La Kermesse de l'Ouest

I once heard a critic state any movie where Clint Eastwood sings should be rated for violence. He must have never actually listened to this movie. Clint may not be the best voice in the cast but he is surely not the worst. As a young man he has a pleasant "everyman" kind of voice I ENJOY. And in addition to that this an outrageously funny and moving movie.

I first watched Paint your wagon at the age of about ten when my dad who incidentally loves this movie had it on in the lounge. At ten years old it is a film that seems to rather drag and seemed so old to me I could barely watch, but now watching it again many years later have come to appreciate it as quite a comic take on the old west. Its characters are amusing and despite some criticism on clint eastwoods performance as partner i enjoy all the actors performances including his. My favourite song of the film would have to be 'no name city' as i remember as a child being amazed at how low the reverends voice goes during that song. Overall I enjoy this movie and will watch it if it is on television. An 9 out of 10. Good old fashioned fun.

Joshua Logan's screen version of "Paint your wagon" works a treat, perhaps because the original stage version is so little known and apparently has been given something of a make-over by screen writer Paddy Chayefsky. The fact that the leads (Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood and Jean Seberg) can't sing matters not a jot; they perform with charisma, (even Seberg is less wan than usual) and bring a touch of realism to the proceedings, their songs seeming to evolve naturally from the action. Other singing duties are performed by the splendid Harve Presnell and a rousing, mostly male, chorus for this is a musical western of a more robust kind than "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers". It's plot, which concerns mining for gold, polygamy and the building of a town, fairly races along. Logan handles the whole thing with great aplomb and brings to it some nice, naturalistic touches sadly lacking from his earlier musicals, "South Pacific" and "Camelot". Most critics didn't warm to it, though and it remains largely under-valued.

paint your wagon is, in a lot of ways, the end of an era that I cherished the most (my teen years) the musicals were always there as a kid even though I didn't really like them in the fifties (except 7 brides) ....but there is something about the orchestration of those musical movies that sounded so similar....and true to its genre, paint your wagon's soundtrack had a timecapsuled, nostalgic feel reminiscent of those bygone days when musicals ruled.....the negative rap on this film is probably due to the timing of its release...the Vietnam war was hot and perhaps people couldn't accept its bawdy comedy and musical theme....even though it should have been a perfect escape type film...it is considered a major flop....like some others that took on an afterlife that superseded its theatrical run...word of mouth finds favor with the film in almost all venues....except some of the reviews I've read recently.

I love the depth of the dialogue and the nitty gritty reality of the mindsets of those prospectors who took from life what they needed and created their own utopian world (or tried to)...and ironically were sad (inside)even though there was uproarious drinking and carousing...which characterizes man self destructive nature when left to himself to do as he pleases...not unlike ancient rome.

lee marvin played the lead role so well...it was almost as if it had been written for him...even surpassing his clever coolness of a similar character "a #1" (emperor of the north...a film about the great depression hobos)

in paint your wagon so much of man's delemia is characterized in dialogue about growing up, doing what feels good, and paying the price for such behavior later.....the grim reminder of man's struggle with his own self can best be shown in the scene with ben rumson as he takes an assessment of his life in a few brief words to holmbrook (the mediator)...."there are two kinds of people....them going somewhere and them going nowhere....I'm an exodus to nowhere....sometimes I get mighty homesick"....then you hear the profound lyrics to the song "born under a wander star" where even the most blessed place one can get will never be satisfying enough to make these kinds of folk want to stay.

another heady piece is the scene with clint singing "gold fever" and how greed will turn people into a total different character from what they were before the fever hit....

this movie has a lot of heavy thoughts and depth even though it is a great comedy film...it's the reason it is my favorite movie of all times....really cool characters....outrageous comedy....mind provoking dialogue...and a nostalgic soundtrack that will take you back to the fifties....

as for the bad rap on lee marvins singing...just how great would those songs have come off if he had had an operatic baritone with perfect pitch?...in a word...fake.

Agreeable musical with patches of interest, long runtime and nice settings. Dealing with the California Gold Rush, in which two adventurers, Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood, living at a gold mining boom town, join forces as tough prospectors. The plot involves a farcical discovery of gold and the growth of a mining towm : No Name City. Then a Mormon wife, Jean Seberg who was mercifully dubbed, is sold by her husband and bought by a drunken Marvin. Later on, the lady pioneer takes two hubbies, but its quality scarcely matters given that the husbands are performed by the great Marvin and Clint Eastwood, hamming away as the second hubby.

A breathtaking, rotund but overlong rendition compensated for a solid plot, being based on a notorious, hard-shelled musical play by Lerner and Loewe with pretty sounds. This movie put Marvin's gravel voice at the top of the charts, thanks to the million-selling famous song Wandrin' star .Here there is also an enjoyable picture postcard approach to history. Resulting to be a sympathetic movie with plenty of panoramic scenary about two prospectors sharing the same Mormon spouse completing with a vintage Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical score .

It contains a colorful and brilliant cinematography in Technicolor by William A. Fraker. Amusing and entertaining screenplay by the prestigious writer Paddy Chayefsky. There stands out Lee Marvin who steals the show, he chews the sagebrush scenary. There are marvelous songs as highlights, such as Wandrin' Star sung by Marvin and the other vocal highlight : The call the wind Maria sung by Harve Presnell. Furthermore : Talk to the trees, I still see Elisa, I am on my way, Best things, among others.

Displaying a supremely tuneful score by various composers Alan Jay Lerner, Fredeick Loewe and Andre Previn .This big budgeted western musical comedy rendered very pretty and wonderful look at by filmmaker Joshua Logan. This craftsman was a good filmmaker who directed successful films, usually dramas and musical , including big name actors such as Picnic, Bus stop, Sayonara, South Pacific, Fanny, Ensign Pulver, Camelot and this Paint your wagon. Rating 7/10. Above average musical. The flick will appeal to Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood fans.