Movie review: ‘Every Which Way But Loose’

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It goes without saying that Clint Eastwood is a screen legend and he’s one of my favorite actors and directors. From spaghetti westerns to his most iconic character of “Dirty Harry” (click here to read my review) and following in the decades later on to a string of critically acclaimed and Oscar efforts, Eastwood has always been watchable and, most importantly for studios, bankable. “Every Which Way But Loose” is one of his popular efforts of the 1970s but it is and, I’m sorry to say, one of his cheesiest and cheapest-looking efforts. Its sequel, “Any Which Way You Can” (click here to read my review), is one of those rare follow-ups that is actually better than the original. So, that alone is enough to be said about just how bad you’ll find “Every Which Way But Loose.” Besides, any film with an ape as a sidekick (pardon me, an orangutan here) has simply no chance of being good – with maybe “Tarzan” as an exception.

‘Every Which Way But Loose’
(1978; 114 minutes; rated PG; directed by James Fargo and starring Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke and Geoffrey Lewis)

THIS ONE IS BAD … REALLY, REALLY BAD

(NOTE: I expanded this review with some more opinion and trivia and the updating of links on Jan. 11, 2020. I again expanded the review on Nov. 24, 2024.)

“Every Which Way But Loose” is nothing more than simply bad. You have to admit that it’s really, really bad. The acting is even more wooden than some Clint Eastwood efforts, but everything about it is cheesy – from the script to the production to the cinematography. I’d like to put some blame on the actors, but there are two good efforts here and the rest obviously couldn’t overcome a deficient script and a lack of competent direction.

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I believe the biggest sin among many in “Every Which Way But Loose” is how many times Ruth Gordon says, “Godd—.” I know this Clint Eastwood movie was trying to show an irascible old lady, but, jeeze, you didn’t need her to spout this word all the time. Since it was the 1970s, I guess they didn’t dare have her drop F-bombs. If it was filmed today, it would have so many F-bombs that Homeland Security officials would have been called in. However, Gordon managed to do a great job with her character (and reprised it in the sequel), but she didn’t have to have that word in a majority of her scenes.

The only other bright spot in this TV-movie lookalike is the motorcycle gang that’s pursuing Eastwood. The leader, John Quade as “Cholla,” does a great job with nothing from the screenplay and manages to be the equal as a leader of idiots (and as an actor) as Harvey Lembeck playing “Eric Von Zipper” in “Beach Party” (click here for my review) and other beach films of the 1960s. Quade’s work here has to be one of the most underrated and under-valued efforts you’ll find in cinema.

In “Every Which Way But Loose,” Eastwood is “Philo Beddoe,” a truck driver who moonlights doing bare-knuckles fights. He falls for a woman, Sondra Locke as “Lynn Halsey-Taylor,” but she’s really out to scam him (and any other man who comes along and falls for her). Once he finds out, Eastwood sets off in pursuit of her. At the same time both a motorcycle gang (a group of incompetents called the “Black Widows”) and a couple of mostly dense cops are after him. The gang members because they’re looking for revenge and the bumbling cops for the same thing except it is in retaliation for Eastwood cleaning their clocks in a bar fight.

Oh, and Eastwood has an orangutan called “Clyde” as a sidekick – and that’s all you need to know about the film.

One decent thing about the film is its country and western music theme. I’m not a fan of C&W, but it is handled nicely here (especially in one bar fight where a singer hits someone with his guitar and casually picks up another as he continues to sing). I’m sure our friends in C&W like this one a whole lot!

“Every Which Way But Loose” jumps the metaphorical shark completely when Eastwood winds up smacking one of the cops with a fish. No, I’m not taking time to explain it. Then, adding injury to insult, he bellows like Tarzan. Of course, I’m not making this one up. It is truly the lowest of low points in Eastwood’s cinematic history because of its complete second-rate cheesiness.

Here’s a look at some of the primary cast members:

  • A four-time Oscar winner and seven-time nominee, Eastwood gives an average performance here. He’s good – but that makes it worse since he just cannot avoid being good. However, there isn’t the emotion you’ll find in either “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (click here to read my review) or “Unforgiven,” and he’s a bit of a fish out of water in this effort. Some call it a comedy, but I didn’t laugh and whatever passes for comedy isn’t very good. If you want to see Eastwood do much better, check out “Play Misty for Me.” I don’t have enough room – even on the internet – to list his accomplishments and CV here. I like him best in two World War II flicks: “Kelly’s Heroes” (click here to read my review) and he’s really great in a smaller role with Richard Burton in “Where Eagles Dare” (click here to read my review).
  • Locke isn’t a good actor here and it’s a total surprise that she’s an Oscar nominee (not for this one). Actually, she isn’t a good actor in any film with her that I’ve ever seen and you’d need a microscope to find her acting talent. Locke approaches competence when she gets mad, but that’s about it. She was better (I’d say near-competent, but she was not good) in “Sudden Impact” with Clint. To complicate matters, Locke didn’t have enough to work with here even if she was able. She was nominated for 1968’s “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” and I’m not going to take any more time to write about her. Locke died of a heart attack at 74 in 2018.
  • The actor I like best is Quade. He’s obviously just having a lot of fun being the motorcycle gang leader and handles it with such verve that you look forward to his next scene because you know you’ll enjoy it immensely. Quade knows how to be resigned to his gang’s general incompetence and somehow convinces you he is a cut above his minions. Quade was in several Eastwood films, including “Josey Wales” and “High Plains Drifter,” and was in “The Sting” with the Redford-Newman combo and remember way back and you’ll recognize him even with a tattooed face in “Papillon” with Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. He died at 79 in 2009 of a heart attack.
  • A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Geoffrey Lewis plays “Orville Boggs,” who is Eastwood’s human sidekick. Lewis does an acceptable job because he doesn’t do a truly bad job and manages to be the somewhat foundation of the film. He doesn’t pop his character out at the audience, but he doesn’t embarrass himself, either. Lewis was also in the excellent TV vampire movie “Salem’s Lot” (click here to read my review) as well as “Pink Cadillac” with Eastwood. He had 220 acting credits spanning a career of six decades and was nominated for the TV series “Flo.” Lewis died at 79 in 2015 of a heart attack.
  • The missed opportunity here is by having a young(ish) Beverly D’Angelo as “Echo,” who becomes Lewis’ girlfriend. A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), D’Angelo, who was in only her third film at 26 during production, is open and eager, but doesn’t do much with a character that isn’t developed very well in the script. However, she’s fun and shows some spunk when she saves the guys after a fight. It turns out that Beverly knows how to handle the gun she packs in her purse. D’Angelo was in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” franchise (click here to read my review of “Christmas Vacation”) and I liked her in “Maid to Order” (click here to read my review). She was nominated for “Coal Miner’s Daughter.”
  • An Oscar winner for “Rosemary’s Baby,” Gordon is as good as Quade here. She does the angry, bitter old lady part really well. Gordon is more than profane and has wonderful run-ins with all the people trying to find Eastwood in the movie. I liked her best in “Harold and Maude” and, despite a career beginning in 1915, had only 42 acting credits. She died after a stroke in 1985 at the age of 88.
  • Gregory Walcott plays “Putnam,” the cop who Eastwood punches out in both a bar and at a lake. Walcott, who’s pretty much wooden in his acting, was used to getting punched out by Clint. Walcott, who was tall and matches Clint’s 6-foot-4 height, was beaten by Eastwood in “The Eiger Sanction” and was also with him in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” and had a career of a variety of roles on TV (even the family comedy-drama “Eight is Enough”) and movies such as “The Sugarland Express.” Walcott died in 2015 at 87.
  • Another waste of talent is with James McEachin, who is a somewhat prolific character actor you might remember as TV’s “Tenafly.” McEachin plays “Herb” and he’s Walcott’s somewhat unwilling but abetting sidekick. Although he tries, McEachin is like many others in this one: He just can’t overcome the problems with the script and direction. He was also with Clint in “Play Misty for Me” and “Sudden Impact” and with Burt Reynolds and Raquel Welch in “Fuzz.”

I’d like to mention a few of the motorcycle gang members, but they’re not that notable and I don’t want to take the time.

Wiki notes that “the script, written by Jeremy Joe Kronsberg, had been turned down by many other big production companies in Hollywood.” It’s too bad that Eastwood didn’t pass on it, but with it ringing the cash register for a major profit, I can’t fault him too much for doing it (of course, it’s still a crappy film … but, whatever).

“Every Which Way But Loose” was the fourth-ranked film at theaters in 1978 with $85.1 million, according to Wiki. The same source notes that “Every Which Way But Loose” was made on a $5 million budget. The No. 1 film of the year was “Grease” with $159.9 million. My favorite comedy film of the year was “Hooper” with Burt Reynolds (No. 6 with $78 million – click here to read my review) and the hands-down best drama was “The Deer Hunter.” Here are my reviews of other films from that year:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Locke’s birth name was Sandra Louise Smith; Quade’s birth name was John William Saunders III; Gordon’s birth name was Ruth Gordon Jones; and Walcott’s birth name was Bernard Wasdon Mattox and his nickname was “Barnyard.”
  • Gordon’s character in “Every Which Way But Loose” is only called “Ma,” but you know she’s Lewis’ mother (so she’s also “Mrs. Boggs”) and you find out her full name in the sequel: “Zenobia Boggs.”
  • The script was originally intended for Burt Reynolds – and I’d have to say that I think he would have been a better choice for this kind of film.
  • The third of six films with Eastwood and then-squeeze Locke.
  • Eastwood and Locke began a relationship in 1975 while filming “Josey Wales” and it lasted 14 years. I’d have to say her career opportunities came from being associated with Clint because she has little discernable talent and couldn’t have won any of her roles on ability.
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s extensive trivia page about the film …
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Clint Eastwood‘s boxing coach for the film was Al Silvani, who used to train Jake LaMotta, and had recently prepared Sylvester Stallone for Rocky (1976).”

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