Carny

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Robert Kaylor directs. Harry Stradling Jr. behind the camera. Alex North scores. Stuart H. Pappé cuts. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 146 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
• 2Directed by Robert Kaylor, shot by Harry Stradling Jr.. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Alex North. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Stuart H. Pappé shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5Gary Busey and Jodie Foster and Robbie Robertson carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "When you're young and going nowhere... the Carny looks like a good way out.".
• 7IMDB entry: tt0080500 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 8Only 45 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
• 9Classified under 8 themes, including "waitress", "hustler", "carnival", "travel".

The technical file

Cinematography

Harry Stradling Jr.

Original score

Alex North

Editing

Stuart H. Pappé

Production design

William J. Cassidy

Stunt coordinator

David R. Ellis

Runtime

107 min · 1h 47m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

R

IMDB

Carny (1980) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

57% 🥫 Rotten

Metacritic

68/100

IMDB rating

6.4/10 · 2,540 votes

MPAA

R

US box office

$1,817,720

Also by

Robert Kaylor

• 
  Nobody's Perfect

  1990 · ★ 5.0
• 
  Derby

  1970 · ★ 4.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

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  Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• Oldmoviegal2016-03-24

  Carny is like a documentary inside a film. The movie revolves around the carnies and their day to day operations and personal lives. Jodie Foster stars as Donna, a bored 18 year old small town waitress who dreams of more excitement. One night while attending the local carnival with her jock boyfriend (played by character actor Craig Wasson), she is singled out in the crowd while her boyfriend is engaging in a game of Dunk The Bozo. The Bozo in question is Frankie,played by Gary Busey, who sits in a dunk tank waiting for the 'marks' (victims of hustlers) to throw the balls that hit the spot so that he falls into the water. There are other hustlers too that each run their own game. Keeping everything under control is Patch,played by legendary guitarist and songwriting musician Robbie Robertson,who as his character's name suggests,patches things over from everything to paying off city officials to organizing plans with the local crime boss. Problems arise when Frankie tells Patch that Donna will be accompanying them along the circuit. Patch is not pleased and organizes a plan to get Donna out of the picture. A series of mishaps ensue,which Patch blames on Donna. Patch then tries to tell the man running the strip tent that Donna can 'work strong ' meaning take her clothes off rather than be a back up dancer for the strippers,as Donna thinks she will be that evening. A riot breaks out and Patch realizes that he went too far after Donna gets hurt. Further tensions arise when Frankie catches Donna and Patch in flagrante one night. Patch and Frankie are at odds but not for long. A surprise ending rounds out this film but it is left wide open with room for a sequel that didn't ever materialize. All in all, Carny is a good depiction of the lives of carnival workers and their respective con artist attitudes.

  Read full review ↓
• Wuchak2026-08-29
  ★ 7/10

  A runaway girl (Jodie Foster) joins a traveling carnival in Georgia Except for a couple of unconvincing parts and an unlikely bit in the last act, “Carny” gives the impression of filmmakers grabbing some cameras and secretly filming at an actual carnival in America. Gary Busey stars, two years after his breakout with “The Buddy Holly Story.” Meanwhile Robbie Robertson, the former main man of The Band, is effective as the owner/manager of the carnival, who seems to have the weight of the world on his back. Both actors were 35yo during shooting, yet Busey’s character, Frankie, says he’s 25 in the film, although he might really be in his late 20s, even early 30s. Robertson’s character, Patch, seems older, like 40. Speaking of Robertson, he shows his natural gift for acting with his sleepy-eyed coolness and world-weariness. Too bad he only dabbled in the profession. Something that wouldn’t fly today is the fact that Jodie was 16½ during filming, although her character, Donna, might be as old as 17 (with Frankie dubiously insisting that she’s 18-19 to Patch). While she looks young & cute, she lacks the womanly curves she’d soon develop, as observed in Dennis Hopper’s “Catchfire,” aka “Backtrack.” I should add that Meg Foster is also on hand, with her stunning eyes. The film is R-rated mostly due to a Girl Show sequence with one painfully long-in-the-tooth dancer performing top-nude and butt-nude. I guess the creators were making a point about the sad predicament of such women: They started performing at carnival Girl Shows in their late teens and this is where they’re at three decades later. In any case, if you can overlook the questionable elements, the movie is strangely compelling. Anyone who appreciates flicks involving carnivals or circuses, like "Circus of Horrors,” "Roustabout," “Berserk,” "When the Circus Came to Town," “The Funhouse,” “Carnival Magic” or “Water for Elephants” should find something to like. It runs 1h 46m and was shot late spring/early summer 1979 in Savannah, Georgia. GRADE: B

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• LO

  Lorimar Motion Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerRobbie Robertson
• EditorStuart H. Pappé
• Production DesignWilliam J. Cassidy
• Set DecorationRay Molyneaux
• Script SupervisorJoanie Blum
• Executive ProducerJonathan T. Taplin
• CastingBarbara Miller
• Location ManagerJames Rosenfield
• Set DecorationCharles Pierce
• Art DirectionJosan F. Russo
• Production ManagerRichard Hashimoto
• CastingIrene Mariano
• Title DesignerWayne Fitzgerald
• Production CoordinatorDebbie Smith
• Stunt CoordinatorDavid R. Ellis
• StuntsFreddie Hice
• StuntsSteve M. Davison
• StuntsBuddy Joe Hooker
• Boom OperatorEarl Sampson
• Local CastingCarol Scott

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• waitress
• hustler
• carnival
• travel
• game
• carny
• circo
• morte

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1980-05-23R

Also known as

International titles

• O Circo da MorteBR
• La ocasión de DonnaES