5/5 A bad rap...UNDESERVEDLY...
  by R. Gawlitta (Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA)
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!

5/5 "Pardner" and Ben and Elizabeth Make Three!
  by L. Shirley (fountain valley, ca United States)
This review refers to the Paramount "Widescreen Collection" DVD Edition of "Paint Your Wagon"....

In the gold-mining town of "No Name City"(Clint gets a name in this one but the town doesn't),Ben Rumson(Lee Marvin) and "Pardner"(Clint Eastwood)have a 50/50 relationship all the way. They split the gold they find, they pay each other's debt's off, and pick each other up from druken stupors. Pardner seems to be doing most of the work on that end of things though!

The town is filled with burly men, who haven't seen a woman in quite a while...That is until some Morman's come to town. The husband has one more wife than he needs and auctions Elizabeth(Jean Seberg) off to the men. The winner? Ben Rumson of course. But partners share everything you know...so Ben, Pardner, and Elizabeth become a trio.They just seem to fit right into this town without scruples.

The raucous action, the laughs and the wonderful music by Lerner and Lowe,Andre Previn, and even the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, are non-stop.There's the kidnapping of prostitutes to "improve" the town,a scheme hatched to collect lost gold,and a religious family comes to town that leads to some hilarious situations, and may change the whole atmosphere of the bawdy town.Some of the marvelous songs you'll be treated to(and may be humming for a couple of days after) are "Paint Your Wagon","No Name City", "I Talk to The Trees"(sung by none other then Eastwood himself), and "Born Under a Wandrin Star"(sung by Marvin)...Okay so Clint and Lee's vocal stylings are not my reason for giving 5 stars to this film!But you will be mesmerized by Harve Presnell's beautiful rendition of "They Call the Wind Mariah"!

The cast is as marvelous as the music and the story.In addition to the actors mentioned above you'll also find Ray Walston and Paula Trueman(Outlaw Josey Wales). It was expertly directed by Joshua Logan(Camelot/South Pacific). The cinematography is gorgeous and is also a big part of the story.Although the film runs 2:40, I barely knew the time had past. It was just too much fun!

It's a great DVD. This film was released in 1969 and looks fabulous. Beautiful colors and a sharp, clear picture in widescreen are a joy to watch. There are no "special features" as far as interviews or documentaries but you have the choice of 5.1 Surround or stereo surround. The music and dialouge are perfect.There's even the original intermission with a medley of the songs. There are also Subtitles in English for hearing impaired viewers. These are great, they are in the black bar area and do not interfere with the picture, They denote when a song is playing, and even tell you the language that the song is being sung in.(The opening song is sung in many different languages, as many of the miners are immigrants)It may also be viewed in French(mono), and there is a Theatrical Trailer.

Want to know what Clint's name really is in this one? You have to stay to the end to find out(sorry, they said "No Spoilers!)

Have fun with this one.....Laurie

4/5 Wonderful Movie, Mediocre DVD
  by Thomas A. Holmes (Johnson City, TN USA)
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.

3/5 Think of it as a Giant Hippie Party
  by Old Hippy (PORTLAND, OR United States)
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.

5/5 California Gold Rush
  by Fred Camfield (Vicksburg, MS USA)
This was a great motion picture when it was filmed, and it remains a great motion picture. Lee Marvin plays the prospector Ben Rumson, a somewhat crude individual, who strikes gold while digging a grave for a man killed in an accident. A mining camp springs up, and Ben acquires a pardner (played by a younger Clint Eastwood, who sings quite well in this role), the brother of the man who was killed. The pardner is known as "Pardner" until a closing scene when Ben says, "By the way, what is your name?" You have to be on your toes to get the significance of that.

Action moves along in an all male town until a Mormon shows up with two wives. Under some pressure, and motivated by avarice, the man agrees to sell his younger wife, Elizabeth (played by Jean Seberg) at auction. Ben, while drunk and not quite himself, puts in the high bid of $800, and the story progresses from there. The $800 bid, even by standards of that day, seems a cheap price for Jean Seberg, but it is a very good film with many original songs including the theme song, "Paint Your Wagon." The motion picture has the spirit of adventure of men (and sometimes women) striking out for the frontier to seek their fortunes. That was, after all, the way the United States was settled.

The story is a love triangle of sorts, and a comedy of sorts. There is some crude language; the corruption/initiation of a minor youth (the son of some pious farmers rescued from the snow) who discovers he likes whiskey, cigars and women; and numerous references to the ladies of a local bordello. It is what one might expect in a frontier mining camp before civilization moves in. The film would probably offend religious fundamentalists.

I would note that this is probably the only motion picture where Clint Eastwood sings. Hollywood could have used him for a romantic lead, but his career went in a different direction.

The original DVD copy I received had a flaw, but Amazon replaced it at no cost. Amazon does guarantee all products purchased from its Web page, including purchases from secondary distributors listed on the page.