It’s been a month since Dolly Parton died at the age of 80, and all the tributes and anecdotes in remembrance of the Queen of Country are still very much rolling in. From Sandra Bullock recalling her favorite memory of the legend to Miley Cyrus talking about what people get wrong about the “9 to 5” singer, she’s clearly already missed. The latest celebrity to speak highly of Parton is Sylvester Stallone, who worked with her in the 1984 rom-com Rhinestone, and he dropped a major compliment about their collaboration.
Sylvester Stallone Remembers Dolly Parton
In the 1980s, when Stallone was in the middle of his continued Rocky fame, he starred alongside Parton in Rhinestone. The U.S. declared September 25 (92/25)to be Dolly Parton Day and, to mark the occasion, 80-year-old Stallone remembered his time working on the movie with these words:
Believe it or not, Rhinestone is my favorite film I’ve ever done - besides Rocky, of course! Because it’s the one where Dolly and I just had a ball. And now I can’t find it streaming anywhere. This special movie needs to see the light of day! In honor of Dolly Parton Day, let’s get this on streaming.
Sylvester wrote about Rhinestone on Instagram and also shared a few clips from the movie. The film follows Jake Farris (Parton) a country singer who’s stuck in a contract performing for a NYC nightclub called “The Rhinestone.” In an attempt to get out of it, she makes a bet with the club’s manager that she can make anyone into a country star, and her manager picks cab driver Nick Martinelli (Stallone). The film flopped at the box office, but it's since become beloved in some circles.
Needless to say, Sylvester gave Rhinestone incredibly high praise, calling it his “favorite film” that he’s done next to Rocky. I also love that his reasoning is that he and Parton "just had a ball" making it. And yet, as he pointed out, it’s not currently available to stream anywhere.
Why Rhinestone Isn't Streaming Anywhere?
20th Century Fox distributed Rhinestone, so The Walt Disney Company should have the rights to the movie but, no, you can’t watch it with a Disney+ subscription. This may or may not be because despite Sylvester’s high opinion of the movie, it was panned by critics and audiences and has a 19 percent Tomatometer and 35 percent Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie was reportedly made for $28 million and only brought in about $21.4 million worldwide. Deep-cut movies like this one often get lost in the shuffle, and their studios are less likely to spend resources on releasing it digitally or keeping physical formats in stock. Many people in the comments section of Stallone's post boast having a DVD copy, which you can still at least do on Amazon.
Following the death of Dolly Parton, more fans are interested than ever to watch and rewatch her work. So it's especially notable that Sylvester Stallone would point out that one of her films is hard to access. I hope The Walt Disney Company decides to bring Rhinestone to streaming. I’ve never seen it myself. While it might not be considered one of the best romantic comedies of all time, it looks like a ton of fun, and I'm so glad Parton and Stallone had a great time making it.
