Os Aventureiros do Ouro

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.

Despite the fact that Paint Your Wagon seems to have a non-existent plot line (at least for the first two thirds of its running time) it is a film that I did find to be highly enjoyable. Although the storytelling is rather weak, the writers provide so many humorous scenes that to me it very rarely mattered. Lee Marvin is the main reason to see this and his performance here was nothing short of sublime. Although Marvin was great here, I was a little disappointed with Eastwood. The truth of the matter is that his character was a bit bland and nowhere near as interesting as Marvin's character. However, the blame for this lies with the writers and not Eastwood and I just didn't find his character that interesting and also found the chemistry between Eastwood and Marvin was a bit hit and miss.

The musical numbers here are colourful, lively and very enjoyable (I don't think there was one song that I didn't like). However, usually with musicals songs are used to cover plot points or to convey emotions from characters. In Paint Your Wagon there were a couple of songs here that worked in this manner, but a lot of songs were rather random and had nothing to do with the story. Again this isn't a major problem as the musical numbers were fun, but again it made the story a little strange at times.

Where this film really comes good is in its final third (when we get to the point of the story) and the final act was absolutely hilarious.

On balance there is definitely more good than bad here. Despite the fact that there was no real story for the first two thirds of the film, there were still enough fun moments to make this worthwhile overall. However, Lee Marvin's superb performance and incredibly funny on-screen antics are definitely the biggest selling points here.

Is the movie great? No, but it is a good one. If it were great, it would not suffer from it's long running time. A wider audience would no doubt warm to a shorter version. More is the pity, too, because the movie has much to offer. The scenery is beautiful; the sets reconstructions are first rate. Listen to the lyrics of some of the songs ('Gold Fever' and 'The First Thing You Know' are two good examples) and you can appreciate the wordsmithing skill of Alan Jay Lerner. If you like a large all-male chorus, the film offers some of the best singing of that kind you are likely to hear. Listen especially during 'There's a Coach Coming In'.

I must confess a guilty admiration for characters who are unapologetically amoral and corrupt, at least as defined by 'respectable society'. I wouldn't necessarily want one for a neighbor or even a friend (well .. maybe), but they are fascinating on film or stage. If the film is a comedy, they can be hilarious and often steal the show. All you need is the right actor to fill the role. Paint Your Wagon offers one of the most uproariously amoral characters on film, brought to amazing life by Lee Marvin. He delivers Ben Rumson's imminently quotable home-spun philosophy of life with great relish and comedic timing. Can he sing? No. But then would a somewhat dissipated Gold Rush miner likely be a good singer? His non-singing actually fits.

The rest of the cast is good but not exceptional. Ray Walston is memorable as Mad Jack. I still find it hard to spot the actor I am used to behind the beard and accent. He also has some great lines. Harve Presnell is the only truly major-league singer in the cast and delivers the most memorable song. The remaining actors are adequate. Eastwood is good but replaceable. Jean Seaberg is not Meryl Streep but is certainly easy on the eyes. The townsfolk are solid.

An enjoyable movie, with Lee Marvin's performance worth the price of admission. It is too bad it requires such a long time commitment to experience it all.

Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin - in a musical? Yes, and it works rather well.

No expense was spared by Paramount in assembling the behind-camera talent. 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. If Clint and Lee aren't exactly Mario Lanza and Tito Gobbi, they are good enough. 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. The songs are strong, the lyrics clever and the choreography slick and busy. At two and three-quarter hours, the film is rather too long, but it contains plenty of interesting things, including some excellent comedy.

No-Name Town is a rough and ready prospectors' settlement, one of many such ramshackle communities springing up during the California Gold Rush. Two very different men link up as partners and grow into inseperable friends. '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. When a mormon auctions one of his wives (Elizabeth, played by Jean Seberg), Rumson buys her. Things get complicated when Pardner falls in love with Elizabeth, and she falls in love with .... er, both men.

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).

Good things include a barnstorming performance from Marvin, radiating enormous personality and a real flair for comedy. 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). Previn's musical interlude which introduces the Parson (Alan Dexter) is superb, leading into one of the film's best songs, "Here It Is". 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. "Hand Me Down That Can Of Beans" is rendered by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, guesting in the movie. The boys obviously decided to stay on, because they crop up in various shots throughout the film. Mad Jack is played with manic zest and a peculiar British accent by Ray Walston, none other than TV's "My Favourite Martian".

The interminable gag of the collapsing tunnels stand as a metaphor of the film's shortcomings - over-elaborate, and over-long.

(No spoilers herein).

My friend sent me this movie wanting to know my comments on it, without telling me even a word of what it was about or what he thought of it. I went and checked out the entry on IMDB and was a touch confused why he was sending me a sort of musical half-western flick, being that neither of those categories would pop up at the top of either our lists.

Needless to say, something about this movie surprised me -- I fully enjoyed watching it ! Right from the start the characters were interesting and the scenes quite absurdly funny. Some of the singing was truly awful (in a funny way), and other songs were actually very toe-tappingly catchy.

There is a whole lot of physical humor in this movie, from the opening scene after they bury the guy, to the ending scenes with the bull. And holy crap the older man drinks a lot. I don't think I've ever seen a movie where a single character drinks so much hard alcohol ! Along with the numerous sexual jokes I certainly wouldn't recommend this movie for children.

As the movie came to a conclusion, I found myself attached to the main characters and wanting to see more of their adventures. The plot had a very natural progression. As silly and ridiculous as it certainly was, the plot made a strange sort of sense.

I rate the movie an 8 out of 10.