Paint Your Wagon
A Michigan farmer and a prospector form a partnership in the California gold country. Their adventures include buying and sharing a wife, hijacking a stage, kidnapping six prostitutes, and turning their mining camp into a boom town. Along the way there is plenty of drinking, gambling, and singing. They even find time to do some creative gold mining.
Critics Sentiment
Elizabeth proposes polyandrous marriage with both men
Elizabeth kicks Ben and Pardner out of cabin
The film recovers dramatically from its lowest point when Elizabeth dismisses both men (5.2) to the spectacular bull destruction sequence (7.8), a 2.6-point swing that revitalized the finale.
Paint Your Wagon follows a classic rise-fall-rise pattern, starting moderately well with the gold discovery and town-building, peaking with its daring polyandrous arrangement that critics found both groundbreaking and entertaining. The film suffers significantly in its middle act from excessive runtime and meandering subplots, hitting its lowest point when the central relationship fractures, before recovering with a spectacular destructive climax that critics consistently praised.
Full cast
Showing 20 of 26
Lee Marvin
Ben Rumson
Clint Eastwood
"Pardner"
Jean Seberg
Elizabeth Woodling
Ray Walston
"Mad Jack" Duncan
Harve Presnell
"Rotten Luck Willie"
Tom Ligon
Horton Fenty
Alan Dexter
Parson
Terry Jenkins
Joe Mooney
Paula Trueman
Mrs. Fenty
H.B. Haggerty
Steve Bull
Benny Baker
Haywood Holbrook
William O'Connell
Horace Tabor
Geoffrey Norman
Foster
Robert Easton
Ezra Atwell
Alan Baxter
Mr. Fenty
Karl Bruck
Schermerhorn
John Mitchum
Jacob Woodling
Sue Casey
Sarah Woodling
Eddie Little Sky
Indian
Harvey Parry
Higgins
Crew
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