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Monday, August 03, 2009
They Call the Wind Maria-Harve Presnell
Should have run this when Mr. Presnell died at the end of June but was reminded of it today over at Samurai Frog's jumpin' joint (http://samuraifrog.blogspot.com/ ) when I wandered into a discussion of just how bad the movie PAINT YOUR WAGON is. Part of the problem is that Harve Presnell turns up singing this lovely rendition of this truly beautiful song whilst looking more handsome than either of the leads, non-singers Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin, and then one is still supposed to somehow enjoy the rest of the cast's amateurish warbling for hours more! I kept saying, "Hey, I want that other guy back!" At least until they threw me out of the theater!
Great stuff. And I totally agree; when my wife wanted to shut the movie off after 20 minutes or so, I forwarded to this scene so I could watch it. It's the most wonderful thing in that train wreck of a movie.
The reason they call the wind Maria is because Lerner/Lowe and the National Weather Service got the idea of giving storms names from George R. Stewart's novel STORM (1941).
I just love that song and the way he sings it. I went to see Paint Your Wagon as a teenager at the end of the 60s when it first came out and fell madly in love with Harve Presnell. If I could have got hold of a poster of him I would certainly have had it on my bedroom wall :)! Watching that clip now - some 40 years on - I still get a thrill up my spine when I see and hear him as he was then.
Great stuff. And I totally agree; when my wife wanted to shut the movie off after 20 minutes or so, I forwarded to this scene so I could watch it. It's the most wonderful thing in that train wreck of a movie.
ReplyDeleteThe reason they call the wind Maria is because Lerner/Lowe and the National Weather Service got the idea of giving storms names from George R. Stewart's novel STORM (1941).
ReplyDeleteBhob @ Potrzebie
I just love that song and the way he sings it. I went to see Paint Your Wagon as a teenager at the end of the 60s when it first came out and fell madly in love with Harve Presnell. If I could have got hold of a poster of him I would certainly have had it on my bedroom wall :)! Watching that clip now - some 40 years on - I still get a thrill up my spine when I see and hear him as he was then.
ReplyDelete