Voices from the past.

As long as I'm bitching about old movies, I'd like to address a 44-year-old criticism. When the movie ofPaint Your Wagon was released, many critics carped that neither Lee Marvin nor Clint Eastwood could sing. Bullshit! I was just listening to the soundtrack album and both actors sang perfectly for their roles. Clint Eastwood had the ideal voice of trusting innocence and masculine ruggedness. His "I Talk to the Trees" is excellent. And I can't imagine any singer I'd rather listen to sing, "Wander'n Star" than Lee Marvin, who imbues it with cynicism, sadness, melancholy and all the emotions you'd expect from a great actor. The best singers are not necessarily the best choices for Broadway musicals (and their screen versions). We learned that back in  1038 when Walter Huston gave us the definitive version of "September Song." Many movie experts will argue that the best version of "One for my Baby" is by non-singer Ida Lupino in the film Road House. And as long as I'm defending Lee and Clint, I might as well defend the entire filming of Paint Your Wagon, which I think is a great film, filled with lots of what makes films great: moments. Among them the superb male chorus singing "There's a Coach Coming In", the equally rousing, "Hand Me Down that Can O' Beans" and the films best song and most one unforgettable moment, Harve Presnell as Rotten Luck Willie gazing out a torrential rainstorm from his casino. singing, "They Call the Wind Maria."