Trailer
Plot summary
Mining country in gold rush California: a wagon goes into a ravine, killing one of two brothers aboard and breaking the other's arm and leg. Gold dust turns up in the dead man's grave, so prospector Ben Rumson stakes a claim there and takes the surviving brother as his partner. The brother, called Pardner, hopes the gold rush will earn him enough to buy land, and Ben promises never to betray a partner and to share what they find if Pardner tends him when he drinks. A tent city, No Name City, grows around the claim.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Paint Your Wagon (1969)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The initial budget of $10 million eventually doubled to $20 million: a daily expense of $80,000 was incurred transporting cast and crew to the location, as the closest hotel was nearly 60 miles away, and the elaborate camp used in the film cost $2.4 million to build.
- Lee Marvin turned down a role in The Wild Bunch to take the lead in Paint Your Wagon and was paid $1 million for it, while co-star Clint Eastwood, cast over rival contender George Maharis, was paid $750,000.
- Hippies who had been cast as extras formed a union and threatened to strike unless their daily pay was increased to $25.
- A rainstorm destroyed the road connecting the set to Baker City and Paramount had to pay $10,000 per mile to rebuild it, and Lerner himself almost fell down a 400-foot cliff during filming.
- Faye Dunaway, Mia Farrow and Tuesday Weld all turned down the role of Elizabeth before Jean Seberg was cast; Julie Andrews, Sally Ann Howes and Diana Rigg were also considered, and Lesley Ann Warren, under contract to Paramount, had to bow out after she became pregnant.
- Marvin's rendition of "Wand'rin' Star", accompanied by the film's choir, became a number one hit in the UK, even though Jean Seberg described his voice as "like rain gurgling down a rusty pipe".
- Logan suggested filming all of the interiors on a backlot in Hollywood but was overruled by production designer John Truscott and by Lerner, who insisted that it be shot on location and that a whole town be built in Oregon.
- According to Robert Osborne, Marvin drank heavily during filming, which led to delays and many retakes, though it may also have enhanced his screen appearance.
