This is a good film about a hopeful, musically-inclined girl whose gifted talents are under estimated because others seek to take advantage of her in the tough, competitive entertainment world. The main actress Monica Gayle plays an innocent country girl fan who is attractive, intelligent although somewhat naive, and intent on becoming a country music star but those attempts are constantly thwarted by manipulative and pretending admirers in the big city of Nashville. It seems almost a semi-comical show with its amount of inferred sexual exploitation that a viewer could believe might be an exaggeration, but maybe not. Jamie gets manhandled time and again but she seems to withstand the pressure with a hard optimism, and stubborn determination. She meets some new and possibly friendly people, and some well-meaning, but there is truly not any good to come of her urgent cause. Are they sincerely wanting to help her? But she's only just a lonely, simple country girl after all. The show contains some playable easy listening music that also features an appearance by 1970's country singer Johnny Rodriguez and has a nice quality resolution picture. The plot has a smooth moving yet easy to follow story that kept my interest but the show ended with an unclear and baffling ending. This is an interesting and worthy film that is fun to watch if only just to witness actress Monica Gayle's high-spirited efforts and loveliness which will have you rooting for her even though it leads into an unknown future. Fans of country music and mature audiences could really stay tuned to it!

An endearing performance by lovely 70s starlet Monica Gayle ("Switchblade Sisters") is the centerpiece of this low budget, exploitative Roger Corman spin on a "Coal Miner's Daughter" type of story. Monica plays Jamie Barker, a teenage girl who leaves home, and hits the road to Nashville, with visions of country music stardom dancing in her head. She finds it to be a very bumpy road, since almost every male in sight is sleazy to one degree or another. Things start to look up when she makes the acquaintance of session musician Kelly (Roger Davis, 'Dark Shadows'), and country star Jeb Hubbard (Glenn Corbett, 'Route 66')."Nashville Girl" was written & produced by Peer J. Oppenheimer ('Operation C.I.A.'), and directed by one of the under rated filmmakers of the decade, Gus Trikonis ("Moonshine County Express"). It's a not uninteresting walk on the dark side of Nashville; as the story progresses, there's just one constant string of male characters who seem more interested in getting into Jamies' pants rather than helping her career.It is disheartening to see how often guys will take advantage of our heroine. It's likewise unfortunate to see her have a tough time making money. At one point, despite her misgivings, she takes a job as a masseuse. The good news is that there are some helpful female influences in her life, such as Frisky (Shirley Jo Finney, "The River Niger") and Jebs' wife Fran (Judith Roberts, "Eraserhead"). And there's quite a bit of lovely country music to enjoy. (Gayle doesn't do her own singing, but lip synchs adequately.) Ultimately, it ends on a hopeful note, with Jamie determined to succeed on her own terms.The solid cast also includes familiar faces like screenwriter / actor Leo Gordon ("The Haunted Palace"), Jesse White ("Harvey"), and Marcie Barkin ("Fade to Black"). Gayle is radiant in the lead, and for those who are interested, she does strip down to her birthday suit for an early bout of skinny dipping.Entertaining stuff that, at an hour and 32 minutes, doesn't overstay its welcome.Seven out of 10.

New World's "Nashville Girl" begins with a hayseed young miss skinny-dipping in the lake and never strays from this path. In the lead, honey-mellowed Monica Gayle is an easy screen presence as a determined, talented country music songwriter with aspirations to work in Nashville, but the movie isn't interested in being a rags-to-riches story. Jailbait Gayle is continually ogled, pawed at, stripped and molested, while most of the men on her journey (and one lesbian, natch) are horny old-timers with one thing on their minds. Director Gus Trikonis and writer Peer J. Oppenheimer aren't smut peddlers, exactly--there's an outline of a story--and Oppenheimer provides salty hard luck travails for our heroine. Still, it's a jaded B-movie with one foot in the gutter: not entirely sleazy, but not at all inspiring. *1/2 from ****

An abused teen escapes her rednecked family and allows country music entertainer Jeb Hubbard to make her swoon when he sings "Hold On Tight" at a fundraiser for the Tennessee Memorial Hospital, his favorite charity. Thoroughly swept from her feet, Jamie allows the singer's cohorts to reinvent her as a rising music star from Wheeling, West Virginia, complete with new name. But could her name eventually surpass Jeb's? Will her past (depicted earlier in the movie) come back to haunt her? "Today You'll Do Better (Than You Did Yesterday)" Jamie sings of her life... but not before paying her dues, and then some. This vastly underrated and underproduced film is well directed, believably acted and is awash in rich, singable tunes befitting a much larger production. This is one of those rare pieces that sticks with you for life (including many of its songs), somehow, through its movie magic -- magic made because it simply works, despite its feeble budget and production woes. Monica Gayle is fantastic and extremely memorable. "Nashville Girl" should have been the dawn of her career, not the twilight. Footnote: Most know of "Nashville Girl" thanks to a Showtime Network executive who was a fan of the picture and insisted on running it ad nauseam during the early nineteen-eighties. I had to vote this movie a 10 on IMDb simply because it stuck with me for all these years... so it actually earned its own "10".