- A small-town stud wants to go to Nashville to be a big country star. His ambitious kid sister works as his manager. Their dream hits jeopardy when they cross paths with a small-town sheriff.
- Country singer Travis (Dennis Quaid) and his younger sister Amanda (Kristy McNichol) travel to Nashville, Tennessee to find fame as singers. After getting into trouble with the law, Travis is sentenced to work detail at a prison farm. Amanda falls in love with Conrad (Mark Hamill), who tries to help Travis.
- All alone in the world, siblings Travis and Amanda Child have been traveling the American south for six months. Travis, once on the brink of country music stardom, plays one single-night gig after another in honky-tonks singing songs that he and Amanda wrote. Amanda, 17, is his manager and must be the responsible one, often pulling out her (unloaded) .357 Magnum--the only thing their deceased father left her--to get Travis out of jams. Their ultimate goal is to get a record deal in Nashville. While Amanda wants Nashville to happen sooner than later, Travis is content with their current on-the-road life, living out of their makeshift trailer and staying in motels along the way. He feels that this life will stir his creative juices. the road life, but Amanda knows that it's really because he gets sidetracked by his twin vices: alcohol and women. Their stay in Garnet, Georgia ends up being longer than they expected when their encounters with a few of the locals fundamentally alter their Nashville plans and their lives overall: a young woman named Melody whom Travis finds different from all his on-the-road one-night stands; Melody's boyfriend Seth, the corrupt Deputy Sheriff who hides behind his badge to get what he wants personally; Andy, the genial local barkeep; and Conrad, a State Trooper who recognizes that someone needs to take care of Amanda instead of her always taking care of Travis.—Huggo
- At a Tennessee motel, Luther (Royce Clark), an irate husband, looks for his wife who spent the night with singer Travis Child (Dennis Quaid). Travis sneaks out of his room and calls his sister, Amanda (Kristy McNichol), from the motel office, ordering her to pick him up. Luther confronts Amanda at her truck, but she pulls a .357 Magnum revolver and threatens to shoot him. She picks up Travis and they speed away. Travis places the gun in the glove compartment, noting it has not been loaded since their father used it to kill himself.
It is revealed that since their widowed father committed suicide, the siblings have traveled on the road for the past six months, with Travis performing at local bars to earn money, and Amanda acting as his manager. She wants to head for Nashville, Tennessee to perform, but Travis claims they need more experience in order to write better songs. She counters that he is more interested in trysts with local women, and insists that after they play in the one remaining local gig, they will head to Nashville.
At a diner, two women recognize Travis from a poster advertising his performance at a local bar. He invites the women to join him at the motel after the show. However, Amanda pretends he has a communicable disease and the women leave.
At the show, Amanda is excited to see Jed Hawkins (J. Don Ferguson) from Durango Records. She has called him for months and Hawkins likes Travis and their songs, and wants them to come to Nashville. When Travis joins Hawkins and Amanda, he reveals his sister wrote half the songs. Travis sends Amanda to their motel room to get an audio cassette for Hawkins. The two women from the diner are in the audience with their dates when Travis goes back onstage, and they taunt Travis about his "disease." Their comments irritate other patrons and a fight starts. Travis sneaks to the back door, where he is confronted by the still irate Luther. As Amanda returns, Travis runs out the door to a bus stop, insisting they need to get away. However, Amanda stays behind to give Hawkins the cassette as Travis boards a bus headed for Garnet, Georgia.
On the bus, Travis flirts with a female passenger and they have sex in the lavoratory before he disembarks in Garnet. Amanda is despondent as she drives to Georgia in their pickup truck to look for him. When she stops to let her dog out for a walk, a Georgia state trooper pulls up behind her. She is angry and feisty, but Conrad (Mark Hamil), the young trooper, is concerned that she is young and alone. Amanda admits she does not have a drivers license, but is meeting her brother in Garnet. Conrad asks her to follow him to the town where they will locate her brother.
Meanwhile, Seth Ames (Don Stroud), a Garnet deputy sheriff, notices Travis, drunk and asleep, on a bench. Seth nudges him awake, and Travis instinctively punches the man. He profusely apologizes, but Seth beats Travis and arrests him. Conrad arrives, assesses the situation, and notes that all local criminals seem to "resist arrest" with Seth. As the sheriff takes Travis to jail, Amanda demands he free her brother. Conrad calms her, and suggests she will cause more trouble for Travis by angering Seth than letting things be. Amanda follows Conrad to his cabin, and sleeps outside in her truck.
In the morning, Travis faces a corrupt redneck judge (Ralph Pace), who immediately declares him guilty. After learning Travis only has $14.30 in cash on him, the judge sets bail at $314.30. Unable to make bail, Travis is sentenced to 40 days of work detail at a prison farm. Outside, Conrad suggests that prison time might be good for Travis, and thinks Amanda's brother has not taken good care of her. Amanda declares they take care of each other, and asks the location of the nearest roadhouse. Conrad directs her to Andy's Roadhouse, the local dive bar, where she attempts to negotiate a $300 payment for Travis to perform for a week. Thanks to a telephone call from Conrad, Andy (Arlen Dean Snyder) knows Travis's dilemma and wants to help. He cannot afford a show, but will hire Travis to tend bar.
After his release over a month later, Travis mans the bar while Amanda writes songs in a corner booth. Melody Bartlett (Sunny Johnson), a beautiful blonde, attracts Travis's attention. They flirt until Amanda calls for help with her lyrics for a song. Travis tells his sister he is busy, and returns to the bar, only to find that Melody has gone. However, she shows up the following night and flirts with Travis. When two patrons start fighting, Seth arrives to break it up. He notices Melody standing next to Travis, and pulls her aside. When Melody refuses a date with Seth that night, the officer warns Travis to stay away from his girlfriend.
Later, Travis drives Melody home and they kiss, but she does not allow him inside. When he returns to his motel, Amanda does not believe he just "talked" with Melody. She wants to leave for Nashville, but Travis insists that staying a few days longer will not matter.
The next day, Amanda visits Conrad at his cabin where he practices shooting his .357 Magnum. She retrieves her gun from the truck and asks if she can load it so she can take target practice with him. As they shoot, talk and flirt, Conrad mentions that Travis must feel intense pressure over her plans for their future. She uses Conrad's telephone to call Jed Hawkins to announce that she and Travis will be in Nashville soon. When Travis arrives for work at the roadhouse, Seth waits in the bar and once again warns him to stay away from Melody.
Meanwhile, Amanda hatches a plan to allow Travis to perform. She hires local musicians, and buys herself a new outfit. However, when she arrives at the roadhouse, Travis insists he must tend bar and cannot sing. Although Amanda claims it is her show, when she steps onstage, she calls for Travis to perform. He refuses until Melody asks him to sing. Travis takes the stage, but makes Amanda sing a song with him.
During a break in Travis's performance, Amanda tells her brother that Hawkins expects them in Nashville soon, and she is ready to leave in the morning. However, Travis admits he wants to stay in Garnet. Amanda is upset that her brother is willing to throw away their potential success for some local girl, and declares she will go to Nashville alone. Conrad arrives at the roadhouse as Amanda, dressed in her sexy new outfit, takes the stage and performs to cheers from the audience. Conrad follows Amanda outside to compliment her. She is upset that Travis will not go with her, and that Conrad offers her nothing because he cannot travel with her. Conrad kisses her and leaves. Seth arrives at the bar, sees Melody with Travis, and demands she leave with him. Reluctantly, Melody joins Seth, telling Travis she has unfinished business. When Travis objects, Seth punches him and a fight ensues. After Seth knocks Travis down, Melody refuses to leave with him. Andy orders Seth to leave while Melody assists Travis.
Later, Travis tells Amanda how wonderful her performance was. He admits that he is not interested in becoming a star, but went along with Amanda's plans because he loves his sister. However, Travis now realizes he will regret leaving Melody behind. Amanda announces she is leaving for Nashville in the morning, with or without him. Travis takes the truck, drives Melody home, and spends the night with her.
In the morning, he heads for the motel to get Amanda, but promises to return. Seth waits in his car outside Melody's home, follows Travis, and shoots him. The truck veers off the road. Seth grabs his rifle, and heads to finish the job. However, Travis takes Amanda's gun from the glove compartment and kills Seth. Travis staggers from the truck and dies. After her brother's funeral, Amanda leaves town. At the Georgia state line, Conrad stops her. He leaves his uniform and weapons in the patrol car, admits he snuck his suitcase into her truck last night, and they leave for Nashville together.
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By what name was The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (1981) officially released in India in English?
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