaper
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Kristy McNichol, Dennis Quaid, Mark Hamill, Don Stroud, Arlen Dean Snyder ... see more see more... , Sunny Johnson , J. Don Ferguson , Allison Keith , Terry Beaver , Jerry Campbell , Barry Corbin , Bill Gribble , Anne Haney , Kirk Johnson , Danny Nelson , Ralph Pace , Jerry Rushing , Lonnie R. Smith , William Phillips , Royce Clark , Lit Connah , John Edson , Elaine Falone , Charles Franzen , Joan Riordan , Fred Covington

A would-be Nashville star finds himself in hot water during a stay in Georgia in this drama based (very loosely) on the hit song of the same title. Travis Child (Dennis Quaid) is a country singer look... read more read more...ing for his big break, crisscrossing the country playing honky-tonks with his younger sister (and manager), Amanda (Kristy McNichol), in tow. Travis has a bad habit of drinking too much and putting the moves on the wrong women, leaving tough-as-nails Amanda to bail him out. One night Travis runs afoul of Seth Ames (Don Stroud), the sheriff of a small Georgia town who isn't against using his fists to teach lawbreakers a lesson; thanks to Ames, Travis ends up behind bars, but Amanda is able to persuade a sympathetic state trooper, Conrad (Mark Hamill), to help raise bail. In exchange, Travis has to work off his debt as a bartender at a local watering hole (where he hopes he might get to play a few tunes for the customers), and between drawing beers and pouring shots, he meets a beautiful local girl amed Melody (Sunny Johnson). However, as romance begins to bloom between them, Travis find himself in trouble again when he discovers Melody already has a boyfriend -- Seth Ames. Both Dennis Quaid and Kristy McNichol do their own singing in The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia, with Quaid also writing several of his character's tunes. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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68% liked it

736 ratings

PG, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Ronald F. Maxwell

Release Date: May 29, 1981

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Sunny Johnson, Don Stroud and Dennis Quaid The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia
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Flixster Reviews (40)

  • jeffman52001
    March 26, 2007
    jeffman52001
    A cool film, this classic 1981 movie really has class. Kristy McNichol, Dennis Quaid, and Mark Hamill are awesome. Dennis Quaid stars as a country singer trying to make it big and Kristy McNichol as his sister who falls for a state trooper, played by the great Mark Hamill. The fi... read morelm also stars Don Stroud as a mean cop.

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Critic Reviews

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
January 31, 2004
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

The Night the Lights Went Off in Georgia offers a rousing glimpse of life in a small Southern town. Full Review

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The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia Trivia

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  • Who played Amanda in the 1981 movie The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia ?   Answer »
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