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Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg, Ray Walston, Harve Presnell ... see more see more... , Tom Ligon , H.B. Haggerty , Geoffrey Norman , Karl Bruck , Alan Baxter , Sue Casey , John Mitchum , The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band , Ben Baker , Alan Dexter , Robert Easton , Terry Jenkins , Roy Jenson , Edward Little Sky , William Mims , Harvey Parry , Paula Trueman , H.W. Gim , Pat Hawley , L. William O'Connell

After a debut on Broadway in 1951, Paramount spent an estimated 17 to 20 million dollars in production costs for this Lerner and Loewe musical. With Loewe's permission, Lerner wrote five additional tu... read more read more...nes for the film with Andre Previn. Ben Rumson (Lee Marvin) is the grizzled prospector trying his luck panning for gold in California. Pardner (Clint Eastwood) is his companion. When Ben buys a woman from a Mormon, Elizabeth (Jean Seberg) expects equal rights for her gender and chooses to live with both men. Ben and Pardner tunnel under the boomtown to gather the fallen gold dust that has filtered through the cracks of the saloon and other places. The musical comedy features 13 songs, the most recognizable being "They Call The Wind Maria". The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band helps out on the song "Hand Me Down That Can O' Beans". Both Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin are given a chance to show their vocal ability (or lack of it) in several songs. The initial release fell far short of regaining the millions put into the production, and most critics dipped their pens in poison to pan the picture -- though the film plays better than the critics would lead anyone to believe. Many jumped on the Paint Your Wagon smear campaign after the film proved to be not nearly as successful as other musicals. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Flixster Users

65% liked it

7,878 ratings

Critics

21% liked it

14 critics

PG-13, 2 hr. 44 min.

Directed by: Joshua Logan

Release Date: October 15, 1969

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DVD Release Date: July 24, 2001

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Stats: 567 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (567)

  • garyX
    July 14, 2007
    garyX
    I'm not a fan of musicals, but this amiable western is full of slapstick drunken brawls and affable cowpokes, semi spoofing the genre. Imagine a romantic Cat Ballou with songs...?! Plus Lee Marvin and Clint are great together.
  • YosemiteSamFan
    July 7, 2007
    YosemiteSamFan
    Paint Your Wagon is a strange western musical which has some embarrassingly catchy tunes. What a ride!
  • dreamfaeries
    November 14, 2006
    dreamfaeries
    Mildly amateurish, yet funny and interesting.
  • binky013
    April 27, 2006
    binky013
    I'm still amazed, when I run into this one, that Marvin and especailly Eastwood did this. This is not a horrible movie; it is strangely . . . observable. You will probably not lose yourself in this movie, but you might end up giving both Marvin and Eastwood credit for doing so... read moremething different, something "against type."
  • chaleins
    October 21, 2010
    chaleins
    If you're a fan of movie musicals, then your viewing has probably included Paint Your Wagon at some point, and I bet you've never watched it again after that! The era of the big-budget movie musicals was long over when this one was made, and for its time, it was controversial and... read more 'adult'. Now it seems relatively tame to have singing gold prospectors wooing and bedding the same woman.

    Don't look for any big performances or smash-up musical numbers with this one, there aren't any. Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood are charismatic as ever, but they can't sing worth a damn, nor should they have tried. The results are absolutely laughable. Marvin, to his credit, could always fill a screen, even as a drunken singing prospector in underwear. I can imagine he probably was 'fully lit' for this performance -- you'd have to be stoned or drunk to get through this movie in front of, or behind the camera.

    Why this film really fails is that musicals don't come off well in outdoor locations. You completely lose any kind of focus on the song, because you're looking at the nice scenery, and there are some good camera shots. The scenes are confusing, the action alternating between frenetic and achingly slow. It's the kind of film that the stars probably laugh about, or wish they could erase from their memory. The songs are pretty forgettable, here's a sample:

    "Where are we going? I don't know! When will we get there I ain't certain, all I know is that I'm on my way!!!"

    The movie sort of follows this pattern...you really don't know where it's going...for hours.

    All I know is, it's several hours of your life that you won't get back. Go watch Singing in the Rain, it's far more entertaining.
  • crazydannielle16
    October 23, 2008
    crazydannielle16
    The storyline is downright ridiculous. But I really like the music and I never knew Clint Eastwood had such a lovely singing voice! The special effects are wicked awesome, too. I watched the whole thing from beginning to end so that is saying something right there.
  • keystar1970
    May 29, 2008
    keystar1970
    OK granted, this belongs more in a comedy section than a western section, but its hard to exclude from a list of Eastwood's most memorable movies.
  • dukeakasmudge
    April 20, 2010
    dukeakasmudge
    I love Westerns but hate Musicals so I didnt know what Id think of this 1 but it was suprisingly good
  • letthewildrumpusstar
    July 13, 2009
    letthewildrumpusstar
    Absolutely wonderful, no matter what anyone tells you about the singing in it. Good enough to be played forever (decades) in a row in one Canadian theatre!
  • deereagle
    January 23, 2009
    deereagle
    This movie was so fun for me when I was young I still enjoy it.







    This movie was really fun when I was young, I still love it...

View All Paint Your Wagon Reviews

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy
February 13, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Logan's movie is a flop on many levels, a musical in which America's most macho actors, Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, are miscast and required to sing. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
May 17, 2009
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The pic just collapses because there's nothing going on that matters except to watch Marvin's hammy performance. Full Review

Neil Cohen
July 29, 2007
Neil Cohen, Echo Magazine

This last gasp MGM musical still features enough curiousity to make it worthwhile.

KJB
August 8, 2002
KJB, IGN Movies

Not as bad as some would make you believe. But I'm still not looking forward to that Clint Eastwood Sings Sinatra album.

Christopher Null
August 5, 2001
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

About as fun as painting a wagon. Full Review

John J. Puccio
July 30, 2001
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis

...a surplus of good, hummable tunes, breezy dialogue and characterizations, beautiful location shots, and excellent DVD transfer.

July 22, 2008
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Thomas Delapa
September 9, 2005
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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  • Lee Marvin won his Oscar for his performance in Paint Your Wagon?  Answer »
  • From what film did Lee Marvin have the hit record Wand'rin Star, from?  Answer »
  • In which film did John Wayne NOT star??..  Answer »
  • In what 1969 western starring Clint Eastwood & Lee Marvin sing a duet together?  Answer »
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