The comical discords of the musical passage are a joy in themselves, and they pave the way perfectly for the Parson, who is at odds with everybody. Previn's musical interlude which introduces the Parson (Alan Dexter) is superb, leading into one of the film's best songs, "Here It Is". His career flowered late, but he was at his best in the late sixties ("Point Blank", "Hell In The Pacific", and of course this one).
Good things include a barnstorming performance from Marvin, radiating enormous personality and a real flair for comedy. Added interest is provided by the arrival of a bunch of French whores and a party of rescued wagon-trainers (this last was drawn from a true story). Things get complicated when Pardner falls in love with Elizabeth, and she falls in love with. When a mormon auctions one of his wives (Elizabeth, played by Jean Seberg), Rumson buys her. 'Pardner' (Eastwood) is a straight, solid farmer from the Mid West, while Ben Rumson (Marvin) is a hell-raising wildman from no place in particular. Two very different men link up as partners and grow into inseperable friends. No-Name Town is a rough and ready prospectors' settlement, one of many such ramshackle communities springing up during the California Gold Rush. At two and three-quarter hours, the film is rather too long, but it contains plenty of interesting things, including some excellent comedy. The songs are strong, the lyrics clever and the choreography slick and busy. Clint sings timidly but tunefully ("I Talk To The Trees", "Gold Fever") and Marvin's growly "Wandering Star" was a big chart success back in 1969. If Clint and Lee aren't exactly Mario Lanza and Tito Gobbi, they are good enough. Lerner and Loewe's successful stage show was beefed up by Andre Previn's compositions and Nelson Riddle's arrangements, and a script by Paddy Chayefsky. No expense was spared by Paramount in assembling the behind-camera talent. There's no way the film deserves the dodgy reputation it's been slapped with though, a lot of it is fun as all hell, the big budget is spent well on fantastic production design, epic sets and big names who earn their keep, Marvin in particular.Ĭlint Eastwood and Lee Marvin - in a musical? Yes, and it works rather well. Whenever Marvin is around it's a banger of a party, he goes the extra mile to keep the energy levels unbridled, while Eastwood is a little sleepier. Unfortunately all of the songs sung solely by Eastwood are a slog through the mud, as he bleats like a goat and gets saddled with the most boring tracks like 'I Talk To The Trees', the sappy 'Elisa' and 'Gold Fever', a musical sleeping pill.
'There's a Coach Comin In' rouses spirits, and the titular theme is well staged too.
'They Call The Wind Mariah' is a gorgeous tune belted out by a young looking Harve Presnell as Rotten Luck Willie, a slick kingpin who basically runs the township. The best is a haunting, melancholy melody by Marvin called 'Wandering Star', which is so good it could be listened to on repeat. And that's pretty much it, the story punctuated by a whole gallery of songs, some brilliant and others excruciating. The trio makes the best of life in a rough n' tumble settlement called No Name City, a feverish shantytown on the precipice of nowhere, populated by scoundrels, miscreants and hooligans. Eastwood is Pardner, a soft spoken stoic type whose life is saved by Ben, and the two strike a bond that's eventually tested by Elizabeth (Jean Seberg), the beauty who loves them both. Marvin is the life of the party as Ben Rumson, a booze soaked, misanthropic prospector idling his way through the west in a haze of hangovers and hijinks. I like it specifically because of how odd and random it is at times, how it meanders and lingers across the gold rush frontier town it takes place in, following the paths of it's strange characters diligently. Sure it's a giant unwieldy spectacle, not all of the songs make a three point landing and it runs on far too long, but it's such an interesting piece from many perspectives, it doesn't deserve even half the shade thrown on it by critics over the years. I've never understood the cloud of negativity surrounding Paint Your Wagon, a terminally eccentric, raucously bawdy musical western epic in which old school tough guys Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood get to sing, or at least do their best.
0 kommentar(er)
