Paint Your Wagon (1969)

Waste of Money.

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

To be quite frank, I hate musicals in general, so the chances of me liking a movie of this type is slim to none. However it does have legends Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood teaming up for this one time engagement that caught my interest. I can understand why these guys chose this project as a departure from the tough guy roles they are normally cast in. However, if you are a fan of either star's work, Paint Your Wagon is a painful 3 hour experience that I wish on no one. Paint Your Wagon is an inane big budget flop that is pretentious, dated and criminally stupid. I'm sure the studios wished to court a more arty audience with this crap, but failed to generate success at the box office or receive acclaim from critics. Essentially Paint Your Wagon is lowbrow entertainment for a highbrow crowd. Any way you slice it, this film is crud. This western/comedy/musical was intended to be a huge hit by the studios. Paint Your Wagon is epic in scope with a huge cast, enormous great looking sets and great cinematography. On the technical end of things Paint Your Wagon is pretty solid. The epic treatment does not make up for the other film's faults, or why they even considered making this at all. The storyline is about as dumb as it gets and a cast of hundreds of extras and the frequent need to break into song can not and does not compensate for a story this bad. Clint, Lee and French actress Jean Seberg do their best to carry this garbage and make it somewhat watchable. Paint Your Wagon is an epic failure, disappointment and waste of time. While these guys are best known for their work in the action genre Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood are talented actors and artists. In fact some of Clint's left turns are some of his most interesting films. Either way, it worked out okay for those involved. Jean Seberg got a free trip to America, Lee Marvin got drunk and Clint Eastwood got to bang Jean Seberg. Plus they all got paid, however this is a bad film and watching this film is a complete waste of time.

Just watched this movie for the first time since the 70's. What a light hearted and wonderful blast from the past. I have always been a massive Clint Eastwood fan, and a big Lee Marvin fan, so this was a double treat. Clint was good in this, but Lee Marvin was brilliant! All round great movie for me and my wife, and her parents love this movie also!The songs were original and entertaining, but Lee Marvin's " Wandering Star" is a classic, and probably the main reason why i decided to purchase the DVD for a second viewing. So glad I did. The laughs were frequent and often subtle. The theme was slightly irreligious,but isn't that a treat? Another Clint Eastwood classic to add to my collection!

When gold is discovered in California it creates a mad rush among certain people who want to get their hands on some. By chance, one particular person named "Ben Rumson" (Lee Marvin) has already arrived and as luck would have it happens to notice a wagon rolling out of control down a steep mountain. When he gets there he discovers that one of the men inside the wagon is dead and the other is badly hurt. Not long afterward some members of the wagon train arrive and they begin the task of burying the dead man. However, upon digging the grave they just happen to strike gold and immediately Ben claims the spot for himself and the badly injured man who he announces as his new "Pardner" (Clint Eastwood). Eventually, Pardner recuperates and they both set about digging for gold in the mining community that has attracted over a hundred men but is totally lacking any women. Then one day a Mormon man with two wives arrives at the mining camp which attracts the attention of all of the miners except Ben who is dead drunk. At the same time the two women get into a spat and the husband decides to auction off the wife named "Elizabeth" (Jean Seberg). As the auction commences Ben awakens from his drunken stupor and makes the highest bid before passing out once again. One thing leads to another and soon both Ben and Pardner wind up marrying Elizabeth. Anywary, rather than reveal any more of this movie and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that this movie is probably best described as a Western-Musical-Comedy. As such it has some good humor here and there and a couple of good songs most notably "Mariah" and "I Was Born Under a Wandering Star". Unfortunately, it also has some pretty bad songs as well. Along with that this movie turned out to be quite long and because of that there were some parts here and there which seemed to drag on for too long. In any case, it turned out to be fairly enjoyable and I have rated the movie accordingly. Slightly above average.

This epic Musical Western may not be an artistic triumph but is an unbeatable entertainment with larger-than-life star-power. By sharp contrast to the elegance and sophistication of the Lerner & Loewe team's exquisite MY FAIR LADY, GIGI and CAMELOT, the entirely revised movie version of PAINT YOUR WAGON throws all grace and poise to the winds in its raunchy celebration of the pure joy of dancing and wallowing in gloriously filthy mud.The original 1950's Broadway show was daring at the time for its interracial romance between a white woman and a Mexican native, but by 1968 this theme had become dated. Thus producer/lyricist Alan Jay Lerner based his bawdy screenplay on an entirely new story by playwright Paddy Chayefsky, which parodies "Sodom and Gomorrah" as a grandiose comedy of colorful moral follies in Gold Rush California. The previous Lerner & Loewe film, CAMELOT -- also directed by Joshua Logan (SOUTH PACIFIC) -- had focused on an adulterous triangle relationship, so the new PAINT YOUR WAGON seeks to top that with a marriage-threesome at center. But in place of the tragic fall of a shining ideal, the inevitable collapse of "No Name City" (the Las Vegas of the Old West) is played entirely for uproarious belly-laughs.Seven songs from the original show are retained, including "I Talk to the Trees", "There's a Coach Comin' In", and (supremely) the show- stopping aria "They Call the Wind Maria" (powerfully sung by Harve Presnell in full "Howard Keel" mode). In support of these are five new songs written by Lerner with composer Andre Previn (standing in for the retired Frederick Loewe).The production and costumes are spectacular, but it is the bold casting that makes this a memorable show. Clint Eastwood has natural singing ability and demonstrates how cool an old-fashioned Musical can be with "Gold Fever" (the one Lerner-Previn song that gives the vintage score a real challenge). In other respects Eastwood is in good form as the easy- going side of his unique screen persona. Jean Seberg is fine as well, leavening the broad comedy with an underplayed wry humor.However, the movie truly belongs to the great Lee Marvin, who is its heart and soul. Besotted old "Ben Rumson" is one of the actor's most memorable characters, evoking his Academy Award-winning role in another comic Western, CAT BALLOU. Taken as a super-vehicle for Marvin, this PAINT YOUR WAGON becomes something special.As for the caliber of Lee Marvin's talk-singing: Don't let it be forgot that the soundtrack recording of his rough yet poignant performance of the Lerner-Loewe classic "Wandrin' Star" was a #1 hit in England.Rating: 8/10 **** OUTSTANDING.