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In Every Which Way But Loose, Clint Eastwood not only shares the screen with lady love Sondra Locke, but with an orangutan named Clyde. He had to call on all his skills to keep the film from being stolen by an ape.

This and its sequel Every Which Way You Can will never be at the top of Clint's cinema achievements, but it's a nice rollicking comedy about a bare knuckle fighter. If it were set in today's times instead of the Seventies, Eastwood's Philo Beddoe would be on the extreme fighting channel.

Seeing Clint's living quarters reminded me of John Wayne's similar arrangements in True Grit with Chin Lee and General Sterling Price the cat. Clyde's quite a bit more the handful than a cat. He lives with Geoffrey Lewis who is his second and corner man in the bare knuckle fighting business and handles all the wagers and Lewis's mother a 'helpless' little old lady with a shotgun, deliciously played by Ruth Gordon.

Making his living as a bare knuckle fighter, Clint just seems to run into people determined to take him down. That includes an involvement with aspiring country singer Sondra Locke whom he spends a good deal of money on and who then takes a powder on him. She's heading east so Clint, Lewis, and Clyde are as well. Along the way they pick up sharp shooting Beverly D'Angelo who saves them on one occasion.

The legendary bare knuckle champion is Denver Tank Murdoch and as that 20th century philosopher Ric Flair opined, to be the best you have to beat the best. So Clint is heading to Denver to find both Locke and Walter Barnes who plays Tank Murdoch with his three amigos.

He also manages to arouse the anger of John McQuade and his Black Widow Biker gang. These people are the sorriest biker gang ever depicted on the big screen. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE manages to best this crowd of losers. But they never give up.

Best in the film are Ruth Gordon and Clyde, not necessarily in that order. I've often thought that the Academy Awards should have a best animal performance in a given year. That year the Oscar gold would have been taken by the orangutan. I wish the film had elaborated a little more on when Eastwood and Lewis break into a zoo to get Clyde's male needs satisfied.

For a lighter and brighter side of Clint Eastwood, don't miss Every Which Way But Loose.

I know what you're thinking- I'm such a huge Eastwood fan so my opinion isn't that significant. Honestly though, this has got to be one of the most underrated movies of all time. I laughed harder and had a better time watching this movie than just about any "comedy" I can think of. Clint did an excellent job in a different role for him as a guy who isn't so clever and great with the ladies. His best friend Clyde turned in an awesome performance as well. I also loved Geoffrey Lewis and the gorgeous Beverly D'Angelo and Ruth Gordon does a typically great act as the tough old lady. I agree with an earlier writer with respect to the one negative here- Sondra Locke's acting and singing. The only justification is that in the movie her character is just as bad. I have to believe that even people that aren't major Clint Eastwood fans would still like this one. Big fans should love it.

Without this film, the entire genre of Orangutan films, as well as the film career of Tony Danza, would have been inconceivable. We, as Americans, have often felt it necessary to identify a "True American Art Form." Some have suggested jazz, others rap. However, it is quite possible that even those fine examples could be traced to other, non-American, sources. The Orangutan film is, without question, ours and ours alone. For other fine entries in this genre, I recommend "Going Bananas," "Any Which Way You Can," and certain key portions of "Cannonball Run II." When the history of this civilization is written by the super-intelligent species of rats that will no doubt conquer us, the chapter heading will no doubt read "Right Turn, Clyde."

People are writing things about this film like it was intended to win the academy award. Clint Eastwood has made several light hearted films about different things in his career that are supposed to make you laugh and they do. This film is both funny and entertaining. I just love when people act like they are the only ones whose opinion really counts when films like this make back 3-6 times their budget at the box office. They act like the entire world is not smart enough to decide what they like and don't like. They say things like `Inflated ticket prices' make the difference. Don't these people know that all things are relevant? If you look at dollar in and dollar out you can tell what is a success and what is not. One of the most successful films of all time is `Billy Jack' and if it sold the same amount of tickets today that is sold when it was released it would have made as much as `Titanic' or `Spiderman'. But dollar for dollar it still was a success. I have worked in the movie industry for 25 years now and don't like films being negatively criticized by people who don't know anything about film making and have obviously never made one. The trailer and poster does not in any way deceive the public as far as what the subject matter is and if you like what the film is about you will not be disappointed. `Bottom Line'!

Sure, 'Every Which Way But Loose (1978)' is silly, but there's just something inherently endearing about seeing an orangutan and his truck-driving best buddy drink beer, get laid (yes, the ape sees some action) and bare-knuckle brawl their way through bent coppers and members of a Nazi biker gang as they traipse across the country after a girl who's up and vanished with both Eastwood's heart and a fistful (seven thousand) of his Dollars. It is a delightfully light flick. It's brazenly bizarre core concepts are gleefully glossed over to the point of pure passive acceptance on the part of the audience; as such it's highly entertaining throughout. It settles into its loose plot with a relaxed pace that pushes it from fun set-piece to fun set-piece, constantly keeping a smile on your face and burrowing its own private place within your heart. It's an unexpected joy. 7/10