Paint Your Wagon

Clint Eastwood’s next western, (after starring in Sergio Leonne’s Dollar trilogy), is not what you would expect, instead of finding himself on dark vengeful journeys or going up against ruthless tyrants or street-gangs, Clint softly sings about getting married, getting rich and most bizarrely of all, trees. Pardner is a young man in the middle of the Californian gold rush of the late 1860s, who is found and rescued by an elderly wanderer Rumson, (Lee Marvin), who like everyone in the state at that time is looking for gold. The two eventually find gold and strike it rich. Shortly afterwards, they come across a small town full of young unmarried women and decide to start a miners establishment called ‘No Man’s City’, where love-starved men not only go and work but meet women as well. Before long however a Mormon woman Elizabeth, (Jean Seberg), comes to the town and an intense rivalry between Rumson and Pardner begins for her affections.

Of the 60 odd films that Eastwood has made throughout his six decade career, this is probably my least favourite movie, despite it being known as a classic. In may ways this is a perfect example of why I don’t tend to enjoy many Hollywood musicals. It’s long, it’s stuffy, the acting’s is over the top, the characters are incredibly irritating. The story is bland and pretty much every single song, with the exception of Born Under a Wandering Star, (the film’s main theme which is sung by Lee Marven), is absolutely insufferable. Although all of my criticisms are mainly out of personal bias and dislike for the Hollywood musicals genre, many film lovers and fans of Eastwood defend this film as a colourful, joyful insightful instalment in his early career. Plus, it’s probably the only film by him, which you could technically classify as “family friendly.” So despite my incredibly low mark, (which at the end of the day, is my personal opinion and nothing else), I’d strongly recommend this film if you’re a fan of musicals, or period pieces, or just want to hear Clint Eastwood singing and trust me there’s a fair amount of it in here, which actually isn’t that bad.

2/10 – Calum Robert