With a career spanning over six decades, it will shock no one to hear that Clint Eastwood has tried his hand at many cinematic genres. The legendary star has appeared in action movies, westerns, and, much to his chagrin, was even part of a certain ’60s musical – that was so bad that it also proved to be his last finger-snapping venture in Hollywood.
During an interview with Empire, Eastwood opened up about his experience working on the 1969 movie Paint Your Wagon. Directed by Joshua Logan, Paint Your Wagon is a Western musical set during the California Gold Rush that sees the star in one of the leading roles. Over the years, the flick hasn’t been remembered fondly, only holding a 27% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and Eastwood himself hasn’t been shy about voicing his hate for the production either.
According to the star, the musical suffered from multiple rewrites and changed drastically from the film that he had originally been pitched back when he signed onto the project. Early drafts of Paint Your Wagon hinted toward a dark interracial romance. However, the film ultimately became about two men sharing a wife instead – not really what Eastwood had hoped for.
The star reportedly considered backing out of the project multiple times, as filming for the romance movie was equally in shambles – being dragged out for over six months. It is a pity that Paint Your Wagon seemingly turned Eastwood off musicals for good, considering he has never set foot into that genre again, despite his enthusiasm for it.
“I was crazy enough to try anything,” Eastwood explained when discussing his first and last musical. “I’ve always been interested in music, my father was a singer, and I had some knowledge of it. Although what I was doing in that picture was not singing.”