Paint Your Wagon (film): Difference between revisions
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* Marvin's deep-voiced rendition of "(I Was Born Under a) Wand'rin' Star", accompanied by the film's choir, became a hit in the U.K. and Europe. His voice was described by Jean Seberg as "like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe". Interviewed on NPR, Marvin said that the song was a hit in Australia, and someone there described it as, "The first 33 1/3 recorded at 45." |
* Marvin's deep-voiced rendition of "(I Was Born Under a) Wand'rin' Star", accompanied by the film's choir, became a hit in the U.K. and Europe. His voice was described by Jean Seberg as "like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe". Interviewed on NPR, Marvin said that the song was a hit in Australia, and someone there described it as, "The first 33 1/3 recorded at 45." |
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* [[The Simpsons]] watch the movie at the beginning of the "[[clip show]]" episode [[All Singing, All Dancing]]. Homer and Bart rent the film thinking that the presence of Eastwood and Marvin in it means the film is violent and bloody but are horrified when they find out the film is a musical. The song in the episode is not found in the original stage musical or the film, and the musical numbers generally follow a scene where two of the characters are being confrontational, dashing Homer's hopes that the film will turn violent. In the episode, the film is literally about the characters painting a wagon. |
* [[The Simpsons]] watch the movie at the beginning of the "[[clip show]]" episode [[All Singing, All Dancing]]. Homer and Bart rent the film thinking that the presence of Eastwood and Marvin in it means the film is violent and bloody, with "paint your wagon" being an expression for murder, but are horrified when they find out the film is a musical. The song in the episode is not found in the original stage musical or the film, and the musical numbers generally follow a scene where two of the characters are being confrontational, dashing Homer's hopes that the film will turn violent. In the episode, the film is literally about the characters painting a wagon. |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 16:21, 12 October 2008
| Paint Your Wagon | |
|---|---|
| File:233870.1020.A.jpg Original film poster | |
| Directed by | Joshua Logan |
| Written by | Alan Jay Lerner Paddy Chayefsky (adaptation) |
| Produced by | Alan Jay Lerner |
| Starring | Lee Marvin Clint Eastwood Jean Seberg |
| Edited by | Robert C. Jones |
Release dates | October 15, 1969 (U.S. release) |
Running time | 164 min |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20,000,000 (estimated) |
Paint Your Wagon is a musical film released in 1969, adapted by Paddy Chayefsky from the 1951 stage musical by Lerner and Lowe, set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California. Chayefsky provided a significantly changed storyline from the stage musical version. In the film "Rumson" is simply called "No Name City", and Ben Rumson has no daughter. The former "Julio" is now an American (Clint Eastwood) and Ben's (Lee Marvin) partner (he is called "Pardner") in the gold claim.
Synopsis
The film begins with a wagon crashing into a ravine. prospector Ben Rumson finds that of the two adult male occupants, one is dead and his brother injured with a broken arm and leg. As the man is about to be buried, gold dust is discovered at the graveside. Ben stakes a claim on the land and the surviving brother is adopted as his "Pardner" while he recuperates. They then share the spoils of Ben's prospecting on the condition that Pardner takes care of Ben in his moments of drunkenness and melancholy. Pardner pines for a non-existent girl ("I Still See Elisa").
The land becomes a boom town.
"No Name City" starts as a tent city with the men partying ("Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans") followed by bouts of melancholy ("They Call the Wind Maria"). The arrival of a Mormon with two wives is taken to be unfair to the miners. The miners persuade Jacob Woodling to sell one of his wives to the highest bidder.
A drunken Ben winds up with the highest bid for Elizabeth (Jean Seberg). Ben is readied for the wedding by the other miners ("Whoop-Ti-Yay"). Elizabeth's presence comes to be a novelty in the area, causing Ben to become jealous of all the other miners. News comes of the pending arrival of "six French tarts" to a neighboring town and a plan is hatched to kidnap the women and bring them to "No Name City" ("There's a Coach Comin' In"). Ben heads up the mission and leaves Elizabeth in the care of Pardner. While Ben is gone, the two fall in love ("A Million Miles Away Behind the Door" by Elizabeth and "I Talk to the Trees" by Pardner). Elizabeth convinces them that if a Mormon man can have two wives, a wife can have two husbands.
As the town booms the arrangement with Ben, Pardner, and Elizabeth works well for a while until a group of settlers is rescued from the snow. A straight-laced family is invited to spend the winter with Elizabeth and Pardner is assumed to be her husband. Ben is left to fend for himself in town. As the gold begins to play out Ben and a group of miners discover that gold dust is dropping through the floor boards of many of the saloons. They hatch a plan to tunnel under all the businesses to get at the gold ("The Best Things in Life are Dirty").
Ben introduces one of the family, young Horton Fenty to the pleasures of Rotten luck Willie's saloon and cat house. This leads to Elizabeth dismissing Pardner from the log cabin Ben built for her. Parder takes to gambling in Willie's ("Gold Fever").
This brings the story to its climax when, during a bull and bear fight, the streets collapse into the tunnels dug by Ben and the others and the town is destroyed. At the end of the film Ben moves on to the next gold field ("Wand'rin' Star").
Background
Eastwood and Marvin did their own singing while Seberg's songs were dubbed. The early incarnation of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band had a cameo in the song "Hand Me Down That Can o' Beans". Some songs from the original musical were dropped and some were added, while others were used in a different contexts.
The film was made near Baker City, Oregon, with Joshua Logan directing.
The film was released at a time when movie musicals were going out of fashion, especially with younger audiences. Its overblown budget became notorious in the press. Eastwood was frustrated by the long delays in the making of the movie, later saying that the experience strengthened his resolve to become a director. According to Robert Osborne, Marvin was drinking heavily, which may have enhanced his screen appearance, but led to delays and many retakes.
Songs
| Title | Written by | Sung by |
|---|---|---|
| I'm On My Way | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Chorus |
| I Still See Elisa | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Pardner |
| The First Thing You Know | Alan Jay Lerner André Previn |
Ben Rumson |
| Hand Me Down That Can Of Beans | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Chorus |
| They Call the Wind Maria | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Rotten Luck Willie Chorus |
| Whoop-Ti-Ay! | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Chorus |
| A Million Miles Away Behind the Door | Alan Jay Lerner André Previn |
Elizabeth |
| I Talk to the Trees | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Pardner |
| There's A Coach Comin' In | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Rotten Luck Willie Chorus |
| The Gospel of No Name City | Alan Jay Lerner André Previn |
Parson |
| Best Things | Alan Jay Lerner André Previn |
Ben Rumson Mad Jack Duncan Pardner |
| Wand'rin' Star | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Ben Rumson Chorus |
| Gold Fever | Alan Jay Lerner André Previn |
Pardner Chorus |
| Finale (I'm On My Way) | Alan Jay Lerner Frederick Loewe |
Ben Rumson Mad Jack Duncan Chorus |
Popular allusions
- Marvin's deep-voiced rendition of "(I Was Born Under a) Wand'rin' Star", accompanied by the film's choir, became a hit in the U.K. and Europe. His voice was described by Jean Seberg as "like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe". Interviewed on NPR, Marvin said that the song was a hit in Australia, and someone there described it as, "The first 33 1/3 recorded at 45."
- The Simpsons watch the movie at the beginning of the "clip show" episode All Singing, All Dancing. Homer and Bart rent the film thinking that the presence of Eastwood and Marvin in it means the film is violent and bloody, with "paint your wagon" being an expression for murder, but are horrified when they find out the film is a musical. The song in the episode is not found in the original stage musical or the film, and the musical numbers generally follow a scene where two of the characters are being confrontational, dashing Homer's hopes that the film will turn violent. In the episode, the film is literally about the characters painting a wagon.
