Paint Your Wagon (1969)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Joshua Logan

Writers:

Paddy Chayefsky (adaptation)
Alan Jay Lerner (musical play "Paint Your Wagon")

Release Date:

15 October 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance | Western

Tagline:

Stake Your Claim To The Musical Goldmine of '69!

Plot:

Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.

Plot Keywords:

Gold | Mining | Prospector | California Gold Rush | Prostitute

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. July 12

3:15 AM

TCM

Cast

Lee Marvin	...	Ben Rumson
Clint Eastwood	...	Pardner
Jean Seberg	...	Elizabeth
Harve Presnell	...	Rotten Luck Willie
Ray Walston	...	Mad Jack Duncan
Tom Ligon	...	Horton Fenty
Alan Dexter	...	Parson
William O'Connell	...	Horace Tabor
Benny Baker	...	Haywood Holbrook (as Ben Baker)
Alan Baxter	...	Mr. Fenty
Paula Trueman	...	Mrs. Fenty
Robert Easton	...	Atwell
Geoffrey Norman	...	Foster
H.B. Haggerty	...	Steve Bull
Terry Jenkins	...	Joe Mooney

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic material.

Runtime:

158 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:TV-14 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rated: 2001) | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Baker, Oregon, USA

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

The first attempt to film this property was by Louis B. Mayer and Jack Cummings in 1957. Planned as a Cinerama release with a screenplay by John Lee Mahin and new songs by Alan Jay Lerner and Arthur Schwartz, the project was abandoned when Mayer died. Gary Cooper was being sought to play Ben Rumson.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the town falls apart due to the tunnels collapsing, the smooth sides of the concrete tunnel are visible after the thin layer of mud falls down into them.

Quotes:

Pardner: Where I come from, Mr. Rumson, we're cautious of strangers who talk in an easy manner.
Rumson: Oh. You've got me down as some kind of low scuff from New Orleans, hm? Sell you patent medicine with one hand, pinch your purse with the other?
Pardner: Matter of fact, that's kind of what I was thinkin'.
Rumson: As a matter of fact, Pardner, you're right. But I ain't yet sunk to horse stealin'. Oh, I've salted claims, yeah. And I've sold whiskey to Injuns. And once a man in Walla Walla come at me with a gun and I killed him. I can't think of one commandment I ain't shattered regular...

Movie Connections:

Version of "The Seven Lively Arts: Gold Rush" (1958)

Soundtrack:

Whoop-Ti-Ay!

My Favorite Musical

Eastwood & Marvin, 2 tough guys, sharing a friendship, trying to strike gold and SINGING. IMO they did all that very well. Also Jean Seberg, Harve Presnell, Ray Walston and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had musical numbers which were great. The women had it rough then, doing what they had t do to get by, but the majority of men were gentlemen and any wrong doings were delt with swiftly, not like in modern day civilization. People then trusted one another, went by their word and made laws simple for everyone to understand without a lawyer. They made their own kind of paradise. When civilization came in, you had the option to stay or leave, it was your choice. The story line, scenery and music score made this movie great. Also a great trivia movie, which I thing it was the only movie that Clint Eastwood sang in.