Cisco Pike is a 1972 drama written and directed by Bill L. Norton

Bill L. Norton

Bill L. Norton is a film director, writer and producer. He also has directed many television series, among them Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, John Doe, Hack, Las Vegas, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Lincoln Heights and Roswell.He is the son of screenwriter William W...

. It stars Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

 as a musician fallen on hard luck who turned to dealing marijuana as a means of income. The film also stars Karen Black

Karen Black

Karen Black is an American actress, screenwriter, singer, and songwriter. She is noted for appearing in such films as Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, The Great Gatsby, Rhinoceros, The Day of the Locust, Nashville, Airport 1975, and Alfred Hitchcock's final film, Family Plot...

, Harry Dean Stanton

Harry Dean Stanton

Harry Dean Stanton is an American actor, musician, and singer. Stanton's career has spanned over fifty years, which has seen him star in such films as Paris, Texas, Kelly's Heroes, Dillinger, Alien, Repo Man, The Last Temptation of Christ, Wild at Heart, The Green Mile and The Pledge...

, Antonio Fargas

Antonio Fargas

Antonio Juan Fargas is an American actor famous for his roles in 1970s blaxploitation movies, as well as his portrayal of Huggy Bear in the 1970s TV series Starsky and Hutch.-Biography:...

, Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman

Eugene Allen "Gene" Hackman is an American actor and novelist.Nominated for five Academy Awards, winning two, Hackman has also won three Golden Globes and two BAFTAs in a career that spanned five decades. He first came to fame in 1967 with his performance as Buck Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde...

, Viva

Viva (Warhol superstar)

Viva is an American actress, writer and a former Warhol superstar.-Career:She was born Janet Susan Mary Hoffmann in Syracuse, New York. She was given the name Viva by Andy Warhol before the release of her first film but later used her married last name . She appeared in several of Warhol's films...

, and Texas musician Doug Sahm

Doug Sahm

Douglas Wayne Sahm , was an American musician from Texas. Born in San Antonio, Texas, he was a child prodigy in country music, but became a significant figure in blues rock and other genres. Today Sahm is considered one of the most important figures in what is identified as Tejano music...

. This film was not widely embraced by audiences on its initial release but has become a cult movie. Much of its cult status comes from fans of Kris Kristofferson and Doug Sahm, but it also carries a cult status because of its dated (and unintentionally funny) take on the subject of drugs, dealers, and the lifestyle in which they led.

Plot

The film centers on Cisco Pike (played by Kris Kristofferson), an out of luck and out of work musician, and Sergeant Leo Holland (played by Gene Hackman). Cisco is a former drug dealer who has been busted several times by Sgt. Holland, and one night Holland comes to the door and demands that Cisco move a large amount of marijuana for him or suffer jail. He has several misadventures selling the marijuana, meets up with Doug Sahm at a recording studio, has his friend Jesse Dupree visit (played by Harry Dean Stanton, billed as H.D. Stanton for this film), meets a pregnant rich girl and her friend, and tries to make good with the Sergeant in the time alloted to him.

The movie was filmed in and around Hollywood, including a concert scene at the Troubador Club in West Hollywood.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack has most of Kristofferson's The Silver Tongued Devil and I

The Silver Tongued Devil and I

The Silver Tongued Devil and I is the second album by Kris Kristofferson, released in 1971 on Monument Records. In the spoken word intro to "The Pilgrim, Chapter 33", Kristofferson says he wrote the song about various celebrities...

album, and a song by Doug Sahm, along with the Sonny Terry

Sonny Terry

Saunders Terrell, better known as Sonny Terry was a blind American Piedmont blues musician. He was widely known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers, and imitations of trains and fox hunts.-Career:Terry was born in Greensboro, Georgia...

/Brownie McGhee

Brownie McGhee

Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...

song "Hootin' and Hollerin'"