Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

I am not a fan of Western films - generally speaking - but Two Mules for Sister Sara is a outstanding story. This movie really did get my attention from the beginning and held it until the very end. It is not a typical shot-them-up Western flick - yet it does have some gun-slinging action in it.This is one of those films I do not want to talk about too much because I don't want to give it away - instead I will tell you to simply watch it because it is good! I can say it is a very interesting concept: The gunslinger helping a nun and vice versa - just watch the film and see how they meet and it plays out you will not be disappointed.9/10

Clint Eastwood stars as a mercenary named Hogan, who rescues a nun being attacked by three cowboys. After dispatching them, Hogan finds to his consternation that he can't get rid of the grateful nun Sara(Shirley MacLaine), though he discovers that she has information regarding a French fort he is doing reconnaissance on. He also learns that this nun has secrets of her own...Reasonably entertaining film has some good action and comedy, though also some graphic violence in the climatic battle at the French fort, and an entirely predictable outcome of their romance. Marred by glaring changes of tone, but still passable.

Well crafted Western with interesting and engaging screenplay written by Albert Maltz from a story by Bud Boetticher . It deals with a nun called Sara (Shirley MacLaine) and two mules (second mule was actually a burro) , as she is attacked by three outlaws , being rescued by a drifter named Hogan (Clint Eastwood) , who is on his way across Mexican desert and becoming wary of her religious nature . Gringo Hogan arrives in Mexico do some reconnaissance, for a next mission to capture a French fort , so he decides to help her in return for information about the defences . Inevitably both of them become good friends but Sara has a twisted secret . At the end takes place a needlessly violent slaughter against Maximiliano army . Hogan is the deadliest man alive , he takes on a whole army with two guns and a fistful of dynamite! .This classic as well as diverting Western results to be a good fun that contains thrills , humor , slow and deliberating filming , elaborate shoot-outs , and portentous battles with bloodbaths included . It's a special following to original ¨Dollars trilogy¨ with Eastwood as ¨Man with no name¨ ; as this new role as Hogan bears remarkable resemblance . Clint returns his classic character of ¨The man with no name¨ and MacLaine is an unlikely nun in this amusing comedy Western . Shirley MacLaine did not get along during the shoot with director Don Siegel , with whom she openly fought . While in Austria filming ¨When eagles dare¨, Clint Eastwood was approached with the script by Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton's wife at the time, with the notion of starring together in the film ; however, Universal Pictures was unwilling to pay Taylor's high salary . Being a Mexico/USA co-production in the picture appears numerous Mexican secondary actors such as Manuel Fabregas , Enrique Lucero , Armando Silvestre , among others . Maestro Ennio Morricone composes a groundbreaking and streaking soundtrack , including some comic touches . Colorful and evocative cinematography in Panavision by excellent Mexican cameraman Gabriel Figueroa and uncredited Robert Surtees , being filmed in Cuaútla, Morelos, Jantetelco, Tlayacapan, Mexico .The motion picture was rightly produced by Martin Rackin and well directed by Donald Siegel . His first feature as a director was 1946's The Verdict (1946). He made his reputation in the early and mid-'50s with a series of tightly made, expertly crafted, tough but intelligent "B" pictures , among them : The Lineup (1958), Riot in Cell Block 11 (1954), Invasion of the body snatchers (1956)), then graduated to major "A" films in the 1960s and early 1970s. He made several "side trips" to television, mostly as a producer . Siegel directed what is generally considered to be Elvis Presley's best picture, Flamingo Star (1960). All of Eastwood's later Western and his ¨Dirty Harry¨ movies owe a considerable debt to Sergio Leone and Donald Siegel . As Donald directed Eastwood in various films , such as : Coogan's bluff , The beguiled , Dirty Harry , Escape from Alcatraz and , of course , this ¨ Two mules and sister Sara¨. He had a long professional relationship and personal friendship with Clint Eastwood, who has often said that everything he knows about filmmaking he learned from Don Siegel . ¨Two mules and sister Sara¨ is an enjoyable film for Clint Eastwood and Donald Siegel enthusiasts , including their usual trademarks , it's full of which made their films so memorable, others might find it a bit long but no one can deny its sense of style what achieved a great burst of world-wide popularity .

Shirley MacLaine (Sara) is on the verge of being raped when Clint Eastwood (Hogan) arrives on the scene. From then on we have a buddy-buddy film as both Shirley and Clint work towards the same goal of kicking some French butt in Mexico some time in the 1800s.This is an easy-to-watch Western that doesn't assault our ears with relentless shooting until the last 15 minutes or so. Up until that point, we have an amusingly gripping story of two strangers getting to know each other. Both MacLaine and Eastwood succeed in being funny - MacLaine, who as a nun, certainly appears to go through a character transformation, eg, smoking, drinking, swearing, punching and spreading her legs to mount and dismount her mule/donkey, and Eastwood in his reactions to MacLaine.One last point involves the title. Anyone know what it means? There is one mule at the beginning of the film that gets swapped for a donkey. Do we substitute the word 'donkey' for the word 'mule' to come up with the total of 2 mules for Sara? Or is Clint Eastwood the 2nd 'mule' for Sister Sara as he acts as a transportation aid for her, especially in the final scene?