Thread: Western Movies
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Old 16th September 2022, 08:03 PM
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Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

A classic Clint Eastwood western from director Don Siegel which borders on spaghetti western territory thanks to a brilliant and beautifully quirky soundtrack by Ennio Morricone who in my opinion is on another level here.

The story itself is fairly simple and rather typical spaghetti one about a plan to blow up a French garrison in Mexico and steal their gold, however the real treasure in this film is Eastwood's co-star Shirley Maclaine as Sister Sara, a nun he finds out in the desert about to be raped by three scummy types.

Maclaine is brilliant, (and also the sexiest nun i think i've seen in a film) the way she and Eastwood spar off one another really makes the movie thanks to a smart and witty script by Albert Maltz, as do the the scrapes they get into before the garrison attack such as blowing up a wooden bridge which Maclaine has to climb due to Clint's shoulder wound and the sealing of said wound as Sara has to remove an arrow from his shoulder whilst aflame to cauterize the bleeding.

Sara travels the film on the back of a small burro (donkey) which is complemented mischievously by Morricone's music accompaniment. Maclaine's name comes up first in the opening titles and it really is her film but Clint of course is Clint, oozing charisma and laconic cool and his character is not a million miles from The Good, The Bad and the Ugly's 'Blondie'

Don Siegel keeps things moving in a pacy film which culminates in the attack on the French garrison and an explosive climax. Quentin Tarantino called this movie 'Half assed and mediocre'. He's wrong!

The Blu-ray i watched last night, part of the eight film set Clint Eastwood: The Collection, looks really pretty with the desert landscapes of Mexico pictured in exquisite detail.

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