IMDb > Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Paint Your Wagon
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Paint Your Wagon (1969) More at IMDbPro »

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Paint Your Wagon (1969) -- Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
Paint Your Wagon (1969) -- Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town.
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Overview

User Rating:
6.5/10   4,682 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Joshua Logan
Writers:
Paddy Chayefsky (adaptation)
Alan Jay Lerner (musical play "Paint Your Wagon")
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Contact:
View company contact information for Paint Your Wagon on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 October 1969 (USA) more
Genre:
Comedy | Musical | Romance | Western more
Tagline:
Stake Your Claim To The Musical Goldmine of '69! more
Plot:
Two unlikely prospector partners share the same wife in a California gold rush mining town. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Warner Bros goes ahead and makes your day with a Clint Eastwood box set
 (From EW.com - PopWatch. 30 November 2009, 4:25 PM, PST)
70Mm Todd A-o Film Festival To Be Held In Germany, October 2-4
 (From CinemaRetro. 7 September 2009, 8:27 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
"A Happily-Married ... Triple" more (82 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Lee Marvin ... Ben Rumson

Clint Eastwood ... Pardner

Jean Seberg ... Elizabeth
Harve Presnell ... Rotten Luck Willie
Ray Walston ... Mad Jack Duncan

Tom Ligon ... Horton Fenty
Alan Dexter ... Parson
William O'Connell ... Horace Tabor
Benny Baker ... Haywood Holbrook (as Ben Baker)
Alan Baxter ... Mr. Fenty
Paula Trueman ... Mrs. Fenty

Robert Easton ... Atwell

Geoffrey Norman ... Foster
H.B. Haggerty ... Steve Bull
Terry Jenkins ... Joe Mooney
more
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Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for thematic material.
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
158 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Colour:
Colour (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.20 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
4-Track Stereo (35 mm prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)
Certification:
Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | USA:TV-14 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-8 | Norway:16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rated: 2001) | West Germany:16 | Singapore:PG
Filming Locations:
Baker, Oregon, USA more
Company:
Malpaso Company, The more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Lesley Ann Warren and Sally Ann Howes turned down the role of Elizabeth. Kim Novak was also approached, and Diana Rigg was set to star as Elizabeth but was forced to withdraw due to illness. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: While working in the "mine", Ben Rumson can clearly be seen wearing a carbide lamp. Carbide lamps were not developed until 1892, but the movie is set in 1849. more
Quotes:
[Introduction to the song "They Call the Wind Mariah"]
Mad Jack Duncan: It's a living hell up here. What with the bloody rain, the bloody loneliness, and that bloody, bloody wind.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in The 76th Annual Academy Awards (2004) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
The Gospel Of No Name City more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
18 out of 21 people found the following comment useful.
"A Happily-Married ... Triple", 14 August 2000
Author: Michael Coy (michael.coy@virgin.net) from London, England

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.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Can you believe that Clint Eastwood was 39 when this movie was made? nikkiandtim
Best Thing About Movie . . . teresa-elbin
Where's the baby?? joellyn917
Who sang They Call the Wind Mariah in the movie? turner-33
Cover Art on 1969 Album kmgeissel
Lee Marvin very different in this movie! nikkiandtim
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