Bullet Points: Every Which Way But Loose

1978’s Every Which Way But Loose has a little bit of everything. There’s action. There’s comedy. There’s some romance and the drama that usually comes with it. Most importanly there’s Clyde the Orangutan, making Every Which Way But Loose the perfect Clint Eastwood movie to review for Going Bananas Week…

• Hello Philo Beddoe: We are introduced to the film’s protagonist, Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood, Pale Rider), straight away. We find out that Philo is truck driving man with an eye for the ladies. And a quick stop to a bar after work ends exactly the way it should… with Philo knocking a dude out. However Philo has a much tougher time when he gets home and has an encounter with his pet orangutan, Clyde (Manis, Cannonball Run II). At home, we also meet the “baboon hating” Ma (Ruth Gordon) and Orville (Geoffrey Lewis, Double Impact). We also learn that Philo is a pretty damn good bare knuckle brawler… maybe even as good as the famed Tank Murdock.

• Love At First Sight: Philo and Orville end up hitting up a local honkytonk and that’s when Philo first lays eyes on Lynn Halsey-Taylor (Sondra Locke, The Gauntlet). Lynn gets up on stage as part of The Palomino’s New Talent Night and wows the crowd, especially Philo, who offers to buy her a drink once she gets off stage. Next thing you now Philo is driving Lynn back to her trailer park home and smoothly invites himself in… but that’s when he learns she has a boyfriend. Which certainly complicates things. Philo’s feelings for Lynn are the driving force of the movie… since when she leaves his life as quickly as she entered it, which sparks the eventual road trip to Denver for Philo, Clyde and Orville. Denver happens to be the home of Tank Murdock.
• The Black Widows: The night after Philo met Lynn Halsey-Taylor, he finds himself cruising around Southern California with Clyde riding shotgun, when they have a less than pleasant encounter with some Black Widow bikers, that turns into a chase scene with Philo eventually forcing the guys off their bikes and hopping a train, while Clyde crashes a street sweeper! Philo later beats up two more members of the Black Widows in a diner parking lot… this leads to Black Widows led by the absolutely repulsive Cholla (John Quade) going on a quest for revenge, which eventually has them make their way up to Denver too, but not before a stop at Philo’s place, where they encounter Ma and her shotgun in what was my favorite scene in the movie as Ma blows up numerous bikes with her trusty shotgun.

• Cops: When Philo heads over to The Palomino after he discovers Lynn has skipped town, he ends up getting into with a couple of off duty cops who were there enjoying a drink or two… this leads to a pretty spectacular bar room brawl and it also makes Philo two more enemies. The cops decide to use some of their personal time to track down Philo too, eventually taking them to Denver as well. Things don’t turn out too well for them in the Mile High City. In fact, with the exception of Orville, who falls in love with Echo (Beverly D’Angelo, Violent Night) along the way, the trip to Denver doesn’t really pan out the way any of the characters probably expected. One thing that I was expecting was a Philo Beddoe vs. Tank Murdock fight and I am happy to report that does happen.

Every Which Way But Loose was a change of pace for Eastwood, thanks in great part to working with an orangutan! Who could have predicted that happening when they were watching a Dirty Harry movie or one of Clint’s classic spaghetti westerns? Clint had more than established his macho badass persona, so this was a riskier role for him. But Every Which Way But Loose allowed Clint to step out of his comfort zone and he pulled it off. Plus, the movie made money, so much that they ended up making a sequel.

Speaking of the sequel, if there is a second Going Bananas Week, expect me to review Any Which Way You Can and expect that review to have some Bonus Bullet Points, just like this one…

• If You Ever: …wanted to see Clint Eastwood help an orangutan break into a zoo, so the orangutan could get laid, then Every Which Way But Loose is the movie for you.
• Soundtraxx: Eddie Rabbitt sings the title track “Every Which Way But Loose”. The soundtrack also includes music from country western legends Charlie Rich and Mel Tillis. And Sandra Locke wasn’t just playing a singer, she performed “Don’t Say You Don’t Love Me No More” and “I Seek the Night”.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Clint Eastwood dunk some false teeth into a college student’s clam chowder, then Every Which Way But Loose is the movie for you.
• Familiar Faces: While the Black Widows were one of the most inept biker clubs I have ever seen, it was a group that contained some familiar faces… Bill McKinney played Dallas. I recognized McKinney from his work in First Blood… And there was no way I was not going to recognize the legendary “Judo” Gene LeBell, who played an unnamed biker in Every Which Way But Loose and who I have seen in too many movies to mention.
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Geoffrey Lewis admire Beverly D’Angelo’s cantaloupes, then Every Which Way But Loose is the movie for you.