Two Mules for Sister Sara
Encyclopedia
Two Mules for Sister Sara is an American-Mexican western
film
starring Clint Eastwood
and Shirley MacLaine
set during the French intervention in Mexico
. The film was released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel
. It was to have been the first in a five-year exclusive association between Universal Pictures and Sanen Productions of Mexico. The film marked the second of five collaborations between Siegel and Eastwood, following Coogan's Bluff
(1968). The collaboration continued with The Beguiled
and Dirty Harry
(both 1971) and finally Escape From Alcatraz
(1979).
The plot follows an American mercenary who gets mixed up with a whore disguised as a nun and aids a group of Juarista
rebels during the puppet reign of Emperor Maximilian
in Mexico. The film featured both American and Mexican actors and actresses, including being filmed in the picturesque countryside near Tlayacapan
, Morelos
.
As the duo heads toward the camp, Hogan is surprised that the nun smokes his cigars and drinks his whiskey. When Hogan attempts to detonate a charge to destroy a French ammunition train, he is shot by an arrow in the shoulder. Sara is able to bandage him, but he is still unable to shoot the charge to disable the train. Sara assists him in angling his rifle, and the two are able to destroy the train together. Eventually the two reach Juarista commander Col. Beltran's camp and Sara reveals the layout of the French garrison. She then reveals to Hogan that she is not a nun, but a prostitute, and the two team up, infiltrate the fortress, and open the gates for the Mexican army to swarm through.
An epic battle ensures; Hogan demonstrates great bravery in the battle by single handedly gunning down several French soldiers. The French retreat and the Mexicans capture the fort. As promised, Hogan receives a big portion of the riches in the fort. Now wealthy and his job completed, Hogan and Sara set off together for further adventures.
, a long term resident of Mexico renowned for his series of Randolph Scott
westerns, wrote the original 1967 screenplay that was bought with the provision that Boetticher would direct. Boetticher had planned the film for Robert Mitchum
and Deborah Kerr
, who had played a man of action and a nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
. Kerr's character was a member of the Mexican aristocracy
escaping the vengeance of the Mexican Revolution
with Mitchum's cowboy protecting her as he led her to safety to the United States.
Carrol Case sold the screenplay to Martin Rackin who had Albert Maltz
, also living in Mexico, rewrite the story. Maltz's version had Clint Eastwood playing a soldier of fortune
for the Juaristas and Shirley MacLaine playing a revolutionary prostitute now set during the French intervention in Mexico
.
The film saw Eastwood embody the tall mysterious stranger once more, unshaven, wearing a serape-like vest and smoking a cigar and the film score was composed by Morricone. Although the film had Leonesque dirty Hispanic villains, the film was considerably less crude and more sardonic than those of Leone.
Boetticher expressed disgust with MacLaine's bawdy character obviously not looking like a nun as opposed to his idea of a genteel lady whose final revelation would have been more of a surprise to the audience. Though Boetticher was friends with both Eastwood and director Don Siegel, Siegel understood Boetticher's dislike of the final film. Boetticher asked Siegel how he could make an awful film like that with Siegel replying that it was a great feeling to wake up in the morning and know there was a cheque in the mail whilst Boettcher replied it was a better feeling to wake up in the morning and be able to look at yourself in the mirror.
during the filming of Where Eagles Dare
with the view of Taylor playing the female role. The role of Sister Sara was initially offered to Taylor (Taylor then being the wife of Richard Burton) but had to turn down the role because she wanted to shoot in Spain where Burton was filming his latest movie. The role of Sister Sara was supposed to be Mexican, but Shirley MacLaine was cast instead, although they were initially unconvinced with her pale complexion. Eastwood believed that the studio was keen on MacLaine as they had high hopes for her film Sweet Charity
where she played a taxi dancer. Both Siegel and Eastwood felt intimidated by her on set, and Siegel described Clint's co-star as, "It's hard to feel any great warmth to her. She's too unfeminine and has too much balls. She's very, very hard." Two Mules for Sister Sara marked the last time that Eastwood would receive second billing for a film and it would be 25 years until he risked being overshadowed by a leading lady again in The Bridges of Madison County
(1995).
was a camera operator on the film and acted as a go-between between Siegel and Gabriel Figueroa
that led him to work on Siegel's next film The Beguiled
. Figueroa used many photographic filter
s for effects in the film. Eastwood revealed that he actually killed the rattlesnake for a scene in the film, as Mexican authorities did not want it released in the area after filming the scene. Eastwood noted that he did not want to kill it as he is opposed to killing animals.
of The New York Times
reported, "I'm not sure it is a great movie, but it is very good and it stays and grows on the mind the way only movies of exceptional narrative intelligence do". Stanley Kauffman described the film as "an attempt to keep old Hollywood alive—a place where nuns can turn out to be disguised whores, where heroes can always have a stick of dynamite under their vests, where every story has not one but two cute finishes. Its kind of The African Queen gone west". In a review by the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
, Two Mules for Sister Sara was called "a solidly entertaining film that provides Clint Eastwood with his best, most substantial role to date; in it he is far better than he has ever been. In director Don Siegel, Eastwood has found what John Wayne found in John Ford and what Gary Cooper found in Frank Capra." The New York Times in its book, The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made included Two Mules for Sister Sara in its top 1,000 films of all time. Author Howard Hughes joked that critics "couldn't argue that Eastwood's acting was second to nun."
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
starring Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
and Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
set during the French intervention in Mexico
French intervention in Mexico
The French intervention in Mexico , also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain...
. The film was released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel
Don Siegel
Donald Siegel was an influential American film director and producer. His name variously appeared in the credits of his films as both Don Siegel and Donald Siegel.-Early life:...
. It was to have been the first in a five-year exclusive association between Universal Pictures and Sanen Productions of Mexico. The film marked the second of five collaborations between Siegel and Eastwood, following Coogan's Bluff
Coogan's Bluff (film)
Coogan's Bluff is a 1968 American Universal film directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Don Stroud, and Susan Clark...
(1968). The collaboration continued with The Beguiled
The Beguiled
The Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
and Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
(both 1971) and finally Escape From Alcatraz
Escape from Alcatraz (film)
Escape from Alcatraz is a 1979 American thriller film, directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood. It dramatizes possibly the only successful escape attempt from the maximum security prison on Alcatraz Island. The film co-stars Fred Ward, and also features Patrick McGoohan as the...
(1979).
The plot follows an American mercenary who gets mixed up with a whore disguised as a nun and aids a group of Juarista
Benito Juárez
Benito Juárez born Benito Pablo Juárez García, was a Mexican lawyer and politician of Zapotec origin from Oaxaca who served five terms as president of Mexico: 1858–1861 as interim, 1861–1865, 1865–1867, 1867–1871 and 1871–1872...
rebels during the puppet reign of Emperor Maximilian
Maximilian I of Mexico
Maximilian I was the only monarch of the Second Mexican Empire.After a distinguished career in the Austrian Navy, he was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico on April 10, 1864, with the backing of Napoleon III of France and a group of Mexican monarchists who sought to revive the Mexican monarchy...
in Mexico. The film featured both American and Mexican actors and actresses, including being filmed in the picturesque countryside near Tlayacapan
Tlayacapan
Tlayacapan is a town and a municipality located in the northeast part of Morelos state in central Mexico. It is located 60km east from the state capital of Cuernavaca and about 1.5 hours south of Mexico City. It is a rural area, whose way of life has not changed much over the 20th century, with 90%...
, Morelos
Morelos
Morelos officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Morelos is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 33 municipalities and its capital city is Cuernavaca....
.
Plot
A drifter named Hogan spots and saves a naked Sara from being gang-raped by several men whom he shoots and kills. He later learns that she is a nun that is working with a group of Mexican revolutionaries that are fighting the French. When Sara requests that Hogan take her to a Mexican camp, he agrees because he had previously arranged to help the Mexican revolutionaries attack the French garrison in exchange for a portion of the garrison's strongbox if they are successful.As the duo heads toward the camp, Hogan is surprised that the nun smokes his cigars and drinks his whiskey. When Hogan attempts to detonate a charge to destroy a French ammunition train, he is shot by an arrow in the shoulder. Sara is able to bandage him, but he is still unable to shoot the charge to disable the train. Sara assists him in angling his rifle, and the two are able to destroy the train together. Eventually the two reach Juarista commander Col. Beltran's camp and Sara reveals the layout of the French garrison. She then reveals to Hogan that she is not a nun, but a prostitute, and the two team up, infiltrate the fortress, and open the gates for the Mexican army to swarm through.
An epic battle ensures; Hogan demonstrates great bravery in the battle by single handedly gunning down several French soldiers. The French retreat and the Mexicans capture the fort. As promised, Hogan receives a big portion of the riches in the fort. Now wealthy and his job completed, Hogan and Sara set off together for further adventures.
Cast
- Shirley MacLaineShirley MacLaineShirley MacLaine is an American film and theater actress, singer, dancer, activist and author, well-known for her beliefs in new age spirituality and reincarnation. She has written a large number of autobiographical works, many dealing with her spiritual beliefs as well as her Hollywood career...
as Sara - Clint EastwoodClint EastwoodClinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
as Hogan - Manuel Fábregas (billed as Manolo Fábregas) as Col. Beltrán
- Alberto Morin as Gen. LeClaire
- Armando SilvestreArmando SilvestreArmando Silvestre is a Mexican film actor. He has appeared in over 190 films since 1948.-Selected filmography:* Hiawatha * Rosanna * Santo Contra los Zombis * Geronimo...
as 1st American - John KellyJohn Kelly- People :* John Kelly of Killanne , leader of the Irish Rebellion of 1798 in Wexford* John Kelly , Congregational minister* John Larry Kelly, Jr. , originator of the Kelly criterion...
as 2nd American - Enrique LuceroEnrique LuceroEnrique Lucero was a Mexican film actor. Notable for such films as Macario and Two Mules for Sister Sara ....
as 3rd American - David Estuardo as Juan
- Ada CarrascoAda CarrascoAda Carrasco was a Mexican film and television actress. She started her career as an actress in 1952, and went on to make over 38 soap operas, including Los Ricos También Lloran, with Verónica Castro in 1979, Rosa Salvaje in 1987, De Frente al Sol in 1992, Más Allá del Puente in 1994, and finally,...
as Juan's mother - Pancho CórdovaPancho CórdovaFrancisco 'Pancho' Córdova was a Mexican film actor who has starred in numerous films of United States and Mexico.-External links:...
as Juan's father - José Chávez as Horacio
- José Ángel EspinozaJosé Ángel EspinozaJosé Ángel Espinoza Aragón , also known as Ferrusquilla, is a Mexican film actor and songwriter. He is the father of actress Angélica Aragón. There is a statue of him along Olas Altas Promenade in Mazatlan, Mexico.-Selected filmography:*Dos Alegres Gavilanes ... as Tito*House of Evil ... as Dr...
as French Officer - Rosa FurmanRosa FurmanRosa Furman was a Mexican film actress. She played Sara's friend in Two Mules for Sister Sara .-Selected filmography:*Two Mules for Sister Sara *Profundo carmesí *Le Rapace...
as Sara's friend
Development
Budd BoetticherBudd Boetticher
Oscar "Budd" Boetticher, Jr. was a film director during the classical period in Hollywood most famous for the series of low-budget Westerns he made in the late 1950s starring Randolph Scott.Known for their sparse style, dramatic rocky locations near Lone Pine, California, and recurring stories of...
, a long term resident of Mexico renowned for his series of Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott
Randolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
westerns, wrote the original 1967 screenplay that was bought with the provision that Boetticher would direct. Boetticher had planned the film for Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
and Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
, who had played a man of action and a nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is a 1957 CinemaScope film which tells the story of two people stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II....
. Kerr's character was a member of the Mexican aristocracy
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
escaping the vengeance of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
with Mitchum's cowboy protecting her as he led her to safety to the United States.
Carrol Case sold the screenplay to Martin Rackin who had Albert Maltz
Albert Maltz
Albert Maltz was an American author and screenwriter. He was one of the Hollywood Ten who were later blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses....
, also living in Mexico, rewrite the story. Maltz's version had Clint Eastwood playing a soldier of fortune
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
for the Juaristas and Shirley MacLaine playing a revolutionary prostitute now set during the French intervention in Mexico
French intervention in Mexico
The French intervention in Mexico , also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain...
.
The film saw Eastwood embody the tall mysterious stranger once more, unshaven, wearing a serape-like vest and smoking a cigar and the film score was composed by Morricone. Although the film had Leonesque dirty Hispanic villains, the film was considerably less crude and more sardonic than those of Leone.
Boetticher expressed disgust with MacLaine's bawdy character obviously not looking like a nun as opposed to his idea of a genteel lady whose final revelation would have been more of a surprise to the audience. Though Boetticher was friends with both Eastwood and director Don Siegel, Siegel understood Boetticher's dislike of the final film. Boetticher asked Siegel how he could make an awful film like that with Siegel replying that it was a great feeling to wake up in the morning and know there was a cheque in the mail whilst Boettcher replied it was a better feeling to wake up in the morning and be able to look at yourself in the mirror.
Casting
Eastwood had been shown the script by Elizabeth TaylorElizabeth Taylor
Dame Elizabeth Rosemond "Liz" Taylor, DBE was a British-American actress. From her early years as a child star with MGM, she became one of the great screen actresses of Hollywood's Golden Age...
during the filming of Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare is a 1968 World War II action-adventure spy film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It was directed by Brian G. Hutton and shot on location in Upper Austria and Bavaria....
with the view of Taylor playing the female role. The role of Sister Sara was initially offered to Taylor (Taylor then being the wife of Richard Burton) but had to turn down the role because she wanted to shoot in Spain where Burton was filming his latest movie. The role of Sister Sara was supposed to be Mexican, but Shirley MacLaine was cast instead, although they were initially unconvinced with her pale complexion. Eastwood believed that the studio was keen on MacLaine as they had high hopes for her film Sweet Charity
Sweet Charity (film)
Sweet Charity, full title of which is Sweet Charity: The Adventures of a Girl Who Wanted to Be Loved, is a 1969 American musical film directed and choreographed by Bob Fosse, written by Neil Simon, and with music by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields...
where she played a taxi dancer. Both Siegel and Eastwood felt intimidated by her on set, and Siegel described Clint's co-star as, "It's hard to feel any great warmth to her. She's too unfeminine and has too much balls. She's very, very hard." Two Mules for Sister Sara marked the last time that Eastwood would receive second billing for a film and it would be 25 years until he risked being overshadowed by a leading lady again in The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County
The Bridges of Madison County is a 1992 best-selling novel by Robert James Waller which tells the story of a married but lonely Italian woman, living in 1960s Madison County, Iowa, who engages in an affair with a National Geographic photographer from Bellingham, Washington who is visiting Madison...
(1995).
Filming
The film was shot over 65 days in Mexico and cost around $4 million to make. Many of the cast and crew, including MacLaine were stricken by illness while filming due to the adjustment to the food and water. Bruce SurteesBruce Surtees
Bruce Mohr Powell Surtees is an American cinematographer, the son of Robert L. Surtees. He is best known for his extensive work in Clint Eastwood films, mostly westerns of the 1970s and early 1980s...
was a camera operator on the film and acted as a go-between between Siegel and Gabriel Figueroa
Gabriel Figueroa
Gabriel Figueroa Mateos was a Mexican cinematographer who worked both in Mexican cinema and Hollywood....
that led him to work on Siegel's next film The Beguiled
The Beguiled
The Beguiled is a 1971 drama film directed by Don Siegel, starring Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page. The script was written by Albert Maltz and is based on the 1966 Southern Gothic novel written by Thomas P. Cullinan, originally titled A Painted Devil...
. Figueroa used many photographic filter
Photographic filter
In photography and videography, a filter is a camera accessory consisting of an optical filter that can be inserted in the optical path. The filter can be a square or oblong shape mounted in a holder accessory, or, more commonly, a glass or plastic disk with a metal or plastic ring frame, which...
s for effects in the film. Eastwood revealed that he actually killed the rattlesnake for a scene in the film, as Mexican authorities did not want it released in the area after filming the scene. Eastwood noted that he did not want to kill it as he is opposed to killing animals.
Box office
The film returned $4.7 million in North American domestic rentals, rendering it a solid, modestly profitable hit (a movie's gross is often close to twice the domestic rentals figure).Critical reception
Two Mules for Sister Sara received moderate reviews, and Roger GreenspunRoger Greenspun
Roger Greenspun was an American journalist and noted film critic. He is best known for his work with The New York Times in which he reviewed near 400 films, particularly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and for Penthouse in which he was a columnist throughout much of the late 1970s and 1980s...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported, "I'm not sure it is a great movie, but it is very good and it stays and grows on the mind the way only movies of exceptional narrative intelligence do". Stanley Kauffman described the film as "an attempt to keep old Hollywood alive—a place where nuns can turn out to be disguised whores, where heroes can always have a stick of dynamite under their vests, where every story has not one but two cute finishes. Its kind of The African Queen gone west". In a review by the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
The Los Angeles Herald Examiner was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday in the afternoon, and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. The afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Examiner, both of which had been publishing in...
, Two Mules for Sister Sara was called "a solidly entertaining film that provides Clint Eastwood with his best, most substantial role to date; in it he is far better than he has ever been. In director Don Siegel, Eastwood has found what John Wayne found in John Ford and what Gary Cooper found in Frank Capra." The New York Times in its book, The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made included Two Mules for Sister Sara in its top 1,000 films of all time. Author Howard Hughes joked that critics "couldn't argue that Eastwood's acting was second to nun."
Pop culture influences
- Shock rocker Alice CooperAlice CooperAlice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
released a song on his 2001 album DragontownDragontownDragontown is the 22nd studio album by Alice Cooper, released in 2001. Like Brutal Planet, the album displays a heavier style than many of his previous releases...
entitled "Sister Sara", which is about a woman posing as a nun while living a life of sin. - The broadcast commentator Keith OlbermannKeith OlbermannKeith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
of MSNBCMSNBCMSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
's Countdown with Keith OlbermannCountdown with Keith OlbermannCountdown with Keith Olbermann is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program that airs on Current TV, where it began airing on June 20, 2011. The program was broadcast on MSNBC from March 31, 2003, to January 21, 2011. On MSNBC, the show presented five selected news stories of...
, has nicknamed Former Alaska Governor Sarah PalinSarah PalinSarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
, "Sister Sarah."
External links
- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/two_mules_for_sister_sara/Two Mules for Sister Sara at Rotten TomatoesRotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
]