The film concerns the exploits of two motorcycle riders. It is one of Redford's relatively unsuccessful films and is therefore less known than his other works. Johnny Cash contributed the title song and other parts of the soundtrack, which also features both Carl Perkins and Bob Dylan. The title song, "The Ballad of Little Fauss and Big Halsy", written by Perkins, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.
The main characters are the inept, unsuspecting Little Fauss (Pollard), and the opportunistic, womanizing Halsy Knox (Redford). Hutton played the supporting role of Rita Nebraska, a role originally offered to Grace Slick.
Plot
Halsy Knox, a professional dirt bike racer, runs into Little Fauss, an amateur racer, after a race held near Phoenix, Arizona. They strike up a friendship as Fauss is attracted to Halsy's carefree lifestyle. However, Fauss's father regards Halsy as a bad influence on his son and refuses to help Halsy when his truck breaks down. When Halsy arrives later at the motorcycle repair shop where Fauss is employed, he tricks the admiring Fauss into repairing his motorcycle for free.
When Fauss breaks his leg in a desert race, Halsy, who has been barred from racing due to drinking at the track, proposes that they form a partnership in which Halsy would race under Fauss's name with Fauss serving as the mechanic. Fauss joins Halsy on the motorcycle racing circuit despite his parents' disapproval. Fauss is constantly confronted with his inferiority to Halsy, both on and off the racetrack.
Their partnership is finally broken when Rita Nebraska, a drop-out from a wealthy background, arrives at the racetrack and immediately attaches herself to Halsy, despite the attention Fauss pays her. Fauss returns home to his parents to find his father has died. Several months later, Halsy visits him and attempts to ditch Rita, who is now pregnant. Fauss, however, refuses to take her. He informs Halsy that he plans to reenter the racing circuit.
The two men race against each other a short time later at the Sears Point International Raceway, where Fauss tells Halsy that he has been drafted. Halsy's motorcycle breaks down. As he leaves the track, he hears the announcement that Fauss has taken the lead.
After Robert Redford dropped out of Blue (1968), Paramount sued him for violating his three-picture deal; the lawsuit was dropped in his agreement to play Halsy in May 1969. Michael J. Pollard was cast as Fauss the following month and was paid $175,000 for the role. Barbara Hershey and James Victor were also considered for roles in the film.[2]
Little Faust and Big Halsy premiered at in New York City on October 21, 1970 and began an exclusive engagement one week later at the National Theatre in Westwood, California.[2]
