The Electric Horseman is a 1979 American western comedy-drama film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and directed by Sydney Pollack.

Rodeo champion Sonny Steele has traded competition for advertising as the national spokesman for Ranch breakfast cereal and he tours the country in a jeweled cowboy costume, braided with flashing lights.

In Las Vegas Hallie Martin, a television newscaster from New York, arrives for an AMPCO media event and is curious why the company discourages interviews with Sonny.

During rehearsals for a variety show at Caesars Palace, Sonny notices that Rising Star, the champion racehorse he will be riding on stage and the company’s new corporate symbol, has been drugged with tranquilizers.

When Sonny arrives for his act, he mounts Rising Star and goes on stage in the middle of a disco musical number, then rides the horse out of the casino and out of town.

AMPCO executives are desperate to locate Sonny before the press does, worried that the cowboy might raise concerns about the company's treatment of the horse, which could jeopardize an upcoming $300 million merger.

Unable to trail Sonny, Hallie returns to Las Vegas and reports on television that she found the rebel cowboy and the kidnapped horse, but keeps the location confidential, which frustrates AMPCO executives.

Driving into St. George, Utah, Sonny hears on the radio that a massive search is underway for Rising Star and that AMPCO accuses him of being an alcoholic who might not have the horse's best interests at heart.

Arriving in a remote canyon with video equipment, Hallie records Sonny on camera as he reveals that the champion racehorse was pumped with drugs but has earned a better life.

When she notices an army of police cars on the streets, she arranges for a truck driver to deliver the videotape to a television affiliate in St. George and returns to warn Sonny.

After arriving in town, Sonny orders Hallie to drive the camper to a lake near Cisco Falls, while he distracts the police and gallops away on Rising Star.

Later, from the television studio in New York City, Hallie reports on her journey with Sonny and mentions that all charges against the cowboy have been dropped while the whereabouts of Rising Star are still unknown.

The Electric Horseman is noted as being the debut acting performance of long-time country and western singer Willie Nelson, who plays the role of Wendell Hickson.

[5] In addition, there was one particular day in which production was continuously delayed due to traveling thunderstorms that interrupted the 20-second kissing scene between Redford and Fonda.

[14] The film was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1980 for Best Sound (Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler and Al Overton Jr.).