In this offbeat comedy, Jeff Bridges plays Craig Blake, a rich kid who works with a group of hard-living Southern real-estate men led by Jabo (Joe Spinell), who are buying up a business district in Birmingham, Alabama in order to clear the space and put in a new project. Craig is supposed to work out a deal to buy the Olympic Spa, a gym popular with local weight-lifters, but after spending some time at the club, Craig finds himself fascinated with the people there, especially Joe Santo (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a world-class body builder from Austria who sometimes works out in a superhero costume and likes to play bluegrass fiddle to relax. Craig also makes the acquaintance of Mary Tate Farnsworth (Sally Field), a feisty gal who hangs out with Joe. Mary Tate finds Craig attractive, but she isn't sure he's being all that sincere, and she wonders why a wealthy real estate man is hanging out with a bunch of low-rent gym rats. Stay Hungry was a critical comeback for director Bob Rafelson and kick-started the careers of both Sally Field and Arnold Schwarzenegger in their first major film roles (unless you count Arnold's misbegotten appearance as "Arnold Strong" in Hercules In New York).

Stay Hungry is a 1976 dramatic comedy film by director Bob Rafelson from a screenplay by Charles Gaines (adapted from his 1972 novel of the same name).[1][2][3]

The story centers on a young Birmingham, Alabama, scion, played by Jeff Bridges, who gets involved in a shady real-estate deal. In order to close the deal, he needs to buy a gym building to complete a multi-parcel lot. When he visits the gym, however, he finds himself romantically interested in the receptionist (Sally Field) and drawn to the carefree lifestyle of the Austrian body builder "Joe Santo" (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who is training there for the Mr. Universe competition.

Roger Callard, one of the top bodybuilders of that era, was quoted in a 1983 bodybuilding magazine regarding an event he experienced during the making of the film. “The director was screaming over his megaphone, ‘Please do not touch the bodybuilders!’ People were rushing us, even scratching us!”

Schwarzenegger won a Golden Globe for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" for his portrayal of Joe Santo in Stay Hungry. Technically, it was not his debut role, since he had played Hercules (as "Arnold Strong") in the 1970 film Hercules in New York and a hitman in Robert Altman's 1973 film The Long Goodbye. It was, however, the first time his voice had been heard on film as Hercules was dubbed and the hitman character was deaf and mute.

The film opened to positive reviews as many felt it was a good film about body building. Arnold Schwarznegger was especially applauded as Santo, building a movie career with appearances in Pumping Iron and other films, including Conan the Barbarian and The Terminator. Stay Hungry Maintains a 73% "Fresh" Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, albeit much lower with audiences with a score of 36%.