August 20, 2025 • 51 mins
Zach Bryant returns, and this time we're talking about one of Clint Eastwood's more comedic efforts, Two Mules for Sister Sara. We also talk about episode 3 of the first season of Rawhide, 'Incident with an Executioner'.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast network.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back to Tumbleweeds and TV Cowboys, a classic Western
film and TV podcast. My Name is Hunter, and this
week's episode, Zach Bryant returns, and this time we're talking
about another Clint Eastwood western, directed by the great Don
Siegel and Co Starr and Shirley maclain. It's two Mules
for Sister Sarah. We're also talking about an episode of Rawhide,
the third episode from the first season titled Incident with
(00:36):
an Executioner. We're going to get right into it. Here
is our conversation. Welcome back, Zach. It's been a little
over a month since you were last on the podcast,
and we talked about Clint Eastwood's foray into Hollywood musicals
Paint your Wagon. So can you catch us up on
any recent episodes of They Live by Film and anything
else you'd like for listeners to check out.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Well, I'll just go over the one we just did
because I think it has like a semi relation to
westerns and things. We just did an episode that Chris
set us up with, which was on Charles Bronson. It's
not going to be about Once upon a Time in
the West, but we have talked about that previously.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Just go back and see how.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Bad we were about five years ago and you can
listen to that one. But we did talk about three
movies from Charles Bronson, Cold Sweat on the Other Side
of the Door, which has Anthony Perkins in it, which
was which I think was the best one of the thury,
not to spoil too much. And then we talked about
the Mechanic, and we sort of talked about Death Wish
because it just felt kind of natural after talking about
(01:36):
the Mechanic. So, yeah, we go into kind of the
how fun of a character Bronson is, you know, him,
like Eastwood, have a very storied and very interesting life
prior to become an actors and their acting career.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. And I actually I've already listened
to the Bronson episode and I really enjoyed it. And
I actually I reached out to Chris after listening to
the episode because he's scheduled to make an appearance on
my show pretty soon, and we were originally planning on
talking about a couple of acid Westerns. But I reached
(02:11):
out and I said, Hey, would you want to cover
a couple Charles Bronson flicks instead, because I know he
talked about red Son a little bit, which has to show.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah, I was like, why didn't he choose red Son
because that sounds awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And and so we are going to talk about red
Son and and the White Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I haven't heard of that one. Okay, Well, I like
the color choreography here, so that's cool.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, And it's funny because we were messaging and he
and he was just like, are there any Westerns with
blue in the title? And I said, well, there is,
there's Soldier Blue.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Oh, y'all got to do it.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And I just don't know if I can do a
triple a triple feature. I think I know we can
do the two Bronson flicks, and I've seen Soldier Blue.
It might be interesting to talk about, but I think
we'll just keep it to Bronson. But I did we
will talk about acid Westerns in the future because.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Thompson directed that. That's really cool.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I like him, you would like I think you should
check out The White Buffalo because I think you would
enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I mean, I love Ten the Midnight. I'm a
big fan of I think he did Conquest and double checkings.
Did he do Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
He did, he did, which is I think the best
sequel of the original ones. Well, no, Escape is, but
the Conquest is really good.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, and he did the original Cape Fear, Oh, Robert
Mitcham and.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Happy Birthday to Me, that's fan.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, he did Happy Birthday to Me. And you know,
I want to say he did the Guns of the Navarone,
but I'm not positive.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Well he I know, I'm looking here. I might see
it in a minute. But he also took over for
what's Michael winter winer for like a winner? Yes, yeah,
for Death Wish four. So that's cool. King Solomon's mind.
Dude's had a good career, I will say that.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Oh definitely.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah, Like, which one did you think he did?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Did he did he do Guns of the Navarone?
Speaker 4 (03:59):
I thinel like that would have popped up on top?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, it must he must not have if it's not
popping up as one of his most popular movies.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
That, No, he did, he did? Oh he did?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay? Yeah, excellent?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, good memory. I missed it somehow. Oh yeah, it's
like the fifth thing on here. I just got I
think I was distracted by Happy Birthday to me, I
didn't see it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, that's that's actually that's a pretty fun slasher.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he kind of has that same
I love guys like we talked about Andrea Tooth and
you know Jack Arnold. I love these guys who have
the most weird and eclectic career. So I get a
lot of attractions people like jay Lee Thompson.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Oh yeah. Anytime there's a a filmmaker or an actor
who's in the fifties, like the forties, fifties or sixties
and they're making you know, it's like studio kind of
mainstream entertainment, and then they're making like exploitation movies in
the eighties seventies that I always enjoy that. All right, Well,
(05:00):
we got to get into the movie we're talking about,
which is Two Mules for Sister Sarah. Now, I know
you grew up watching Clint Eastwood movies. Is this one
that you have a long history with or something you
caught up with more recently recently?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
But I do have to tell the story because of
course I've mentioned on here before. I got into Clint
Eastwood because of my mom. Yes, I saw a lot
of things because of her. Her probably her favorite Clin Eastwood.
Movie is Two Mules for sister Sarah, and she had
begged me to watch this film for many, many years,
and I said, I'll get around to it. I'm not
you know, I like comedies, but I'm kind of picky
(05:35):
about them. So she talked about funny it was. I
was like, I'll get to it. It's not on a priority,
but I'll get to it. And not to get not
to drag the mood down. My mom was in the
ICU last year. She almost passed away due to some complications.
So she's fine now we're all happy. So I did
end up watching it when she got back from the hospital.
(05:56):
I made a point that me and her would watch
that movie together. And I actually brought over the Keno
Lrber Blu ray which looks great. They did a great
job on it, and I got to watch it with
her last year for the first time.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Now I think this is probably my third time seeing it.
It had been a while since the last time I
watched it. It had probably been like maybe ten years
or more since the previous watch. And now I'm going
to talk a little bit about the cast and crew,
and then we can get into our thoughts on kind
of how well this holds up. But this is the
second of five collaborations between Eastwood and director Don Siegel,
(06:34):
And they made Coogan's Bluff before this, and they teamed
up again for The Beguiled, Dirty Harry and Escape from
Alcatraz After Two Mules for Sister Sarah. And I know
Eastwood has cited Siegel as being a big influence on
him as a filmmaker, and I think that is pretty
like a pretty obvious thing.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
The script was originally written by Bud Betteker, and when
he sold it, he was going to be the director,
but then the script was rewritten by a blacklisted screenwriter,
Albert Maltz. And he was one of the Hollywood Ten,
Like you know, he was jailed in nineteen fifty because
he wouldn't testify about his involvement in the Communist Party.
(07:14):
And he did write some pretty solid movies. He wrote
Broken Arrow, the Jimmy Stewart West.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Okay, oh yeah, that's right, Okay, I know that one.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah. And he wrote an early noir that I'm a
big fan of called This Gun for Hire. It's stars
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. That's a great movie. If
you haven't seen that, but the cinematography is by Gabriel Figueroa.
And he also shot another Eastwood movie in nineteen seventy,
Kelly's Heroes. And he has a pretty interesting filmography. He
(07:48):
worked with Louis boonwell like he shot The Exterminating Angel,
and he also worked with John Ford. He shot one
of his movies from the forties called The Fugitive. And
then finally The School was composed by Enio Morriconi, of course,
and this was the first I think this was his
first Hollywood production, and it was one of fifteen scores
(08:09):
from nineteen seventy, which is just incredible. He just coughed
up these great scores, like in some of the other
movies he scored. In nineteen seventy. He did Dario Argento's
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
He did do that one, didn't he.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, that's which is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yeah, that's a great score.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And he did Ilo Petri's movie Investigation of a Citizen
Above Suspicion.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
That movie, it's really great.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
YEAHO an our podcasts like years ago, Oh nice, Yeah, yeah,
I don't remember what I said about it, So don't go.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Listen to it, and he did Corbucci's film Compagnio's and
not Its nineteen seventy as well. And but yeah, I
don't know how one person can pump out so much
great music in a single year. It's really incredible.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Morcone is, you know, just a standard anyway, because when
I when I use an example of what a great
composer is, the example I always get to is he
made the music for Exorcist too. And as terrible as
that movie is, that score is phenomenal. Oh, I still
listen to The Exorcist to soundtrack and I haven't seen
the movie in fifteen or so years.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, I actually I like that score too, and I
I understand how somebody could hate that movie, but I
actually I think some of it visually is pretty cool.
And when I watched it, all I had ever heard
was that it was just absolute garbage. But when I
(09:40):
finally watched The Exorcist Too, I was kind of like,
maybe my expectations were just lowered. It's like so much
Boriman that that helped me enjoy me Or was that.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Boraman did it right?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, John b.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, that's why it looks great. I do remember it
looking good.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, Like I would definitely rewatch it. I mean, some
of it is definitely goofy.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
But I always skip from one to three, Like when
I watch Exorcist, I go straight from one to three.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah. I mean they're both great for sure.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
But anyway, I got you off topic. I just uh,
we got to Morcone.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yes, yeah, Now at this point, I think I'm going
to read the IMDb synopsis and then we can kind
of hear our get into our general thoughts. All right, So,
when a former Civil War soldier saves a nun from
a gang of bandits, they team up to help the
Mexicans in their war against the French. IMDb so brief.
I love how they summarize them.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I'm actually looking at letterbox. See how long it is?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh yeah, a letterbox has an entire paragraph here.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Do you want to read it?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Oh yeah, let's compare. Let's compare.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Okay, when a wandering mercenary named Hogan rescues a nun
called Sister Sarah from an unwonted attention of a band
of rogues on the Mexican plains, he has no idea
what he has let himself in for their chances of
counter and result in blowing up a train and a
French garrison, as well as like niting a spark between
them that survives a shocking discovery. Wow, that's a really
(11:03):
long summary of what two meals for sisters. Honestly, they
just gave you two thirds of what the movie is.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, they actually they did a pretty good job. It's
just long, all right. So, so, Zach, what did you
think of the movie this time around?
Speaker 4 (11:20):
I really enjoyed it. I have enjoyed both times I
have seen it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I do think it's very funny, because one of the
things you always worry about when you when you know,
parents start talking about comedies, You're like, how well did
it actually age? And I'm not even talking about like
this is offensive now, just like is it actually that funny?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Am I going to get it at my age? And
I do? I think.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I think Clint Eastwood and Shirley McLean have such great chemistry,
and honestly, it might be the best chemistry he ever
had with any woman on screen, which is saying a
pretty good amount. He's usually pretty good at that, but
I think they balance each other out so well that
I think it heightens the movie quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Now, I think for me, like overall, I would say
I like two Mules for Sister Sarah, but I don't
love it. I think it's got some great moments. The
photography is tremendous, It looks amazing, and I love the score,
and I do think it's well directed, and it starts
(12:24):
off so strong, like the credits set you up for
I think what should be just an awesome western. The
theme music is amazing, and there's all these great shots
that I think look amazing, and it ends with a
horse hoof landing on a tarantula, yeah, which I don't
(12:45):
support animal cruelty in movies. And there is more you
know in this movie later on, but it's just what
a way to open a movie. It is absolutely incredible.
Part of me wishes that the movie maybe played it
a little more straight, like there are some comedic beats
that work for me, but most of it doesn't land.
(13:08):
And I would be very curious to read Betteker's original screenplay.
I know he was really unhappy with the movie. And
when you look at Betteker's previous work, and he doesn't
have a lot of writing credits, but his work as
a director, I mean, his movies are very lean and
they're not super ambitious, and I'm sure that part of
(13:29):
that is working within like budgetary constraints that two mules
sister Sarah you obviously doesn't have. But I think the
movie would just appeal to me more if they were
like one fewer characters, because I do think that's a
problem as the movie goes on, and then maybe less humor,
(13:50):
But I do I really like that Sarah is is
kind of more resourceful than you would would think she
is based on how she's introduced, how she's she's introduced
as kind of a traditional damsel in distress.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
He's also a nun who you don't express like is
going to be able to do much right.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And I do think it's kind of a fun, like
subversive idea that, you know, the character that like the
damsel in distress that we meet is if she's rescued
by this traditional kind of tough, you know, Western character,
and then when he's wounded, if she kind of has
to become the hero. And I love that idea, and
(14:34):
I kind of wish that they had leaned more into that.
It would have been so interesting. I think if if
he was basically wounded and ineffective, the rest of the
movie and she had to carry the load. I think
that could have been a pretty like I think there's
a lot of potential there for that to be an
(14:54):
exciting story. Now you'd to do that, you would probably
have to drop the nun part of the story. I
don't know if it would work as well. It would
just be kind of maybe more hard to believe.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah, I think they do that to give her more intrigue.
I think that's a lot of it. I don't know
if it's not. I'm with you, because there are one
thing I do agree with. I think it is not
a very lean movie. I think that is probably my
biggest criticism of it is it probably doesn't need to
be almost two hours long, Like it's more of a
ninety five minute movie that they kind of put a
(15:25):
little bit too much. They padded a bit, which Siegel
can have a habit of doing.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Yeah, I don't think he like.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I don't know how his editing process was. I have
no knowledge of that. But I also like even Dirty Hearing,
which I think is a near perfect film. I forget
how long it is, and I'm like, I remember all
the cool scenes and I thought this would be like
an hour forty.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, and I do think Siegel is I think I
do think he's a really solid director, and I think
the final I think the final action scene is well
done and exciting, but I don't like like all of
the kind of expository dialogue about how they're going to
execute their plan, like before the kind of the final
action scene, because it introduces a bunch of characters I
(16:11):
think a little too late in the movie, and at
that point I really don't care about any of them,
and I'm not super interested in what they're trying to accomplish.
I do like having the kind of the conflict as
kind of a way to just kind of like I
hate this term, I can't believe I'm gonna use it,
(16:32):
but as a way to kind of world build, like
when they're in that one area where the French soldiers
execute the one Mexican man in front of his family,
Like at least you just see that. It's like a
lived in world, which I like, but I don't necessarily love.
I just wish that it had been like I'm fine
with there being an action climax, but I think it
(16:54):
I would have preferred it if it had been a
little more contained and maybe somehow just in Eastwood and McClain.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
You want it more like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, ye oh yeah,
but like with obviously not same sex payers. But yeah,
yeah that's and I can I can get down with
that because I love I love that movie, and I
feel like we're at least on the same page there,
because all my like love for this film comes from
Clinnie Sweet and Charlie mclin every bet of it.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah, And I do think, well, yeah, okay, so I
did mention that, like the expository dialogue between I think
the character is like Beltran, yes and Eastwood. I kind
of wish that we could have skipped over that because
there is a scene where like Eastwood asked if they
(17:45):
have any if they have any dynamite and they don't,
and then Sarah has to go get donations and then
Eastwood has to leave to go buy dynamite. And it
doesn't add a lot of screen time, but I do
think the movie really loses some intom there, and I
kind of wish that they had just said, like, hey,
this is the situation, let's just make the best, like
(18:07):
the most of what we have and and kind of
just kept the kind of kept the train moving.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I should ask because there are two cuts of this film,
and I'm just kind of curious which cut did you
end up going with.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Oh, there's only one cut on the Blu ray.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I had really okay, because do you remember if it
was an hour five or an hour or hour fourteen?
By any chance, I assume you had the domestic cut,
like the US cut is shorter.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Oh, I don't know how long it was. I thought
it was like an hour and fifty four minutes. Does
that sound right?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
See?
Speaker 3 (18:38):
The international cut is an hour one hundred and fourteen minutes,
and then the US cuts one hundred and five.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Oh, so I think it's the international cut because I was.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Sitting there trying to remember, because when I watched with
my mom, I watched the domestic and then when I rewatched,
I watched the International, and I was sitting there trying
to remember if the scene you're talking about is in
the domestic cut.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
May not. It may have been cut out for.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
The US audience, to be honest, God, but I need
to go back and compare because I don't know off
the top of my head now. But yeah, when we
when we were doing this, I was like, I should
watch the other cut just to know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Oh, I didn't even know. Honestly, I didn't even know
there were two cuts. So yeah, it may.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Only be on the Kena release because that's what I have.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It's the keynot want gotcha?
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, yeah, no, I no, there's nothing in the movie
that I would say I straight up dislike. Like, I
do think it's pretty entertaining. It all looks great. You know,
it's a pleasure to hear Morricone's music. But I do
think it I would enjoy it quite a bit more
if it was a tighter, kind of simpler story.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I do think as well too, you know, of all
the movies him and Siegel did together. I also do
think this is probably the simplest Eastwood character. Like I
always feel like when you think of Dirty Harry and
this character in The Begilded and Alcatraz, they're a lot
more complex than his character in this film.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Yes, it's very straightforward.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
I mean it just feels, you know, when you have
more Coney's music going on, you're like, yeah, man with
no name, that's what it feels like half the time.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Really, Yeah, I mean it's it's it really is like
the man with no name of you know, falls in love.
I mean it's it's not that exactly, but it's.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It's pulling from a spaghetti western pretty hard.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yes, definitely, and more Coney's score pushes it even further
into having that kind of a style or tone. I'm
trying to think of the next thing I kind of
want to get into now. I think we should talk
about the the comedic aspects of the movie. I like,
like I said, like, some of it does work for me.
(20:42):
To me, there's only one like big laugh in the movie,
and that's when Eastwood's character has an arrow in him
and he's and he's drunk. Oh, and Sarah is carving
out some of the space on the arrow to put
the gunpowder, and he tells her that she's pretty good
at that, and then he's says, oh that's right, I
forgot that you're married to a carpenter.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Oh yeah, that's a great lot.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
No, that is The banter is yeah, the banter is
the how like I don't I wish I could sit
here remember all the types of comedy that are into
I'm not the best at comedy analysis, but the banter
is definitely the highlight of the comedy part.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, that was that was tremendous. Now now I am.
I'm a fan of Shirley McLean in general, Like I
love The Apartment and I think some came running as
a great movie. I don't really know where I stand
on her performance in this. I think she's good. Maybe
it's just the character I'm not crazy about. But what
(21:44):
do you think about uh, like the I mean, obviously
you see this movie, Yeah, she's introduced as a nun,
but then there's things like throughout the movie where like
you see her uh smoking, or you hear her cursing
and you kind of yo, or they're kind of dropping
these bread crumb crumbs that she's not a nun.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Your ears are perking up.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, And this one scene towards the end that she's
actually a prostitute.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
I think where if I had to say, what may
cause that? And I think it kind of works, but
I could also see it kind of being a detriment
for someone else.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Is I think they use that as a form of intrigue.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And if you're on a rewatch, you obviously already know
what's going on. You obviously know these are not But
when the first time you're watching you're like, Okay, she's interesting,
but they don't really. But since they're trying to build
out this intrigue so much, it also limits the amount
of time they can actually develop her. Yeah, because they
can't give you too much, which I honestly want to say,
(22:45):
I kind of figured out that she was a prostitute,
like the first time I watched it pretty early, but.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Even then you're still waiting for the shoe to fall
sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, I don't think the first time I watched it,
I don't think that I knew that, so because because
I do remember it being kind of kind of a
bigger surprise to me, but I yeah, I don't know.
A part of me, like, I do appreciate what Clint
(23:15):
Eastwood brings to it as far as the humor goes,
because like some of his line delivery, Like, I think
it was very kind of smart for him to do
a more comedic role. And one thing I think that
might be interesting to talk about is yeah, I mean,
I mean so far, you know, we're just three movies
into like rewatching Clint Eastood's like major Hollywood westerns, And
(23:40):
I know, what do you think about kind of like
the evolution that we've seen through the three movies, because
I think, like, hang them High, that's very much It's
it's a very much like a a spaghetti western type character,
but he does have a little more, it seems like,
on his mind as far as like you're questioning the
(24:04):
judge and how he kind of handles front of your justice,
and then he does what feels like a complete about
face and a musical kind of romance more romantic role
in Paint Your Wagon, and then he kind of leans
into comedy again. But I don't know what, like, what
are your thoughts on that I would say.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Of those three just kind of spitballing out loud. It's
kind of interesting that I almost feel like his characters
get less complex the further he gets, And I almost
wonder if some of that is just like the popularity
of the Dollars trilogy coming to the US, and you know,
his popularity gaining. You know, he can take more simplified things.
And I'm not saying that is a bad thing, because
(24:45):
I like this movie a lot, and I know he
gets more complex when we get to a Pale Rider
and Unforgiven and things like that. So it's kind of
interesting that it's it's sort of like he's finding his footing,
but also at the same time it kind of feels
like he's also got his footing.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
He almost like he kind of knows his range at
this point.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, and he's working really well in his range, because
that's one thing I think is kind of over never
underrated with him, is he's really good at comedic timing.
And I think that comes from like TV work to
a degree, Like we'll talk a little bit about that,
like the raw Hide.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
He's he's got good timing in a rhythm with with
you know, saying something funny.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, and he has such a unique delivery, like and
he and he can be funny in the good, the bad,
and the ugly too.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
It's all but it's always like a comeback. So you're like,
is that the script or is that him? And of
course now you know we can look back and say, yeah,
he's adding quite a bit to that, and you know
he can do so much saying so little.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, I don't know. I I do like the more
I think about his performance and this kind of the
more I appreciate it. But yeah, outside that, I don't
actually have a whole lot more to add on this movie,
do you kind of have any final thoughts on Two
Mules for Sister Sarah?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Not really, And I feel bad saying that because I
do like it a lot, but it is such a
I would say it's one of Siegel's most simplified, like
directorial efforts.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
At least of his major films.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I would say it's Eastwood's one of his most simplified characters.
I think it goes out to be a comedy and
he follows with the begilded after this?
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Right with Siegel? Is that's what's after this?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Oh, I don't know, like chronologically exactly what his next
movie was. I might have been.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Yeah, it just kind of feels interesting that it would
go to that because that's that's kind of the other
end of this film, like as far as like tone goes,
as far as like Eastwood's character is in that film,
which is interesting to say the least. So you know,
it's it's one of those movies I have such a
good time with.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
But I also.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
The best way I can describe it is, this is
gonna be al awful wall I'm gonna I'm gonna pull
a Chris and just just follow me with this for
a minute. I recently been getting more into Conan and stuff,
so I read I watched the Red Sonia movie where
Arnold Swarzenegger replays Conan but they can't call him Conan,
and you know, you just kind of have to go
(27:21):
with it where I think you made a good point
where this is almost like the Man with No Name.
It's like his happy ending, and I'm like, yeah, I
could get with that. Yeah, this is it's kind of
like an unofficial part of this trilogy that Leoni didn't
make and they just said, screw it, We're just gonna
make it anyway and just give him a happy ending
and we'll be done with it. And I think it
kind of works on that level, and it kind of
(27:42):
shows that simplicity of this type of film as well.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, it is funny because I uh, I like, I
kind of also am like, I feel like there should
be more to say here, But I think I think
what it comes down to is it is it it
does lean into comedy and uh and with humor, you
know obviously it's it's either gonna work for you or
it's or it's not. And so I think it does
(28:07):
make like comedy is like to me the probably the
least interesting genre to like review a movie or to analyze,
because it's just like, does it. If it lands for you,
you'll love it. If it doesn't, you're not gonna like it.
And I'm somewhere in the middle and with this where
I do think there's good comedic moments, but a lot
(28:30):
of the time when I'm watching the movie, I'm like, man,
I wish this was just a straight forward, like serious
Western because it looks so amazing and uh, and the
score lends itself to being I think a more serious
movie also.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Well, and you know, I was just in your thinking
while you're talking to you know, I think this film
is kind of an interesting demographic because you know, Western's lane.
I'm sure, as you've noticed through the guests in your
podcast for you heavily men, and I think this is
a film that would lean more for women because of
Sherley McClain and just because it's you know, it has
(29:07):
a love story element to it, and not a weird
one like paint your.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Wagon weird, like hang them high.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Yeah, like more traditional like love story sort of thing.
You know, It's got that pride and prejudice element to
it where they don't like each other and then they
learn to like each other. So, you know, I do
think something like this is probably why part of why
like Clint Eastwood beyond just women finding him attractive, like
he found more women audience in his films than probably
(29:35):
John Wayne did. Yeah, you know, because the ability to
to have that sort of chemistry with someone else Wayne
is is charismatic, but not in nearly the same way.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, I think I agree, like Wayne is a little
bit harder to see as being someone that like a
woman would instantly fall for, but not. I think that
John Wayne has some chemistry with some of the kind
of leading women that he worked with, but.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
He can't be on mister Darcy type. No, No, he's
just he's just he does not have that. No, I
think that's not, yeah, because he definitely has movies I've
seen with him where he you know, I get I
get it, Like I'm like, okay, I can see it,
but it's I don't I don't know if he could do.
I'm trying to think, and I know you've been going
through it. Does he have just like something that's just
(30:32):
more of a straight love story in his life?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well it's not a Western but something like The Quiet Man.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
See, I haven't seen that, so I need to get
closer to that.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, oh that's I think that's a great movie. I
love that movie. At it before I forget, but but yeah,
so yeah, I enjoyed this rewatch. It's not a movie
I think I'll revisit many more times. I mean I
could see myself watching it though, especially to see the
(31:02):
alternate cut that I would be curious. And it's the
alternate cut. Is the shorter one, right.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Yeah, the one they showed in the US is like
nine minutes shorter, which in movie terms, that's a good
chunk of a movie.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Like, yeah, that could solve some of my problems.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
I was just sitting there thingkings like, next time we
come in, you'll watch it and you'll be like, oh yeah,
five star film sold. Done that nine minutes fixed everything?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Oh right, Well, anything else to add before we move
on to raw Hide?
Speaker 4 (31:30):
No, I think I'm good?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Ah right, So yeah, So the last time we talked
about raw Hide, we covered the first episode, and I
thought we would. Originally, I thought we would go through
the first season very much like what I'm doing with
Dan Budnick and gun Smoke. But the more I thought
about it, I thought it might be more fun to
jump around and kind of pick and choose episodes, because
(31:54):
I like the idea of going through a whole season.
But when you're talking about a series that went on
for an extended period of time, it's obviously we're not
going to complete the series, like you and I aren't
gonna watch all two hundred and seventeen episodes. And I
was like, if we can't do like a complete if
(32:17):
we can't cover this completely, I think it would just
be more fun to jump around and pick and choose episodes.
And I thought we would do it kind of based
on like the guest stars, or like if it's an
interesting director, or if it's like a highly rated episode.
And so the episode we're talking about is actually from
the first season and it's just episode three. It's called
(32:38):
Incident with an Executioner. And this one, for me was
of interest for a few reasons. One the series creator,
Charles Marky Warren. This is one of just a handful
of episodes he directed of Rawhide and and you know,
going through Gunsmoke with Dan Budnick. So far, he's directed
every episode that we've watched, and I think that we're
(32:59):
eight teen episodes in, and so I kind of wanted
to just see his work on another series. And then
it's got a couple great guest stars, Dan Durier, who
he's in Winchester seventy three, and he's in some great noirs,
like he's in Criss Cross. And then one of my
favorite actors who just keeps coming up over and over
(33:20):
again on this podcast, James Drewry, is in this episode
as well. And then there's a character actor named William Shallert,
who I think everyone will recognize from something. He's got
three hundred and eighty nine credits on IMDb, and I
guarantee you've seen one of his movies or an episode
that he's appeared in. But I am going to read
(33:43):
the IMDb synopsis, which mercifully is also rather brief. So
the drovers rescue the passengers in a stage coach that overturns.
They learn a gunman known as the Executioner, was following
the coach. Now he is following them while they are
while they are with the drovers, and no one knows
who his target is. So, Zach, what did you think
(34:05):
of this episode?
Speaker 3 (34:06):
I liked it better than the first episode, which I
liked the first episode. I don't want to make it
seem like I didn't, but.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
I feel like.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
It's just almost like this weird jump in like visual language,
and it's like quality and like it's strangely cinematic for
the era and for the medium on the for TV
and things like that, Like it obviously has a very
talented eye at certain things. Like I think about like
the executioner off like in the distance, and it's like,
(34:35):
you know, that's such a great shot for you know, television,
because that takes a lot more work to do that,
and you're on such a tighter schedule at this point,
so it's great that they put so much effort into that.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, I thought this was another really good episode. And
like you, I enjoyed the first one, but I thought
that this was better than the first episode. It's such
a small, like a perfect story for a TV episode,
and I think it unfolds and an intriguing and and
really entertaining way. I thought Dan Durier was great as
(35:08):
the executioner, and and like you, like I thought the
way he was introduced was really cool where you have
him like way off in the distance and he's kind
of backlit, so you just kind of see a black
like just like a figure on a horse in the distance.
I thought those shots were awesome and and then I
even enjoyed like when he finally like joins the Drovers
(35:33):
in the state people from this age coach, like at
their little campfire where they're eating. I enjoyed that scene
as well. And I thought James Drewy was good. He
was the kind of like the hot headed young gunman
or a gunman. And he's not in a lot of
the episode, but I think he's good when he's in it.
And oh, and you know there's another guest star who
(35:54):
I think I should mention. It's Martin Milner. He was
the star of the series Adam twe twelve and which
is a great show. Actually, my dad says if there
were ten thousand episodes of Adam twelve, he would never
watch anything else. But I know he had a smaller
(36:15):
role also in Gunfight at the OK Corral.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
And he's in The Godfather Part two.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Okay, yeah, he's in a He's in a lot of stuff,
but he's he's pretty good in this. He plays the
character that the executioner like tries to go into drawing
and Martin Milner's character like won't draw. But I thought
the music was good and there's a good kind of
ominous tone to the score when you just see like
(36:41):
the executioner like off in the distance on his horse.
But yeah, I think it's it's really solid. There's not
a whole lot for Rowdy to do. Who Rowdy is,
of course Clint Eastood's character. It's definitely more of a
Gill story.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Now, one thing that I don't remember this from the
first episode, but did you feel like a lot of
Gill's dialogue was adr you know what?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I thought the same, But I also had to like
I kind of just wasn't sure if it was like
an issue on YouTube because I watched these on YouTube
where I'm pretty sure they're like doing some sketchy stuff
to like upscale it and things. So I was like,
maybe that's just an upscaling issue. But did you have
the same thing on the DVD.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, So on the DVD he was the only actor
who whose dialogue ever sounded kind of off. So so yeah,
I have no idea why, but it each time he talked,
I was kind of like, he doesn't sound like this
is actually happening where they're filming, but everybody else does.
But yeah, but overall, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
No, I was gonna say, you know, and this is
just because I just learned this is a whole thing
the other day. So maybe it has something to do
with this, because he does kind of have a bit
of a booming voice. But I was listening to the
apparently the guy who did the sound for Long Legs,
which is Nicholas Cage movie that came out a couple
of years year ago, and he talked about how good he's,
like he's never seen another actor do it where Nick
(38:07):
Cage can go right at the level of the high
and get it to where it's still usable, and he
can do the same thing in the low. And I
wondering stuff I always wonder, like thinking about that, I
was like, I'm sure in like old TV shows like that,
if you like make the mistake and get too high.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
They're just like, we're just recording in studio. You're gonna
just do it there. We can't redo this now.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, that could be. And with a series like raw Hide,
I mean, you mentioned it being more cinematic. I mean,
so far, it seems like the majority of the episodes
are shot on location, and so I mean, you know,
maybe like the campfire kind of scenes, those might be
(38:47):
on a sound stage or something, but it does feel
like it's either they're shooting on locations, which I'm sure
shooting TV in the sixties already has limitations, and.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
So she has cameras.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Yeah, outdoors is is definitely going to be present some challenges.
But yeah, overall, I thought this was a really good episode.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, and I think it has a sense of tread
that I wasn't really expecting, Like it's it. It doesn't
go into as dark as you know, you kind of
think it would go at times, like or it would
go if it was like made today, But it definitely
went darker than I expected at times. And I also
thought they really up like the like the paranoia and
(39:29):
stuff in a really interesting way, like all the characters
coming up and being like, who are you after and
all this other stuff and they're all paranoid.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
It's them.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yes, Yeah, I thought that that played out very in
a very fun, like, you know, compelling way. Now, Now,
one thing I wanted to mention on this episode, there's
a moment where you know they first see the executioner
and one of the characters I think your name is
is Madge. She's, uh, there's like there's two women in
(40:04):
the episode, and and this is the the older character,
the old like the older woman, and uh she says
that that uh. When she sees the executioner, she says
that the moon is in Capricorn. And I don't know
much about horoscopes or astrology, but I know in the
Texas Chainsaw Massacre there's a moment where Pam is reading
(40:25):
from an astrology book and she's a Capricorn, and she
says in the movie that Capricorns are ruled by Saturn
and can experience moments where I think she says something
about they don't know if what they're experiencing is real.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
I wish you had asked me this to day. I'm
seeing that in theaters tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Oh are you really?
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
So I was like, man, I could know it exactly
if i've if I just got out of theater for it.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
But I thought it was funny because I was watching
this and and uh and and and I I like
took a note when I was during this when she
said that line, and I and I and I said
I wasn't expecting to tie this episode of Rawhide to
the Texas Chainsaw massacre, but as soon as I heard
the moon is capricorn, I immediately thought of the of
(41:13):
the movie. But yeah, do you have any kind of
other thoughts on this episode?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Well, I just kind of want to add to that,
because you know, you kind of bring in the horror stuff,
and I think what kind of drags it here is
Obviously the executioner isn't actually supernatural, but there's like this
almost like that feeling of it. You know when you
talk about Halloween or anything, it's that is he or
isn't he's supernatural? And obviously they don't play it to
that degree, but he almost does seem that way, especially
(41:41):
in like the first half of the episode. Yeah, where
they're just like seeing this like almost mythical figure like
in the distance that's just slowly following them.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
And don't they say, isn't there a line about him
like going into a town? And I think they actually
compare him to a ghost and say that, Yeah, like
businesses closed down for the day just just because he
arrived in the town.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Yeah, And I did want to ask you about this too,
because they call him an executioner. So when you first
like recommended this as like, oh, we're gonna have like
like the legal term of executioner, like you know, right,
And I was like, isn't he just a hipman then,
like but like a legal one because he just technically
waits for them to draw first, he like goads them
into doing it.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Yeah, which I guess. Yeah, he is almost more of
like a hired gun. And maybe he's like earned the
nickname executioner.
Speaker 4 (42:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
The character does have a name, it's Jardine or or Jardon,
so it's something like that.
Speaker 4 (42:42):
But yeah the Virginian was that the prequel to the Virginian?
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Yeah, yeah, but he uh, he he does, but yeah,
he does. He does. He does seem to have a
reputation as being someone like if he's after you, your days
are numbered.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
Yeah, which I think adds like this this bit of
suspense to it, because you know, the whole time, you're
I really thought they were gonna pull like it was
gonna be. I had my theory with with with the
woman whose name I can't remember off the top of
my head what her name is in this.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
But uh, but the younger one who's the singer, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,
I think it's Mary. I'm not positive.
Speaker 4 (43:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
I was like, because I guess, because I was just
thinking of the first episode where you know, the main
villain was really a woman, and I was like, it'd
be kind of interesting if we watch another random one
and that's kind of what's going on here again. And
to a degree, yeah, which I think they read Harry
and her pretty good, like because she's so paranoid to
the point where like it's it's gotta be her right
(43:45):
like she is, which obviously she's lying about certain things,
but I was like, it's it's gotta it's gotta be her.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
And the ending of the episode, I think is is
pretty good because they build up so the executioner has
this uh satchel on his horse and the like that
he carries with him, and during the final scene they
actually the I think it's Gil, I can't remember. One
(44:13):
of one of the drovers or whatever, one of them
has the satchel and they're going through it and they
pull out I think they pull up pictures of his
wife and child, yeah, and a doll and.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
They because he says, if you take that, you've taken everything.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Yes, and and they end up burning the pictures and
they burn his child's doll. And then after that he
tells a story that his I guess his his wife
and child left with another man and when they caught
up with him, he killed all of them, and it
(44:59):
and it and like the even I mean, obviously you
don't see this in the episode, but even the idea
of like a child killer is like kind of intense
for I feel like for like a TV show from
you know, nineteen fifty nine.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Yeah, and you know it's it does seem like, at
least in the two episodes we watched that they were
very conscious about like pushing like obviously they're not going
to push like to their limits because they want to
be a successful television show. But it also feels like
that type of show where they're like, let's see if
we can kind of talk about that around you, like
Peck and Pole with like the Rifleman, you know, like
(45:37):
how he would just kind of pick a little bit
and say, like what can we kind of get away
with here?
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Let me poke?
Speaker 2 (45:44):
But uh but no, Yeah, I thought it was a
really really solid episode. Do you have any kind of
any other thoughts on it?
Speaker 3 (45:52):
No, nothing additional. I think it's very strong. I'm actually
looking I've been looking forward to rewatch and I'm trying
to avoid like going so I don't watch something like
two months or three months ahead of time. But I
am going to go back and watch episode two because
I don't think we're going to cover that one so.
Speaker 4 (46:08):
Very empty, I say it.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
I think I'll definitely go through the series because I
do have the complete series on DVD, but I do think,
like for the podcast, I think it'll be good to
kind of to jump around. But I do want to
watch the series because I mean, just based on these
two episodes, I mean, I'm pretty impressed. I definitely really
enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
Yeah, and it is interesting because Eastwood has a lot
less to do in this one. But I think, you know,
I would love to talk to somebody who watched this
live because I always like hear from my aunt who
is like a big soap opera person, and she says,
you can tell when somebody isn't going to be on
a soap opera long because they're so talented that they're
going to go do better things.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
And I almost feel.
Speaker 3 (46:49):
Like, you know, in the few scenes he has in
this he brings he has a lot of screen presence,
but you also wonder like, is it because I know
it's Clint Eastwood or but I feel like he just
does a lot of presents to himself yet.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Now, the actor who played Gil did leave this show
later on. I think he left it actually during uh
maybe in the middle of the season. So it would
be kind of interesting to see because I'm pretty sure
Clint Eastwood Rowdy is like the lead. We should definitely
cover one of those because I think I'd be very
(47:23):
curious to see that.
Speaker 3 (47:25):
Yeah, I'd like to see, you know, I think getting
to kind of an idea of what his character is
because obviously when they're right in these early episodes, they
hadn't they probably hadn't casted anybody yet, or they had
they had just casted him, and they're not like they
don't know what he can do or what he'll eventually be,
so they're just kind of it'll be interesting as they
write specifically for Eastwood.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
As Yeah, for Suress is all right, Well, Zach, I
think I think that's all I got.
Speaker 4 (47:53):
Awesome. Well, I had a lot. I had a blast.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
Oh yeah, well thanks for coming on, and you should
you should let people know now I know people can
only follow you in one space because you you're very
private and you should be. That's that's I think that's
the way to be. But yeah, where can listeners track
you down?
Speaker 3 (48:10):
If you want to see what I'm watching, you can
find me on a letterbox at Dharma Bomb's. I'm near
four hundred movies for the year. I have to watch
one New French extremity movie when I get to four
hundred for Adam, who is trying one more time not
to new French extremity, New French Wave. There we go,
Oh French new Wave, French New Wave. Yeah, I gotta
(48:31):
watch four hundred blows. I told them it'd be my
last one. So we're going to say I gotta watch that, son,
So you can go check out what I'm going to
think of that soon. And otherwise you can find me
on Disconnected every few months. I'm there live at some point,
and you can find me on the podcast they Live
by Film, which we have episodes where I'm on once
(48:52):
a month, So find me.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
There, alrighty, all right, well, Zach, this was tremendous.
Speaker 4 (48:57):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (49:02):
I hope you enjoyed this episode. I always enjoy having
zach On and even though I didn't love Two Mules
for Sister Sarah on this rewatch, I'm enjoying going through
Eastwoods Westerns again, and I've really enjoyed the two episodes
of Raw Hyde we've covered so far. If you want
to let me know what you thought of this week's
episode or your thoughts on Two Mules for Sister Sarah,
all the links where you can reach me are in
the show notes. Next week, I'll be joined by a
(49:23):
new guest and recovering a very obscure movie. We're talking
about The Writer of Death Valley. It's from nineteen thirty
two and stars Tom Mix. This will be my first
time seeing one of Tom Mix's movies, and I'm going
to put a link in the show notes where you
can watch it as well. Until then, if you're looking
for more film related podcasts, please check out other shows
on the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast Network. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 5 (49:47):
The audio commentary It's a dying art forum, but here
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(50:11):
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(50:32):
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Speaker 1 (50:54):
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Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome back to Tumbleweeds and TV Cowboys, a classic Western
film and TV podcast. My Name is Hunter, and this
week's episode, Zach Bryant returns, and this time we're talking
about another Clint Eastwood western, directed by the great Don
Siegel and Co Starr and Shirley maclain. It's two Mules
for Sister Sarah. We're also talking about an episode of Rawhide,
the third episode from the first season titled Incident with
(00:36):
an Executioner. We're going to get right into it. Here
is our conversation. Welcome back, Zach. It's been a little
over a month since you were last on the podcast,
and we talked about Clint Eastwood's foray into Hollywood musicals
Paint your Wagon. So can you catch us up on
any recent episodes of They Live by Film and anything
else you'd like for listeners to check out.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Well, I'll just go over the one we just did
because I think it has like a semi relation to
westerns and things. We just did an episode that Chris
set us up with, which was on Charles Bronson. It's
not going to be about Once upon a Time in
the West, but we have talked about that previously.
Speaker 4 (01:13):
Just go back and see how.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Bad we were about five years ago and you can
listen to that one. But we did talk about three
movies from Charles Bronson, Cold Sweat on the Other Side
of the Door, which has Anthony Perkins in it, which
was which I think was the best one of the thury,
not to spoil too much. And then we talked about
the Mechanic, and we sort of talked about Death Wish
because it just felt kind of natural after talking about
(01:36):
the Mechanic. So, yeah, we go into kind of the
how fun of a character Bronson is, you know, him,
like Eastwood, have a very storied and very interesting life
prior to become an actors and their acting career.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Oh yeah, absolutely, yeah. And I actually I've already listened
to the Bronson episode and I really enjoyed it. And
I actually I reached out to Chris after listening to
the episode because he's scheduled to make an appearance on
my show pretty soon, and we were originally planning on
talking about a couple of acid Westerns. But I reached
(02:11):
out and I said, Hey, would you want to cover
a couple Charles Bronson flicks instead, because I know he
talked about red Son a little bit, which has to show.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yeah, I was like, why didn't he choose red Son
because that sounds awesome.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
And and so we are going to talk about red
Son and and the White Buffalo.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
I haven't heard of that one. Okay, Well, I like
the color choreography here, so that's cool.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, And it's funny because we were messaging and he
and he was just like, are there any Westerns with
blue in the title? And I said, well, there is,
there's Soldier Blue.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
Oh, y'all got to do it.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
And I just don't know if I can do a
triple a triple feature. I think I know we can
do the two Bronson flicks, and I've seen Soldier Blue.
It might be interesting to talk about, but I think
we'll just keep it to Bronson. But I did we
will talk about acid Westerns in the future because.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
Thompson directed that. That's really cool.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
I like him, you would like I think you should
check out The White Buffalo because I think you would
enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Yeah, I mean, I love Ten the Midnight. I'm a
big fan of I think he did Conquest and double checkings.
Did he do Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.
He did, he did, which is I think the best
sequel of the original ones. Well, no, Escape is, but
the Conquest is really good.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
Yeah, and he did the original Cape Fear, Oh, Robert
Mitcham and.
Speaker 4 (03:31):
Happy Birthday to Me, that's fan.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Yeah, he did Happy Birthday to Me. And you know,
I want to say he did the Guns of the Navarone,
but I'm not positive.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Well he I know, I'm looking here. I might see
it in a minute. But he also took over for
what's Michael winter winer for like a winner? Yes, yeah,
for Death Wish four. So that's cool. King Solomon's mind.
Dude's had a good career, I will say that.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Oh definitely.
Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah, Like, which one did you think he did?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Did he did he do Guns of the Navarone?
Speaker 4 (03:59):
I thinel like that would have popped up on top?
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Yeah, it must he must not have if it's not
popping up as one of his most popular movies.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
That, No, he did, he did? Oh he did?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Okay? Yeah, excellent?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Yeah, good memory. I missed it somehow. Oh yeah, it's
like the fifth thing on here. I just got I
think I was distracted by Happy Birthday to me, I
didn't see it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, that's that's actually that's a pretty fun slasher.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, he kind of has that same
I love guys like we talked about Andrea Tooth and
you know Jack Arnold. I love these guys who have
the most weird and eclectic career. So I get a
lot of attractions people like jay Lee Thompson.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
Oh yeah. Anytime there's a a filmmaker or an actor
who's in the fifties, like the forties, fifties or sixties
and they're making you know, it's like studio kind of
mainstream entertainment, and then they're making like exploitation movies in
the eighties seventies that I always enjoy that. All right, Well,
(05:00):
we got to get into the movie we're talking about,
which is Two Mules for Sister Sarah. Now, I know
you grew up watching Clint Eastwood movies. Is this one
that you have a long history with or something you
caught up with more recently recently?
Speaker 3 (05:13):
But I do have to tell the story because of
course I've mentioned on here before. I got into Clint
Eastwood because of my mom. Yes, I saw a lot
of things because of her. Her probably her favorite Clin Eastwood.
Movie is Two Mules for sister Sarah, and she had
begged me to watch this film for many, many years,
and I said, I'll get around to it. I'm not
you know, I like comedies, but I'm kind of picky
(05:35):
about them. So she talked about funny it was. I
was like, I'll get to it. It's not on a priority,
but I'll get to it. And not to get not
to drag the mood down. My mom was in the
ICU last year. She almost passed away due to some complications.
So she's fine now we're all happy. So I did
end up watching it when she got back from the hospital.
(05:56):
I made a point that me and her would watch
that movie together. And I actually brought over the Keno
Lrber Blu ray which looks great. They did a great
job on it, and I got to watch it with
her last year for the first time.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Now I think this is probably my third time seeing it.
It had been a while since the last time I
watched it. It had probably been like maybe ten years
or more since the previous watch. And now I'm going
to talk a little bit about the cast and crew,
and then we can get into our thoughts on kind
of how well this holds up. But this is the
second of five collaborations between Eastwood and director Don Siegel,
(06:34):
And they made Coogan's Bluff before this, and they teamed
up again for The Beguiled, Dirty Harry and Escape from
Alcatraz After Two Mules for Sister Sarah. And I know
Eastwood has cited Siegel as being a big influence on
him as a filmmaker, and I think that is pretty
like a pretty obvious thing.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Now.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
The script was originally written by Bud Betteker, and when
he sold it, he was going to be the director,
but then the script was rewritten by a blacklisted screenwriter,
Albert Maltz. And he was one of the Hollywood Ten,
Like you know, he was jailed in nineteen fifty because
he wouldn't testify about his involvement in the Communist Party.
(07:14):
And he did write some pretty solid movies. He wrote
Broken Arrow, the Jimmy Stewart West.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Okay, oh yeah, that's right, Okay, I know that one.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Yeah. And he wrote an early noir that I'm a
big fan of called This Gun for Hire. It's stars
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. That's a great movie. If
you haven't seen that, but the cinematography is by Gabriel Figueroa.
And he also shot another Eastwood movie in nineteen seventy,
Kelly's Heroes. And he has a pretty interesting filmography. He
(07:48):
worked with Louis boonwell like he shot The Exterminating Angel,
and he also worked with John Ford. He shot one
of his movies from the forties called The Fugitive. And
then finally The School was composed by Enio Morriconi, of course,
and this was the first I think this was his
first Hollywood production, and it was one of fifteen scores
(08:09):
from nineteen seventy, which is just incredible. He just coughed
up these great scores, like in some of the other
movies he scored. In nineteen seventy. He did Dario Argento's
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.
Speaker 4 (08:22):
He did do that one, didn't he.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Yeah, that's which is fantastic.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yeah, that's a great score.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
And he did Ilo Petri's movie Investigation of a Citizen
Above Suspicion.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
That movie, it's really great.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
YEAHO an our podcasts like years ago, Oh nice, Yeah, yeah,
I don't remember what I said about it, So don't go.
Speaker 2 (08:41):
Listen to it, and he did Corbucci's film Compagnio's and
not Its nineteen seventy as well. And but yeah, I
don't know how one person can pump out so much
great music in a single year. It's really incredible.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Morcone is, you know, just a standard anyway, because when
I when I use an example of what a great
composer is, the example I always get to is he
made the music for Exorcist too. And as terrible as
that movie is, that score is phenomenal. Oh, I still
listen to The Exorcist to soundtrack and I haven't seen
the movie in fifteen or so years.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Yeah, I actually I like that score too, and I
I understand how somebody could hate that movie, but I
actually I think some of it visually is pretty cool.
And when I watched it, all I had ever heard
was that it was just absolute garbage. But when I
(09:40):
finally watched The Exorcist Too, I was kind of like,
maybe my expectations were just lowered. It's like so much
Boriman that that helped me enjoy me Or was that.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Boraman did it right?
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, John b.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Yeah, that's why it looks great. I do remember it
looking good.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
Yeah, Like I would definitely rewatch it. I mean, some
of it is definitely goofy.
Speaker 3 (10:00):
But I always skip from one to three, Like when
I watch Exorcist, I go straight from one to three.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah. I mean they're both great for sure.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
But anyway, I got you off topic. I just uh,
we got to Morcone.
Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yes, yeah, Now at this point, I think I'm going
to read the IMDb synopsis and then we can kind
of hear our get into our general thoughts. All right, So,
when a former Civil War soldier saves a nun from
a gang of bandits, they team up to help the
Mexicans in their war against the French. IMDb so brief.
I love how they summarize them.
Speaker 4 (10:34):
I'm actually looking at letterbox. See how long it is?
Speaker 3 (10:36):
Oh yeah, a letterbox has an entire paragraph here.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Do you want to read it?
Speaker 4 (10:40):
Oh yeah, let's compare. Let's compare.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Okay, when a wandering mercenary named Hogan rescues a nun
called Sister Sarah from an unwonted attention of a band
of rogues on the Mexican plains, he has no idea
what he has let himself in for their chances of
counter and result in blowing up a train and a
French garrison, as well as like niting a spark between
them that survives a shocking discovery. Wow, that's a really
(11:03):
long summary of what two meals for sisters. Honestly, they
just gave you two thirds of what the movie is.
Speaker 2 (11:09):
Yeah, they actually they did a pretty good job. It's
just long, all right. So, so, Zach, what did you
think of the movie this time around?
Speaker 4 (11:20):
I really enjoyed it. I have enjoyed both times I
have seen it.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
I do think it's very funny, because one of the
things you always worry about when you when you know,
parents start talking about comedies, You're like, how well did
it actually age? And I'm not even talking about like
this is offensive now, just like is it actually that funny?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
Am I going to get it at my age? And
I do? I think.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
I think Clint Eastwood and Shirley McLean have such great chemistry,
and honestly, it might be the best chemistry he ever
had with any woman on screen, which is saying a
pretty good amount. He's usually pretty good at that, but
I think they balance each other out so well that
I think it heightens the movie quite a bit.
Speaker 4 (12:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Now, I think for me, like overall, I would say
I like two Mules for Sister Sarah, but I don't
love it. I think it's got some great moments. The
photography is tremendous, It looks amazing, and I love the score,
and I do think it's well directed, and it starts
(12:24):
off so strong, like the credits set you up for
I think what should be just an awesome western. The
theme music is amazing, and there's all these great shots
that I think look amazing, and it ends with a
horse hoof landing on a tarantula, yeah, which I don't
(12:45):
support animal cruelty in movies. And there is more you
know in this movie later on, but it's just what
a way to open a movie. It is absolutely incredible.
Part of me wishes that the movie maybe played it
a little more straight, like there are some comedic beats
that work for me, but most of it doesn't land.
(13:08):
And I would be very curious to read Betteker's original screenplay.
I know he was really unhappy with the movie. And
when you look at Betteker's previous work, and he doesn't
have a lot of writing credits, but his work as
a director, I mean, his movies are very lean and
they're not super ambitious, and I'm sure that part of
(13:29):
that is working within like budgetary constraints that two mules
sister Sarah you obviously doesn't have. But I think the
movie would just appeal to me more if they were
like one fewer characters, because I do think that's a
problem as the movie goes on, and then maybe less humor,
(13:50):
But I do I really like that Sarah is is
kind of more resourceful than you would would think she
is based on how she's introduced, how she's she's introduced
as kind of a traditional damsel in distress.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
He's also a nun who you don't express like is
going to be able to do much right.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
And I do think it's kind of a fun, like
subversive idea that, you know, the character that like the
damsel in distress that we meet is if she's rescued
by this traditional kind of tough, you know, Western character,
and then when he's wounded, if she kind of has
to become the hero. And I love that idea, and
(14:34):
I kind of wish that they had leaned more into that.
It would have been so interesting. I think if if
he was basically wounded and ineffective, the rest of the
movie and she had to carry the load. I think
that could have been a pretty like I think there's
a lot of potential there for that to be an
(14:54):
exciting story. Now you'd to do that, you would probably
have to drop the nun part of the story. I
don't know if it would work as well. It would
just be kind of maybe more hard to believe.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
Yeah, I think they do that to give her more intrigue.
I think that's a lot of it. I don't know
if it's not. I'm with you, because there are one
thing I do agree with. I think it is not
a very lean movie. I think that is probably my
biggest criticism of it is it probably doesn't need to
be almost two hours long, Like it's more of a
ninety five minute movie that they kind of put a
(15:25):
little bit too much. They padded a bit, which Siegel
can have a habit of doing.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
Yeah, I don't think he like.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
I don't know how his editing process was. I have
no knowledge of that. But I also like even Dirty Hearing,
which I think is a near perfect film. I forget
how long it is, and I'm like, I remember all
the cool scenes and I thought this would be like
an hour forty.
Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, and I do think Siegel is I think I
do think he's a really solid director, and I think
the final I think the final action scene is well
done and exciting, but I don't like like all of
the kind of expository dialogue about how they're going to
execute their plan, like before the kind of the final
action scene, because it introduces a bunch of characters I
(16:11):
think a little too late in the movie, and at
that point I really don't care about any of them,
and I'm not super interested in what they're trying to accomplish.
I do like having the kind of the conflict as
kind of a way to just kind of like I
hate this term, I can't believe I'm gonna use it,
(16:32):
but as a way to kind of world build, like
when they're in that one area where the French soldiers
execute the one Mexican man in front of his family,
Like at least you just see that. It's like a
lived in world, which I like, but I don't necessarily love.
I just wish that it had been like I'm fine
with there being an action climax, but I think it
(16:54):
I would have preferred it if it had been a
little more contained and maybe somehow just in Eastwood and McClain.
Speaker 3 (17:03):
You want it more like Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, ye oh yeah,
but like with obviously not same sex payers. But yeah,
yeah that's and I can I can get down with
that because I love I love that movie, and I
feel like we're at least on the same page there,
because all my like love for this film comes from
Clinnie Sweet and Charlie mclin every bet of it.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
Yeah, And I do think, well, yeah, okay, so I
did mention that, like the expository dialogue between I think
the character is like Beltran, yes and Eastwood. I kind
of wish that we could have skipped over that because
there is a scene where like Eastwood asked if they
(17:45):
have any if they have any dynamite and they don't,
and then Sarah has to go get donations and then
Eastwood has to leave to go buy dynamite. And it
doesn't add a lot of screen time, but I do
think the movie really loses some intom there, and I
kind of wish that they had just said, like, hey,
this is the situation, let's just make the best, like
(18:07):
the most of what we have and and kind of
just kept the kind of kept the train moving.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
I should ask because there are two cuts of this film,
and I'm just kind of curious which cut did you
end up going with.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
Oh, there's only one cut on the Blu ray.
Speaker 3 (18:22):
I had really okay, because do you remember if it
was an hour five or an hour or hour fourteen?
By any chance, I assume you had the domestic cut,
like the US cut is shorter.
Speaker 2 (18:32):
Oh, I don't know how long it was. I thought
it was like an hour and fifty four minutes. Does
that sound right?
Speaker 4 (18:38):
See?
Speaker 3 (18:38):
The international cut is an hour one hundred and fourteen minutes,
and then the US cuts one hundred and five.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Oh, so I think it's the international cut because I was.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Sitting there trying to remember, because when I watched with
my mom, I watched the domestic and then when I rewatched,
I watched the International, and I was sitting there trying
to remember if the scene you're talking about is in
the domestic cut.
Speaker 4 (18:55):
May not. It may have been cut out for.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
The US audience, to be honest, God, but I need
to go back and compare because I don't know off
the top of my head now. But yeah, when we
when we were doing this, I was like, I should
watch the other cut just to know what's going on.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Oh, I didn't even know. Honestly, I didn't even know
there were two cuts. So yeah, it may.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Only be on the Kena release because that's what I have.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
It's the keynot want gotcha?
Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, yeah, no, I no, there's nothing in the movie
that I would say I straight up dislike. Like, I
do think it's pretty entertaining. It all looks great. You know,
it's a pleasure to hear Morricone's music. But I do
think it I would enjoy it quite a bit more
if it was a tighter, kind of simpler story.
Speaker 4 (19:37):
You know.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I do think as well too, you know, of all
the movies him and Siegel did together. I also do
think this is probably the simplest Eastwood character. Like I
always feel like when you think of Dirty Harry and
this character in The Begilded and Alcatraz, they're a lot
more complex than his character in this film.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Yes, it's very straightforward.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
I mean it just feels, you know, when you have
more Coney's music going on, you're like, yeah, man with
no name, that's what it feels like half the time.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Really, Yeah, I mean it's it's it really is like
the man with no name of you know, falls in love.
I mean it's it's not that exactly, but it's.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
It's pulling from a spaghetti western pretty hard.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
Yes, definitely, and more Coney's score pushes it even further
into having that kind of a style or tone. I'm
trying to think of the next thing I kind of
want to get into now. I think we should talk
about the the comedic aspects of the movie. I like,
like I said, like, some of it does work for me.
(20:42):
To me, there's only one like big laugh in the movie,
and that's when Eastwood's character has an arrow in him
and he's and he's drunk. Oh, and Sarah is carving
out some of the space on the arrow to put
the gunpowder, and he tells her that she's pretty good
at that, and then he's says, oh that's right, I
forgot that you're married to a carpenter.
Speaker 4 (21:05):
Oh yeah, that's a great lot.
Speaker 3 (21:07):
No, that is The banter is yeah, the banter is
the how like I don't I wish I could sit
here remember all the types of comedy that are into
I'm not the best at comedy analysis, but the banter
is definitely the highlight of the comedy part.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, that was that was tremendous. Now now I am.
I'm a fan of Shirley McLean in general, Like I
love The Apartment and I think some came running as
a great movie. I don't really know where I stand
on her performance in this. I think she's good. Maybe
it's just the character I'm not crazy about. But what
(21:44):
do you think about uh, like the I mean, obviously
you see this movie, Yeah, she's introduced as a nun,
but then there's things like throughout the movie where like
you see her uh smoking, or you hear her cursing
and you kind of yo, or they're kind of dropping
these bread crumb crumbs that she's not a nun.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
Your ears are perking up.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, And this one scene towards the end that she's
actually a prostitute.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
I think where if I had to say, what may
cause that? And I think it kind of works, but
I could also see it kind of being a detriment
for someone else.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Is I think they use that as a form of intrigue.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
And if you're on a rewatch, you obviously already know
what's going on. You obviously know these are not But
when the first time you're watching you're like, Okay, she's interesting,
but they don't really. But since they're trying to build
out this intrigue so much, it also limits the amount
of time they can actually develop her. Yeah, because they
can't give you too much, which I honestly want to say,
(22:45):
I kind of figured out that she was a prostitute,
like the first time I watched it pretty early, but.
Speaker 4 (22:50):
Even then you're still waiting for the shoe to fall
sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Yeah, I don't think the first time I watched it,
I don't think that I knew that, so because because
I do remember it being kind of kind of a
bigger surprise to me, but I yeah, I don't know.
A part of me, like, I do appreciate what Clint
(23:15):
Eastwood brings to it as far as the humor goes,
because like some of his line delivery, Like, I think
it was very kind of smart for him to do
a more comedic role. And one thing I think that
might be interesting to talk about is yeah, I mean,
I mean so far, you know, we're just three movies
into like rewatching Clint Eastood's like major Hollywood westerns, And
(23:40):
I know, what do you think about kind of like
the evolution that we've seen through the three movies, because
I think, like, hang them High, that's very much It's
it's a very much like a a spaghetti western type character,
but he does have a little more, it seems like,
on his mind as far as like you're questioning the
(24:04):
judge and how he kind of handles front of your justice,
and then he does what feels like a complete about
face and a musical kind of romance more romantic role
in Paint Your Wagon, and then he kind of leans
into comedy again. But I don't know what, like, what
are your thoughts on that I would say.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
Of those three just kind of spitballing out loud. It's
kind of interesting that I almost feel like his characters
get less complex the further he gets, And I almost
wonder if some of that is just like the popularity
of the Dollars trilogy coming to the US, and you know,
his popularity gaining. You know, he can take more simplified things.
And I'm not saying that is a bad thing, because
(24:45):
I like this movie a lot, and I know he
gets more complex when we get to a Pale Rider
and Unforgiven and things like that. So it's kind of
interesting that it's it's sort of like he's finding his footing,
but also at the same time it kind of feels
like he's also got his footing.
Speaker 4 (25:01):
He almost like he kind of knows his range at
this point.
Speaker 3 (25:04):
Yeah, and he's working really well in his range, because
that's one thing I think is kind of over never
underrated with him, is he's really good at comedic timing.
And I think that comes from like TV work to
a degree, Like we'll talk a little bit about that,
like the raw Hide.
Speaker 4 (25:21):
Yeah, I think.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
He's he's got good timing in a rhythm with with
you know, saying something funny.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, and he has such a unique delivery, like and
he and he can be funny in the good, the bad,
and the ugly too.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
It's all but it's always like a comeback. So you're like,
is that the script or is that him? And of
course now you know we can look back and say, yeah,
he's adding quite a bit to that, and you know
he can do so much saying so little.
Speaker 2 (25:51):
Yeah, I don't know. I I do like the more
I think about his performance and this kind of the
more I appreciate it. But yeah, outside that, I don't
actually have a whole lot more to add on this movie,
do you kind of have any final thoughts on Two
Mules for Sister Sarah?
Speaker 3 (26:08):
Not really, And I feel bad saying that because I
do like it a lot, but it is such a
I would say it's one of Siegel's most simplified, like
directorial efforts.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
At least of his major films.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
I would say it's Eastwood's one of his most simplified characters.
I think it goes out to be a comedy and
he follows with the begilded after this?
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Right with Siegel? Is that's what's after this?
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Oh, I don't know, like chronologically exactly what his next
movie was. I might have been.
Speaker 3 (26:40):
Yeah, it just kind of feels interesting that it would
go to that because that's that's kind of the other
end of this film, like as far as like tone goes,
as far as like Eastwood's character is in that film,
which is interesting to say the least. So you know,
it's it's one of those movies I have such a
good time with.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
But I also.
Speaker 3 (27:00):
The best way I can describe it is, this is
gonna be al awful wall I'm gonna I'm gonna pull
a Chris and just just follow me with this for
a minute. I recently been getting more into Conan and stuff,
so I read I watched the Red Sonia movie where
Arnold Swarzenegger replays Conan but they can't call him Conan,
and you know, you just kind of have to go
(27:21):
with it where I think you made a good point
where this is almost like the Man with No Name.
It's like his happy ending, and I'm like, yeah, I
could get with that. Yeah, this is it's kind of
like an unofficial part of this trilogy that Leoni didn't
make and they just said, screw it, We're just gonna
make it anyway and just give him a happy ending
and we'll be done with it. And I think it
kind of works on that level, and it kind of
(27:42):
shows that simplicity of this type of film as well.
Speaker 2 (27:46):
Yeah, it is funny because I uh, I like, I
kind of also am like, I feel like there should
be more to say here, But I think I think
what it comes down to is it is it it
does lean into comedy and uh and with humor, you
know obviously it's it's either gonna work for you or
it's or it's not. And so I think it does
(28:07):
make like comedy is like to me the probably the
least interesting genre to like review a movie or to analyze,
because it's just like, does it. If it lands for you,
you'll love it. If it doesn't, you're not gonna like it.
And I'm somewhere in the middle and with this where
I do think there's good comedic moments, but a lot
(28:30):
of the time when I'm watching the movie, I'm like, man,
I wish this was just a straight forward, like serious
Western because it looks so amazing and uh, and the
score lends itself to being I think a more serious
movie also.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
Well, and you know, I was just in your thinking
while you're talking to you know, I think this film
is kind of an interesting demographic because you know, Western's lane.
I'm sure, as you've noticed through the guests in your
podcast for you heavily men, and I think this is
a film that would lean more for women because of
Sherley McClain and just because it's you know, it has
(29:07):
a love story element to it, and not a weird
one like paint your.
Speaker 2 (29:10):
Wagon weird, like hang them high.
Speaker 3 (29:14):
Yeah, like more traditional like love story sort of thing.
You know, It's got that pride and prejudice element to
it where they don't like each other and then they
learn to like each other. So, you know, I do
think something like this is probably why part of why
like Clint Eastwood beyond just women finding him attractive, like
he found more women audience in his films than probably
(29:35):
John Wayne did. Yeah, you know, because the ability to
to have that sort of chemistry with someone else Wayne
is is charismatic, but not in nearly the same way.
Speaker 2 (29:49):
Yeah, I think I agree, like Wayne is a little
bit harder to see as being someone that like a
woman would instantly fall for, but not. I think that
John Wayne has some chemistry with some of the kind
of leading women that he worked with, but.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
He can't be on mister Darcy type. No, No, he's
just he's just he does not have that. No, I
think that's not, yeah, because he definitely has movies I've
seen with him where he you know, I get I
get it, Like I'm like, okay, I can see it,
but it's I don't I don't know if he could do.
I'm trying to think, and I know you've been going
through it. Does he have just like something that's just
(30:32):
more of a straight love story in his life?
Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well it's not a Western but something like The Quiet Man.
Speaker 4 (30:38):
See, I haven't seen that, so I need to get
closer to that.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Yeah, oh that's I think that's a great movie. I
love that movie. At it before I forget, but but yeah,
so yeah, I enjoyed this rewatch. It's not a movie
I think I'll revisit many more times. I mean I
could see myself watching it though, especially to see the
(31:02):
alternate cut that I would be curious. And it's the
alternate cut. Is the shorter one, right.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Yeah, the one they showed in the US is like
nine minutes shorter, which in movie terms, that's a good
chunk of a movie.
Speaker 2 (31:16):
Like, yeah, that could solve some of my problems.
Speaker 3 (31:18):
I was just sitting there thingkings like, next time we
come in, you'll watch it and you'll be like, oh yeah,
five star film sold. Done that nine minutes fixed everything?
Speaker 2 (31:26):
Oh right, Well, anything else to add before we move
on to raw Hide?
Speaker 4 (31:30):
No, I think I'm good?
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Ah right, So yeah, So the last time we talked
about raw Hide, we covered the first episode, and I
thought we would. Originally, I thought we would go through
the first season very much like what I'm doing with
Dan Budnick and gun Smoke. But the more I thought
about it, I thought it might be more fun to
jump around and kind of pick and choose episodes, because
(31:54):
I like the idea of going through a whole season.
But when you're talking about a series that went on
for an extended period of time, it's obviously we're not
going to complete the series, like you and I aren't
gonna watch all two hundred and seventeen episodes. And I
was like, if we can't do like a complete if
(32:17):
we can't cover this completely, I think it would just
be more fun to jump around and pick and choose episodes.
And I thought we would do it kind of based
on like the guest stars, or like if it's an
interesting director, or if it's like a highly rated episode.
And so the episode we're talking about is actually from
the first season and it's just episode three. It's called
(32:38):
Incident with an Executioner. And this one, for me was
of interest for a few reasons. One the series creator,
Charles Marky Warren. This is one of just a handful
of episodes he directed of Rawhide and and you know,
going through Gunsmoke with Dan Budnick. So far, he's directed
every episode that we've watched, and I think that we're
(32:59):
eight teen episodes in, and so I kind of wanted
to just see his work on another series. And then
it's got a couple great guest stars, Dan Durier, who
he's in Winchester seventy three, and he's in some great noirs,
like he's in Criss Cross. And then one of my
favorite actors who just keeps coming up over and over
(33:20):
again on this podcast, James Drewry, is in this episode
as well. And then there's a character actor named William Shallert,
who I think everyone will recognize from something. He's got
three hundred and eighty nine credits on IMDb, and I
guarantee you've seen one of his movies or an episode
that he's appeared in. But I am going to read
(33:43):
the IMDb synopsis, which mercifully is also rather brief. So
the drovers rescue the passengers in a stage coach that overturns.
They learn a gunman known as the Executioner, was following
the coach. Now he is following them while they are
while they are with the drovers, and no one knows
who his target is. So, Zach, what did you think
(34:05):
of this episode?
Speaker 3 (34:06):
I liked it better than the first episode, which I
liked the first episode. I don't want to make it
seem like I didn't, but.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
I feel like.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
It's just almost like this weird jump in like visual language,
and it's like quality and like it's strangely cinematic for
the era and for the medium on the for TV
and things like that, Like it obviously has a very
talented eye at certain things. Like I think about like
the executioner off like in the distance, and it's like,
(34:35):
you know, that's such a great shot for you know, television,
because that takes a lot more work to do that,
and you're on such a tighter schedule at this point,
so it's great that they put so much effort into that.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Yeah, I thought this was another really good episode. And
like you, I enjoyed the first one, but I thought
that this was better than the first episode. It's such
a small, like a perfect story for a TV episode,
and I think it unfolds and an intriguing and and
really entertaining way. I thought Dan Durier was great as
(35:08):
the executioner, and and like you, like I thought the
way he was introduced was really cool where you have
him like way off in the distance and he's kind
of backlit, so you just kind of see a black
like just like a figure on a horse in the distance.
I thought those shots were awesome and and then I
even enjoyed like when he finally like joins the Drovers
(35:33):
in the state people from this age coach, like at
their little campfire where they're eating. I enjoyed that scene
as well. And I thought James Drewy was good. He
was the kind of like the hot headed young gunman
or a gunman. And he's not in a lot of
the episode, but I think he's good when he's in it.
And oh, and you know there's another guest star who
(35:54):
I think I should mention. It's Martin Milner. He was
the star of the series Adam twe twelve and which
is a great show. Actually, my dad says if there
were ten thousand episodes of Adam twelve, he would never
watch anything else. But I know he had a smaller
(36:15):
role also in Gunfight at the OK Corral.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
And he's in The Godfather Part two.
Speaker 2 (36:19):
Okay, yeah, he's in a He's in a lot of stuff,
but he's he's pretty good in this. He plays the
character that the executioner like tries to go into drawing
and Martin Milner's character like won't draw. But I thought
the music was good and there's a good kind of
ominous tone to the score when you just see like
(36:41):
the executioner like off in the distance on his horse.
But yeah, I think it's it's really solid. There's not
a whole lot for Rowdy to do. Who Rowdy is,
of course Clint Eastood's character. It's definitely more of a
Gill story.
Speaker 4 (36:53):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
Now, one thing that I don't remember this from the
first episode, but did you feel like a lot of
Gill's dialogue was adr you know what?
Speaker 3 (37:05):
I thought the same, But I also had to like
I kind of just wasn't sure if it was like
an issue on YouTube because I watched these on YouTube
where I'm pretty sure they're like doing some sketchy stuff
to like upscale it and things. So I was like,
maybe that's just an upscaling issue. But did you have
the same thing on the DVD.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
Yeah, So on the DVD he was the only actor
who whose dialogue ever sounded kind of off. So so yeah,
I have no idea why, but it each time he talked,
I was kind of like, he doesn't sound like this
is actually happening where they're filming, but everybody else does.
But yeah, but overall, go ahead.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
No, I was gonna say, you know, and this is
just because I just learned this is a whole thing
the other day. So maybe it has something to do
with this, because he does kind of have a bit
of a booming voice. But I was listening to the
apparently the guy who did the sound for Long Legs,
which is Nicholas Cage movie that came out a couple
of years year ago, and he talked about how good he's,
like he's never seen another actor do it where Nick
(38:07):
Cage can go right at the level of the high
and get it to where it's still usable, and he
can do the same thing in the low. And I
wondering stuff I always wonder, like thinking about that, I
was like, I'm sure in like old TV shows like that,
if you like make the mistake and get too high.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
They're just like, we're just recording in studio. You're gonna
just do it there. We can't redo this now.
Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, that could be. And with a series like raw Hide,
I mean, you mentioned it being more cinematic. I mean,
so far, it seems like the majority of the episodes
are shot on location, and so I mean, you know,
maybe like the campfire kind of scenes, those might be
(38:47):
on a sound stage or something, but it does feel
like it's either they're shooting on locations, which I'm sure
shooting TV in the sixties already has limitations, and.
Speaker 4 (38:58):
So she has cameras.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Yeah, outdoors is is definitely going to be present some challenges.
But yeah, overall, I thought this was a really good episode.
Speaker 3 (39:09):
Yeah, and I think it has a sense of tread
that I wasn't really expecting, Like it's it. It doesn't
go into as dark as you know, you kind of
think it would go at times, like or it would
go if it was like made today, But it definitely
went darker than I expected at times. And I also
thought they really up like the like the paranoia and
(39:29):
stuff in a really interesting way, like all the characters
coming up and being like, who are you after and
all this other stuff and they're all paranoid.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
It's them.
Speaker 2 (39:40):
Yes, Yeah, I thought that that played out very in
a very fun, like, you know, compelling way. Now, Now,
one thing I wanted to mention on this episode, there's
a moment where you know they first see the executioner
and one of the characters I think your name is
is Madge. She's, uh, there's like there's two women in
(40:04):
the episode, and and this is the the older character,
the old like the older woman, and uh she says
that that uh. When she sees the executioner, she says
that the moon is in Capricorn. And I don't know
much about horoscopes or astrology, but I know in the
Texas Chainsaw Massacre there's a moment where Pam is reading
(40:25):
from an astrology book and she's a Capricorn, and she
says in the movie that Capricorns are ruled by Saturn
and can experience moments where I think she says something
about they don't know if what they're experiencing is real.
Speaker 3 (40:39):
I wish you had asked me this to day. I'm
seeing that in theaters tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Oh are you really?
Speaker 4 (40:44):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
So I was like, man, I could know it exactly
if i've if I just got out of theater for it.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
But I thought it was funny because I was watching
this and and uh and and and I I like
took a note when I was during this when she
said that line, and I and I and I said
I wasn't expecting to tie this episode of Rawhide to
the Texas Chainsaw massacre, but as soon as I heard
the moon is capricorn, I immediately thought of the of
(41:13):
the movie. But yeah, do you have any kind of
other thoughts on this episode?
Speaker 3 (41:19):
Well, I just kind of want to add to that,
because you know, you kind of bring in the horror stuff,
and I think what kind of drags it here is
Obviously the executioner isn't actually supernatural, but there's like this
almost like that feeling of it. You know when you
talk about Halloween or anything, it's that is he or
isn't he's supernatural? And obviously they don't play it to
that degree, but he almost does seem that way, especially
(41:41):
in like the first half of the episode. Yeah, where
they're just like seeing this like almost mythical figure like
in the distance that's just slowly following them.
Speaker 2 (41:52):
And don't they say, isn't there a line about him
like going into a town? And I think they actually
compare him to a ghost and say that, Yeah, like
businesses closed down for the day just just because he
arrived in the town.
Speaker 3 (42:07):
Yeah, And I did want to ask you about this too,
because they call him an executioner. So when you first
like recommended this as like, oh, we're gonna have like
like the legal term of executioner, like you know, right,
And I was like, isn't he just a hipman then,
like but like a legal one because he just technically
waits for them to draw first, he like goads them
into doing it.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Yeah, which I guess. Yeah, he is almost more of
like a hired gun. And maybe he's like earned the
nickname executioner.
Speaker 4 (42:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
The character does have a name, it's Jardine or or Jardon,
so it's something like that.
Speaker 4 (42:42):
But yeah the Virginian was that the prequel to the Virginian?
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Yeah, yeah, but he uh, he he does, but yeah,
he does. He does. He does seem to have a
reputation as being someone like if he's after you, your days
are numbered.
Speaker 3 (43:00):
Yeah, which I think adds like this this bit of
suspense to it, because you know, the whole time, you're
I really thought they were gonna pull like it was
gonna be. I had my theory with with with the
woman whose name I can't remember off the top of
my head what her name is in this.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
But uh, but the younger one who's the singer, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah,
I think it's Mary. I'm not positive.
Speaker 4 (43:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (43:24):
I was like, because I guess, because I was just
thinking of the first episode where you know, the main
villain was really a woman, and I was like, it'd
be kind of interesting if we watch another random one
and that's kind of what's going on here again. And
to a degree, yeah, which I think they read Harry
and her pretty good, like because she's so paranoid to
the point where like it's it's gotta be her right
(43:45):
like she is, which obviously she's lying about certain things,
but I was like, it's it's gotta it's gotta be her.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
And the ending of the episode, I think is is
pretty good because they build up so the executioner has
this uh satchel on his horse and the like that
he carries with him, and during the final scene they
actually the I think it's Gil, I can't remember. One
(44:13):
of one of the drovers or whatever, one of them
has the satchel and they're going through it and they
pull out I think they pull up pictures of his
wife and child, yeah, and a doll and.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
They because he says, if you take that, you've taken everything.
Speaker 2 (44:38):
Yes, and and they end up burning the pictures and
they burn his child's doll. And then after that he
tells a story that his I guess his his wife
and child left with another man and when they caught
up with him, he killed all of them, and it
(44:59):
and it and like the even I mean, obviously you
don't see this in the episode, but even the idea
of like a child killer is like kind of intense
for I feel like for like a TV show from
you know, nineteen fifty nine.
Speaker 3 (45:15):
Yeah, and you know it's it does seem like, at
least in the two episodes we watched that they were
very conscious about like pushing like obviously they're not going
to push like to their limits because they want to
be a successful television show. But it also feels like
that type of show where they're like, let's see if
we can kind of talk about that around you, like
Peck and Pole with like the Rifleman, you know, like
(45:37):
how he would just kind of pick a little bit
and say, like what can we kind of get away
with here?
Speaker 4 (45:42):
Let me poke?
Speaker 2 (45:44):
But uh but no, Yeah, I thought it was a
really really solid episode. Do you have any kind of
any other thoughts on it?
Speaker 3 (45:52):
No, nothing additional. I think it's very strong. I'm actually
looking I've been looking forward to rewatch and I'm trying
to avoid like going so I don't watch something like
two months or three months ahead of time. But I
am going to go back and watch episode two because
I don't think we're going to cover that one so.
Speaker 4 (46:08):
Very empty, I say it.
Speaker 2 (46:09):
I think I'll definitely go through the series because I
do have the complete series on DVD, but I do think,
like for the podcast, I think it'll be good to
kind of to jump around. But I do want to
watch the series because I mean, just based on these
two episodes, I mean, I'm pretty impressed. I definitely really
enjoy it.
Speaker 3 (46:30):
Yeah, and it is interesting because Eastwood has a lot
less to do in this one. But I think, you know,
I would love to talk to somebody who watched this
live because I always like hear from my aunt who
is like a big soap opera person, and she says,
you can tell when somebody isn't going to be on
a soap opera long because they're so talented that they're
going to go do better things.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
And I almost feel.
Speaker 3 (46:49):
Like, you know, in the few scenes he has in
this he brings he has a lot of screen presence,
but you also wonder like, is it because I know
it's Clint Eastwood or but I feel like he just
does a lot of presents to himself yet.
Speaker 2 (47:02):
Now, the actor who played Gil did leave this show
later on. I think he left it actually during uh
maybe in the middle of the season. So it would
be kind of interesting to see because I'm pretty sure
Clint Eastwood Rowdy is like the lead. We should definitely
cover one of those because I think I'd be very
(47:23):
curious to see that.
Speaker 3 (47:25):
Yeah, I'd like to see, you know, I think getting
to kind of an idea of what his character is
because obviously when they're right in these early episodes, they
hadn't they probably hadn't casted anybody yet, or they had
they had just casted him, and they're not like they
don't know what he can do or what he'll eventually be,
so they're just kind of it'll be interesting as they
write specifically for Eastwood.
Speaker 2 (47:45):
As Yeah, for Suress is all right, Well, Zach, I
think I think that's all I got.
Speaker 4 (47:53):
Awesome. Well, I had a lot. I had a blast.
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2 (47:57):
Oh yeah, well thanks for coming on, and you should
you should let people know now I know people can
only follow you in one space because you you're very
private and you should be. That's that's I think that's
the way to be. But yeah, where can listeners track
you down?
Speaker 3 (48:10):
If you want to see what I'm watching, you can
find me on a letterbox at Dharma Bomb's. I'm near
four hundred movies for the year. I have to watch
one New French extremity movie when I get to four
hundred for Adam, who is trying one more time not
to new French extremity, New French Wave. There we go,
Oh French new Wave, French New Wave. Yeah, I gotta
(48:31):
watch four hundred blows. I told them it'd be my
last one. So we're going to say I gotta watch that, son,
So you can go check out what I'm going to
think of that soon. And otherwise you can find me
on Disconnected every few months. I'm there live at some point,
and you can find me on the podcast they Live
by Film, which we have episodes where I'm on once
(48:52):
a month, So find me.
Speaker 2 (48:54):
There, alrighty, all right, well, Zach, this was tremendous.
Speaker 4 (48:57):
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (49:02):
I hope you enjoyed this episode. I always enjoy having
zach On and even though I didn't love Two Mules
for Sister Sarah on this rewatch, I'm enjoying going through
Eastwoods Westerns again, and I've really enjoyed the two episodes
of Raw Hyde we've covered so far. If you want
to let me know what you thought of this week's
episode or your thoughts on Two Mules for Sister Sarah,
all the links where you can reach me are in
the show notes. Next week, I'll be joined by a
(49:23):
new guest and recovering a very obscure movie. We're talking
about The Writer of Death Valley. It's from nineteen thirty
two and stars Tom Mix. This will be my first
time seeing one of Tom Mix's movies, and I'm going
to put a link in the show notes where you
can watch it as well. Until then, if you're looking
for more film related podcasts, please check out other shows
on the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast Network. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 5 (49:47):
The audio commentary It's a dying art forum, but here
at one Track Mind I You're wonky at Affable host
Brian Luis Rodriguez analyze film through the prism of these
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(50:11):
one has ever heard of. No track is too small,
and No Track is too big. Join me and my
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Kane the next us that's who Sure, you have to
(50:32):
put up with my voice, but there's a certain give
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