Comedy Cult Classic

A miner and a city dandy plot midnight mayhem amid Las Vegas burlesque and booze.

TONIGHT FOR SURE

The Wild, Wild West has never been wilder...Beautiful babes...bashful cowboys!

1962 · 1h 16m · NR · Comedy / Western · IMDB TMDB

On the Las Vegas strip, two unlikely men rendezvous: Samuel Hill, an ill-kempt desert miner, and Benjamin Jabowski, a John Birch Society dandy from the city. Intent on some sort of mayhem, they enter the Herald Club before the burlesque show starts, and they wire something to the electrical box, set to blow at midnight. They sit at the back of the club to get to know each other.

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Quick Answer

What is Tonight for Sure about?

Tonight for Sure is a 1962 American comedy-western film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and Jerry Schafer about two men who plot mischief in a Las Vegas burlesque club as they recount risqué tales.

Programmer's Pick

Francis Ford Coppola’s earliest directorial effort is much less Godfather, much more undressing on the Vegas strip. Where else can you find a John Birch dandy, a desert drunk, and a ticking time bomb sharing the same smoky air?

— SassyFlix Programmer

Overview

Tonight for Sure sets its sights on the seedier side of the Las Vegas strip, where Samuel Hill, a rough-edged desert miner, teams up with Benjamin Jabowski, a buttoned-up city dandy. Their plan? Some secretive and mischievous act involving an explosive wired to the Herald Club’s electrical box, set to detonate at midnight. As they bide their time and eye the pre-show burlesque lineup, the men swap stories loaded with sexual misadventures and frustrated morality—one about hallucinations of nude women in the wild, the other about a futile crusade against a neighborhood pin-up studio. As the drinks flow and midnight approaches, the line between their schemes and the spectacle on stage begins to blur, promising a night as eccentric as their unlikely alliance.

Details & Specs

Directors: Francis Ford Coppola, Jerry Schafer
Writers: Francis Ford Coppola, Jerry Schafer
Release: 1962
Runtime: 1h 16m
Country: United States of America
Language: English
Genres: Comedy, Western

Why This Matters

This film marks Francis Ford Coppola's feature directorial debut, blending his own short film with Jerry Schafer's unreleased project, and features early collaborations with his father Carmine Coppola and cinematographer Jack Hill.

— SassyFlix Curator

Cast & Crew

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Directors: Francis Ford Coppola +1 more Writers: Francis Ford Coppola +1 more

Karl Schanzer Benjamin Jabowski DK Don Kenney Samuel Hill MR Marli Renfro Lucy Mae

Virginia Gordon BM Barbara Martin LG Linda Gibson SS Sandy Silver PB Pat Brooks E Electra E Exotica LC Laura Cornell KL Karen Lee SM Sue Martin ME Marcelino Espinosa AD Anita Danchick LL Linda Lightfoot BF Bill Freed

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Sexploitation Independent Film Female Nudity Nudity Softcore Voyeurism Exploitation Film Sex Comedy Drunkenness Sheriff Sexploitation Film Nightclub Desert Hallucination Hollywood California Nudie Cutie Hypocrisy

Why Cult

Burlesque Backdrop

The film unfolds in a Las Vegas nightclub, giving you a front-row seat to vintage burlesque performances and the era’s risqué glamour.

Unlikely Duo

Watch a mismatched pair—a miner and a John Birch dandy—scheme and swap wild stories over drinks, a setup that’s equal parts oddball comedy and character clash.

Early Coppola

See Francis Ford Coppola cut his teeth on low-budget sex comedy before he became a household name.

Sexploitation Flair

With its focus on nudie cutie antics, glamour models, and softcore antics, the film is a time capsule of early 1960s sexploitation cinema.