Not every film that has an Overnight Movie/TV musical moment is a great film. Some are just a chore to sit through. And thats how most critics and yours truly feel about this film, which went way over budget, was blasted by the critics upon release, and movie patrons stayed home and ignored it. The movie was so far over budget at one point that the director, Joshua Logan, was fired before the film was completed. After The Sound of Music became a monster hit for Fox, Studios went looking for other musicals they could slap on the screen. The rights to this Broadway production, had lingered around Hollywood for years, originally owned initially by Louis B. Mayer, but when he died, it pretty much ended the project. The film does not follow the Broadway musical at all, and was heavily re-scripted by Paddy Chayefsky. Its a musical that takes place in the days of the old west. So do you hire singers who can sing, or actors who know the genre. In this case you hire Lee Marvin, who had a chance to star in Peckinpahs masterpiece The Wild Bunch but opted for this film because it paid more (One Million Dollars). He also insisted that the whiskey he drank during the film be real whiskey, and not the ice tea they usually used, much to Logans and the producers dismay. Next you add in Western Star Clint Eastwood ($750,000). Neither he nor Lee Marvin had ever done any singing on screen before but to their credit, they didnt shy away from doing it here. In fact, one of the songs warbled by Marvin, Wandrin Star, climbed the charts in the UK. Jean Seberg also joined the cast in the role of Elizabeth after Faye Dunaway, Lesley Ann Warren, and Sally Ann Howes turned it down. Diana Rigg was hired, but had to pull out due to illness. Of the three main cast members, only Sebergs singing was dubbed. As for Marvins Wandrin Star, Seberg, ever the movie critic had this to say about it: Marvins voice was like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe. By the time the film was released in 1968, musicals were once again on the skids as well, and besides this one, there were a ton of others that just about put the studios into bankruptcy. However, to spare your ears, I have decided to feature one of the songs sung in the film by a co-star who was the only cast member vocally trained. And that would be the great Harve Presnell who does a smashing rendition of this song in an otherwise so-so (at best) film. Tonights movie musical moment comes from the film Paint Your Wagon and the song is the beautiful They Call The Wind Maria a personal musical favorite of mine (just the song, not the movie.) youtu.be/02Mh3DNaXDw
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 09:21:24 +0000
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