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Click above to purchase "Paint Your Wagon" at amazon.com
Paint Your Wagon
review by Anthony D.
Rated PG-13
Studio: Paramount
Running Time: 166 minutes
Starring Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg,
Harve Presnell, Ray Walston
Written by Paddy Chayevsky
Music by Frederick Loewe, Andre Previn
Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner
Directed by Joshua Logan
Retail Price: $29.99
Features: Theatrical Trailer
Specs: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, Dolby Digital
English 5.1, English Dolby Surround, French Mono, English
Closed Captions, English Subtitles, Chapter Search
Released: July 24th, 2001
"Paint Your Wagon" is a musical film set during the
California Gold Rush, not a Western set in Dodge City or the
O. K. Corral, with memorable music and lyrics by the
formidable duo of "Brigadoon," My Fair Lady," and "Gigi"
fame: Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, with additional
music by Andre Previn. At least two of the musical's songs
have gone on to become standards, the dynamic They Call the
Wind Maria and the plaintive lovers' plea, I Talk to the
Trees, and Lee Marvin actually had a hit record with his
rendition of Wand'rin' Star (more words on that later).
It all begins when a hapless wagon overturns, and
Marvin's Ben Rumson rushes to the rescue. Surviving the
accident is Clint Eastwood, a very young appearing Clint
Eastwood without the age that has turned his face into a
creation more lined than a New York City subway map. As the
gold-rushers try to bury the dead, a sparkle appears in the
grave and in Ben's eye, without a blink, Ben stakes his
claim on the gold, the corpse flies, and Marvin and Eastwood
begin an unlikely partnership.
Well, it was bound to happen, a mining town springs up in
the lush lands of Oregon (doubling, no doubt for
California), and Ben sings about the perils which will
undoubtedly follow,w hile Eastwood (now called only
"Pardner") croons about a lost love named "Eliza." The Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band puts in an appearance leading to a
rain-drenched revelry of mud dancing out in the wilderness
where the rain Tess, the fire is Jo and they call the wind:
Maria. When men share only the company of other men, they
begin to personify the elements around them; but when a
Mormon with two women of his own passes through, all hell
nearly breaks loose. To save his wives from the clutches of
these men, the Mormon readily agrees to auction off the
younger of his two wives, Elizabeth; the might durned
beautiful Jean Seberg - - a far cry from Godard's
"Breathless" and even further from Preminger's "St. Joan."
The besotted Ben bids mighty high for Elizabeth, and wins
her hand, but when trying to win her heart, she proves to be
as stubborn as he is. She'll give him the marital rites as
long as he provides her with a home that is a million miles
away behind the door. The Rumson Cabin becomes the hot spot
for the townsmen, as they rise early to sneak a peak at the
only woman within what might as well be a million miles;
except for those imported French tarts on their way to
another town who Ben decides to kidnap with the blessing of
a town meeting. (Town meeting? Civilization approaches).
With Ben off chasing down a coach full of perfumed
beauties, Pardner shows Elizabeth the great outdoors,
reminding her that he talks to the trees about his
infatuation with her. That infatuation turns to fire as they
fall in love. The angry Ben returns for a knock-down fight
with Pardner, but the blow ceases when Elizabeth asks why
she cannot share the two of them, as her first husband had
had two wives. This being California, where they make up the
laws as the go along, Pardner and Ben agree to be a happily
married trio.
The film's tone and focus changes rapidly for its second
act, as the town has now become "No Name City," as
businesses thrive and gold flows from hand to hand. Everyone
has gold fever, it would seem, and as the gold exchanges
hands, dust falls between the floor cracks, giving Ben and
his cronies the wild idea of the wealth buried beneath the
town's buildings. A chain of tunnels beneath the city would
rake in the gold, but as a roving Preacher Man warns the
residents, "The Lord don't like it here, He's gonna swallow
it whole (the town), and goodbye to you."
Respectability hits Elizabeth when a wagon-full of
farmers is laid-up with injuries which force them to share
the Rumson residence. So while she shows the farmers Pardner
as her husband, Ben corrupts their teenage son, who takes to
booze, cigars and women as readily as a fish takes to water.
This being the last straw for Elizabeth, she kicks Ben out
into the street, which because of his nature as a wanderer,
he doesn't really mind.
The tunneling has created problems of its own as a bear
and bull fight prove. Yes, indeed, as the Preacher Man
continues to predict, the earth opens up and swallows No
Name City, taking the Preacher Man into the bowels of the
tunnels for a chase sequence which continually delights. A
bittersweet finale sends Ben off to parts unknown, leaving
Elizabeth her cabin and the attentions of Pardner, who
reveals his true name and nature as the wagons roll off to
better claims.
"Paint Your Wagon" has never looked as good as
Paramount's presentation herein. A positively gorgeous
enhanced picture carefully preserves the panoramic vistas of
Ken Fraker's lush Panavision cinematography. With his
wide-angle lenses, Fraker captures all the inherent beauty
of the Oregon locations, be they muddy streets or verdant
forests. Soft-focus camera work creates a misty feel for the
abundant amounts of drizzling rains which almost become a
character in and of themselves. Whatever grain is there - -
and I admit to noticing none - - is within the film itself
and therefore non-problematic. There are no traces of edge
enhancement, thankfully. Accurate fleshtones are stable
throughout, even when filtered lenses are in use. With minor
speckling in only two noticeable places, Paramount should be
commended for its careful preservation of this title.
Featuring a brand-spanking-new Dolby Digital 5.1
soundtrack, I have to say that for the first time in the
home video history of "Paint Your Wagon," every single line
of dialogue is crisp and understandable. Previous home video
incarnations have presented a rather muddy dialogue track,
which has been rectified by this stunning 5.1 remastering.
Any doubts of this may be assuaged by opting for the 2.0
surround mix which just isn't as robust as the 5.1 channel
is. And talk about an active bass! Wow! I was stunned by the
amount of LFE activity: from the opening prelude to the
closing exit music, the .1 channel is rarely not being used.
The entire destruction of No Name City is presented with a
preponderance of low bass normally associated with sci-fi
spectacles or Bruce Willis action dramas. Let me say that I
was dutifully impressed with the soundtrack! Though not
listed in the Chapter Index (see below), Paramount has seen
fit to include the film's "Intermission" and "Exit" music,
allowing Nelson Riddle's zippy arrangements to be heard in
their entirety.
Of course with a musical film, the music is the final
judge, and Paramount, despite my quibbles with them, has
delivered a solid soundtrack loaded with musical sequences.
The songs never interfere with the action, but move the
action along through time ("They Call the Wind Maria," "A
Million Miles Away") or serve as emotional outlets when
words cannot be expressed ("I Talk to the Trees" "Wand'rin
Star"). Lee Marvin may not be giving Pavorotti a run for the
money, but his whiskey soaked growl (with the aid of an
offscreen male chorus) sure does make "Wand'rin Star" a
memorable cinematic moment.
Paramount's French Mono track is interesting to listen to
as a reference for how much work actually went into the
English mix. The songs are presented in English while the
dialogue is delivered by appropriate French voices. But the
mono sound is tinny and wobbly, nothing like either of the
alternate English tracks.
Special features? No. Just one widescreen trailer, which
at the very least, acknowledges that the film is a musical.
When making a musical film, there are certain unwritten
rules to follow:
1. When the emotional level is too high for words, burst
into song.
2. Include in your cast actors who can carry a tune, the
better the vocalist, the better the musical.
3. Never, never let theatrical director Joshua Logan
adapt a brilliant stage play into a musical film.
These are three of those basic rules, there are more, but
they don't pertain to the task at hand. "Paint Your Wagon"
arrives on dvd, courtesy of Paramount, flaunting two or
those three rules. Hey, at least it gets the first one
right. BUT, the fact that Paramount is not regarding the
film of Lerner & Loewe's 1950's Broadway hit as a
musical (you'll see that they are promoting it as a
"western"), is almost beyond reproach. If it weren't for the
fact that Paramount's DVD of "Paint Your Wagon" was one of
the most exciting, glorious and stunningly produced
transfers, there would be no need for the following RANT
WARNING:
What's up with suits and ties at Paramount? Only a few
weeks ago, they were running an online survey as to which
MUSICAL FILM titles fans would like to see released on DVD,
and now they release a musical film with an eye and ear
opening experience, only to vehemently negate the film's
musical qualities with a series of chapters making access to
the film's individual songs nearly impossible. The DVD
release blows the previous laserdisc release clean out of
the water, but with the laserdisc's eighteen chapters, EACH
CHAPTER was named for its SONG; now on dvd, still bearing
eighteen chapters, not a single one of them is
music-related! Okay, so you want to hear Harve Presnell's
stunning vocalization of the standard They Call the Wind
Maria, you can't just hit "Chapter Index" to go directly to
the song, you have to go to the 25:45 minute mark (make it
23:59 for an awesome thunderclap) in Chapter Three (which
also contains the musical number Hand Me Down that Can of
Beans)! Anyone wanting a complete list of the songs and
their time codes may feel free to email me ; I'll be more
than happy to provide what Paramount could not. This rant
has been sponsored by musical mavens everywhere, who would
like to have access to a musical film's musical numbers in a
convenient and easy manner. Going on...
Following two abysmal screen adaptations of successful
Broadway musicals, "Camelot" - which he seemed to embalm for
posterity and "South Pacific"- with its experimental colored
filtering, one would think that letting Josh Logan direct
another musical would be out of the question. "Paint Your
Wagon" certainly proves that Logan could turn out a
magnificent motion picture from a semi-successful stage
musical, with the right combination of talent working with
him. "Paint Your Wagon's" screenplay wisely dumped the book
of the musical (which tells the tale of Ben Rumson and his
daughter (!) facing the issue of racial equality against the
Gold Rush) and created a sly, sophisticated and ADULT
musical. Paddy Chayevsky contributes a generous share of
one-liners and situations harkening back to his glory days
of television in the 1950's, and the wit is shared with his
masterpiece "Network," wherein he never condescends to his
characters. And as for casting singers who can really sing,
well, one out of the three principals has a pleasant tenor
voice, another rumbles his way through his songs while the
third, Elizabeth is dubbed. There is only one legitimate
voice in the film, and that voice is given the score's best
known song, "The Call the Wind Maria," a highlight of the
film as sung by "The Unsinkable Molly Brown's" Harve
Presnell. Somehow this array of non-singers create better
characters through the use of their own vocal stylings, and
since Elizabeth's solo is a dream song, the use of a
professional voice-dubber doesn't feel out of place.
So, see "Paint Your Wagon" for the stars, the songs, the
script and the scenery. The film has proven to be more
popular as the years pass, as the multiple showings on cable
television vouch, with Paramount's presentation it's bound
to win more fans. A musical film that breaks all the rules
and still succeeds, is worth it.
 (4.5/5 - NOT included in
final score)
(4.5/5)
(4.5/5)
 (.5/5)
 (3.5/5, NOT an average)
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