Stay Hungry

Stay Hungry
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBob Rafelson
Written byCharles Gaines
Bob Rafelson
Produced byHarold Schneider
Bob Rafelson
StarringJeff Bridges
Sally Field
Arnold Schwarzenegger
CinematographyVictor J. Kemper
Edited byJohn F. Link
Music byByron Berline,
Bruce Langhorne
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • April 23, 1976 (1976-04-23)
Running time
102 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Box office$24.8 million

Stay Hungry is a 1976 American comedy-drama film by director Bob Rafelson from a screenplay by Charles Gaines (adapted from his 1972 novel of the same name).[1][2][3]

The story centers on a young scion from Birmingham, Alabama, played by Jeff Bridges, who gets involved in a shady real-estate deal. In order to close the deal, he needs to buy a gym building to complete a multi-parcel lot. He becomes romantically interested in the gym's receptionist (Sally Field) and drawn to the carefree lifestyle of the Austrian bodybuilder Joe Santo (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who is training there for the Mr. Universe competition.

Schwarzenegger won a Golden Globe for Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture, but it was not his true debut role; he had played Hercules (as Arnold Strong) in the 1970 film Hercules in New York, a gangster's henchman in Robert Altman's 1973 film The Long Goodbye, and a masseur in the 1974 television movie Happy Anniversary and Goodbye.

  1. ^ Canby, Vincent (April 26, 1976). "Stay Hungry (1976) Screen: 'Stay Hungry':Rafelson Film Is About 'New' South". The New York Times.
  2. ^ Hause, Irene. (1983, January). Mike Mentzer’s Video Venture Archived 2009-01-25 at the Wayback Machine. Muscle Mag International. Issue Number 33, page 25. (Retrieved August 21, 2008.)
  3. ^ Tonguette, Peter. Bob Rafelson and His Odd American Places. The Film Journal. Issue 11. (Retrieved December 1, 2005.)