Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

Director:

Don Siegel

Writers:

Budd Boetticher (story)
Albert Maltz (screenplay)

Release Date:

16 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | War | Western

Tagline:

CLINT EASTWOOD...the deadliest man alive...takes on a whole army with two guns and a fistful of dynamite!

Plot:

Set in Mexico, a nun called Sara is rescued from three cowboys by Hogan, who is on his way to do some reconnaissance...

Plot Keywords:

French | Nun | Reconnaissance | Cowboy | Mexico

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Shirley MacLaine	...	Sara
Clint Eastwood	...	Hogan
Manuel Fábregas	...	Col. Beltran (as Manolo Fabregas)
Alberto Morin	...	Gen. LeClaire
Armando Silvestre	...	1st American
John Kelly	...	2nd American
Enrique Lucero	...	3rd American
David Estuardo	...	Juan
Ada Carrasco	...	Juan's mother
Pancho Córdova	...	Juan's father (as Poncho Cordoba)
José Chávez	...	Horatio (as Jose Chavez)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
José Ángel Espinosa 'Ferrusquilla'		(as José Ángel Espinoza)

Also Known As:

Dos mulas para la hermana Sara (Mexico)

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

USA | Mexico

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:G (Quebec) | USA:M (original rating) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | USA:PG (re-rating) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | South Korea:12 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Cuaútla, Morelos, Mexico

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

The Finnish title of the film is "Kourallinen dynamiittia", which translates into English as "Fistful of Dynamite". This is actually the alternative English title of dollar-trilogy director Sergio Leone's film Giù la testa (1971).

Goofs:

Anachronisms: While Sister Sara is climbing the railway bridge to place the dynamite, electrical cables are visible on the background.

Quotes:

Hogan: Sister Sara, you're gonna slow me up some, but I'm gonna take you to one of those guerilla bands you're looking for.
Sara: Do you belong to one of them?
Hogan: Till I get paid, yeah.
Sara: Paid? You mean in gold?
Hogan: Well, let's put it this way: they pay me off in tortillas, I'm gonna shoot 'em right in the eye.
Sara: But the Juaristas are too poor to hire anybody.
Hogan: Well, I made a deal to work out a plan to take the garrison. If it pays off then I get half the French treasury.
Sara: Then you don't have any sympathy for their cause?
Hogan: Not theirs or anybody else's. See I spent two years in a war in the States. Right now, all I'm interested in is money.
Sara: If money is all you care about then why did you fight in that war?
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV)

" I figured there was only going to be one funeral, Catholic! "

When the French army took control of the country we call Mexico, they counted on one factor to help them subdue the population, . . . fear! The use of Fear, through, intimation, torture, and outright execution worked, but not in the way they thought it would. The French brutality had an effect alright, it had the disastrous consequence of cementing the people, their friends and hundreds of mercenaries into an avenging force. Although there are many stories of the revolution, several stand out as movie classics. The Professionals, is one favorite, another is, "Two Mules for Sister Sara." In this story we have an American mercenary (Clint Eastwood) named Hogan who has bitter memories of the Civil War and decides to try for a quick Gold fortune in Mexico. He agrees to help Mexican Col. Beltran (Manuel Fabregas) take the French Garrison in exchange for half the treasury. Along the way, Hogan is joined by a traveling Catholic Nun, named Sister Sara (Shirley MacLaine) who has more secrets than just fear of being captured by the French. Innicially captured by three whiskey drinking rouges who strip, humiliate and threaten the beautiful Nun, she becomes a surprising and necessary ally. In their wondering, they save each other's life until the end, when Hogan is completely shocked with Sister Sara as she reveals her most guarded secret. I loved the movie, especially it's memorable and haunting theme at the beginning of the film. Superb! ****