Rating: 
Summary: Bawdy Good Fun!
Review: Totally irreverent and unabashed Paint Your Wagon is bawdy good fun for the whole family! In spite of the critics' remarks about its morals or lack of them, I found the story to be true to life in the old west. In watching the documentary "Ken Burn's presents The West," one learns that many decent law abiding folk abandoned all sense of morality and manners once out on the American Frontier.The music as with all Lerner and Loewe films is excellent, especially the unforgettable song, "They Call The Wind Maria." Clint Eastwood sings beautifully and most probably could have had a nice singing career had he not gone to tough guy films and spahgetti Westerns. Lee Marvin and Jean Seberg compliment a fine cast of actors that make this musical very enjoyable and a believable picture of life in the Old West. Adapted by Paddy Chayefsky (remember "Marty?") the musical is filmed on location in a beautiful wilderness (supposedly) in California which is about to become a state. Reckless, raucous and full of good fun it makes Rogers and Hamerstein's "Oklahoma" look dull and tame by comparison. Like the song "With A Little Bit Of Luck" in the musical, My Fair Lady, Lerner and Loewe tend to celebrate the lesser (and more real) qualities of humanity with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. Thus so I dare say I enjoy Lerner and Loewe much more than Rogers and Hammerstein.
Rating:
Summary: A Fun Family Movie...
Review: Tough Guy Lee Marvin swaps his CAT BALLOU drunken gun fighter for the more sterling image as reprobate prospector Ben Rumson. Ben "pardners-up" with younger-than-yesterday Tough Guy, Clint Eastwood (Sylvester Newel: again a Man with No Name) to found decadent, "swamp of sin" NO NAME CITY....the fun is watching some good timing FUNdamentalists sing, dance and swindle their way to short-lived GOLD RUSH glory. THEY CALL THE WIND MARIA is the memorable, show-piece song vibrantly sung by Harve Presnell. Jean Serberg is the engagingly beautiful centerpiece of Marvin & Eastwood's polygamous "pardnership". Ray Walston is fine as Mad Jack who joins the two main dudes in a nefarious plot to (literally) undermine No Name by swindling its gamblers of their gotten & ill-gotten fortunes. My favorite "riff" is Ben mentoring young Horton Fenty... played with obvious relish and oblivious "lust" by TOM LIGON...in finer arts of smoking, drinking, "womanizing", and gambling. There is no violence and minimal, mild cursing in this film which unusually celebrates kindness and FAMILY values. Mayhem and raucous good humor mask this musical's not-subtle moral: GOODness is good; grace is kindness tested under fire and BS. Yes; there is a lot of BULL: a final BEN extravaganza plotted by The Pardners is the "Lord's Day Bull fight" ( Bull Liberation Leaguers would be on this El Toro pronto)! But, WHO GIVES A DAMN? PAINT YOUR WAGON: join the decadents of No Name; watch a great family film!
Rating:
Summary: A bad rap...UNDESERVEDLY...
Review: The DVD version of "Paint Your Wagon" is as good as it gets. The 2.35:1 LBX shows outdoor panoramas that are often breath-taking. Lee Marvin had recently won the Oscar, followed it with "The Dirty Dozen", and shows a confidence that carries this film to new heights. He's never been so good, or as good, since. The Lerner & Loewe score is wonderful. Marvin's "Wand'rin' Star" is actually quite touching, and Harve Presnell is here to give justice to the best song in the show, "They Call the Wind Maria". These songs are augmented with excellent support from the chorale of the legendary Roger Wagner. Additional musical ideas came from Andre Previn. What a great effort from the greatest musical icons of the period! Top this off with a screenplay by Paddy Chayevsky (very loosely adapted from the stage show), and it's a bawdy, irreverent and totally fun film. Clint Eastwood was much maligned for his attempt at singing (and NOT so terrible, considering these were macho guys...) This film has had a bad rap since it was released, and it's not that bad. It's quite silly, but, in this case, silly is good. There are some serious issues being dealt with. This film's greatness depends on your willingness to accept it as entertainment; if you are the least bit "prudish", forget it. To quote the preacher's teenage son: "If you don't drink or smoke, you're missing out on the 2nd and 3rd best thing in life". Don't judge; enjoy!
Rating: 
Summary: An Old Favorite That looks Great On DVD!
Review: Ok, I've heard all of the criticism of this film, and I agree with some of it. It's overdone in places, and lacking in others, but overall, it's still a great story at its' heart,... and where else can you hear both Tough Guys Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood sing???? The story does fall apart toward the end, though, I do agree. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this as a 'family' movie for kids,...It does have 'Adult' themes of Prostitution, Drunkeness,etc. I'd rate it PG-13, I think.
And it's a damn long film, too--almost 3 hours--It could have been cut some for time. I have heard from various sources, including both Eastwood and Marvin's Biographies on the A&E Channel that the production was troubled from the start, and was a mess to film. Eastwood says that it's one of his LEAST favorite films because of the on-set difficulties with Marvin, & the Director, Josh Logan, and the location shooting.
The settings are gorgeous, though. I believe they filmed the movie in the mountains of Oregon, which were inaccessible except by trucks, and the stars were flown in by helicopter.
The late Great Ray Walston makes a great 'Mad Jack Duncan', and is one of many fabulous character actors to appear in this film. Overall, the movie holds up as a great musical Western, and I have fond memories of seeing the film when it first came out in 1969, when I was 5 years old and I played the Soundtrack Record Album over and over as a kid.
I still know all the songs, and have the soundtrack album on CD!
This film, along with 'OLIVER!', which came out in 1968, made me the fan of musicals (and movies in general) that I am today! Give 'Paint Your Wagon' a chance, even if you're not a fan of musicals! It's a good time Whoop-Ti-Yi Shivaree!
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Movie, Mediocre DVD
Review: PAINT YOUR WAGON is maybe one of the first counter-culture musicals, and the fact that it was made by the same director, Joshua Logan, who made SOUTH PACIFIC invites remarkable comparison. Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Harve Presnell, and Ray Walston stand out in the cast, mostly of nonsingers, giving the musical a realistic edge we don't see again until David Byrne's TRUE STORIES. Basically, a city of men in Gold Rush-era California see their standards conflict with those imposed by the introduction of conventional morality to their settlement. The notion that Rumson and Pardner accept being the husbands of Elizabeth as, in her words, "a beautiful, humane solution," saves the main romance from being a run-of-the-mill love story. Marvin's comedic capacity plays well with his foil, Eastwood, and Ray Walston heads the ensemble cast in an impressive way. Unfortunately, Paramount has released a bare-bones DVD. The picture and sound are much better than the VHS version, of course, but there's little else. The chapters are NOT coded to the songs. The DVD contains the trailer, but no other background information. While, of course, some of the principals have passed away, it would have been nice to have a comment or two from Clint Eastwood. I would also like to hear some of the singing auditions--in a film where almost everyone sings, Jean Seberg's voice must have been interesting for the director to decide to overdub her. I realize this movie does not have the cultural resonance of SOUND OF MUSIC, but it would be terrific to learn more about PAINT YOUR WAGON. If you're looking for a movie with a couple of memorable songs ("I Was Born under a Wandering Star" and "They Call the Wind Mariah"), and the type of cantankerous social satire you find in NETWORK (Paddy Chayefsky adapted the stageplay), you'll enjoy PAINT YOUR WAGON. If you already own this movie, you buy this disc to have a crisper, cleaner version once you've worn out your VHS copy and/or have gotten tired of switching tapes midway.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite Lee Marvin
Review: This is the Lee Marvin I love and wish I could have met. I love him in Gorky Park as well, but to a lesser extent.
The movie has some flaws, like Jean Seberg, the unbelievably corny man who sings "They Call the Wind Maria" in an operatic voice, the ending isn't too satisfying either - but everything else is fantastic. The musical score is great. I heard (can't swear to it) that it's from the same composer who wrote the score for "My Fair Lady". Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin are no professional singers, but I can't imagine anyone else but Eastwood singing "Gold Fever", or anyone but Marvin singing "I Was Born Under a Wondering Star", two personal favourites of mine. You can't miss the hypocritical Parson, the wonderful No Name City where the story unfolds, the deeply religious boy who is "corrupted" by Marvin, his friendship with Eastwood's character, the wittiness and humour of the dialogues...It's all as good as it gets. And, like Mary Poppins (another musical), it's a movie with a deeply subversive and irreverent underlying message, only "Mary..." was more about challenging authority and thinking for yourself, no matter what your age is - while this movie is more in the lines of challenging society's moral rules about relationships and marriage, and about how there can be deep tenderness between straight men. Now that homophobia is luckily not the norm anymore and same sex love can be depicted on film, just making a movie where there is so much, and so touching a friendship between two men, is almost bizarrely original and fresh.
Rating:
Summary: "There will be three of us for supper."
Review: When first released--even in the era of "free love"--PAINT YOUR WAGON raised eyebrows. A major studio releasing a big budget musical about an immoral California mining town where two men are married to the same woman? How gosh! Cast aside any moral timidity and simply have fun watching this entertaining, rowdy film. Lee Marvin is a hoot as drunken, pretentious Ben Rumson--Clint Eastwood totally in over his head as the more down-to-earth 'Pardner.' Both actors share some memorable moments as they "partner up" on everything they own: including Ben's wife, Elizabeth (Jean Seberg, whose untimely death following the film's release was indeed tragic). The supporting cast, including Ray Walston and Tom Ligon, is outstanding; the "music"--if you can call it that--is uneven and very forgettable (with the glowing exception of "They Call the Wind Maria," sung by Harve Presnell). From brothels to bulls and bears, from gold dust to greed and lust, pull up a chair and let PAINT YOUR WAGON haul you away to No Name City.
--D. Mikels
Rating:
Summary: Good Old Fun
Review: Wow, how can you not love Clint Eastwood's singing? This movie is fun and hilarious. A little action and a lot of laughter. The characters are witty and the plot is creative. I would recomend this movie to anyone, unless you don't agree with drinking, smoking and gambling. Just watch the movie and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: My first true laugh
Review: Thirty years ago when I as a young buck watched this movie, it was a delightful surprise. That Lee Marvin was so funny. You never forget that first kiss,well you never forget that first really uncontrollable laugh either. Lee Marvin, like alot of heavies, had a gift for comedy. The part of the movie when Marvin thinks he is in hell is so classic. The closing song is bittersweet. It is hard to say good-bye to all the great characters. Ah to be so young and innocent again!
Rating: 
Summary: Think of it as a Giant Hippie Party
Review: No name city was built in the Wallawa Mts. outside Baker City, Oregon, and a call went out for "longhairs" to act as extras. Hippies were big on authentic Western costume and could supply their own wardrobe right down to the guns (yes, these hippies were armed to the teeth). They came with wives, kids, big dogs and bigger trucks and settled in for the summer, fall, winter, spring, and...I believe...a second summer. Everything you see in this movie is REAL...the poker game in the background, the French whores (imported from Paris, and yes, they plied their trade on the set and in hotels in Baker), the antiques, the long hair and handlebar moustaches. The opium den and bootleg liquor. All real and functioning. After the filming, there was a showing in Portland of the rough movie for the extras, and it was heartbreakingly beautiful. The Norman Luboff choir was not yet dubbed in and the music WAS the extras singing, and we got to hear Jean Seburg sing her part, and the SCALE of it was monumental....you really got the feeling of this tiny place lost in the Westerm wilderness. It was wonderful...makes me angry/sad to see the finished movie as cut in LA...the studio did their best to turn it into a routine and banal Broadway musical. Wish you fans could have seen it as I did in 1969.
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