Any Which Way You Can (1980)

Director:

Buddy Van Horn

Writers:

Jeremy Joe Kronsberg (characters)
Stanford Sherman (written by)

Release Date:

17 December 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

Faster, funnier and wilder. It'll knock you out.

Plot:

Philo takes part in a bare knuckle fight - as he does - to make some more money than he can earn from his car repair business...

Plot Keywords:

Fight | Orangutan | Mafia | Motorcycle | Motorcycle Gang

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Philo Beddoe
Sondra Locke	...	Lynn Halsey-Taylor
Geoffrey Lewis	...	Orville Boggs
William Smith	...	Jack Wilson
Harry Guardino	...	James Beekman
Ruth Gordon	...	Senovia 'Ma' Boggs
Michael Cavanaugh	...	Patrick Scarfe
Barry Corbin	...	Fat Zack
Roy Jenson	...	Moody, Black Widow
Bill McKinney	...	Dallas, Black Widow
William O'Connell	...	Elmo, Black Widow
John Quade	...	Cholla, Black Widow Leader
Al Ruscio	...	Tony Rapoli Sr. aka Big Tony
Dan Vadis	...	Frank
Camila Ashland	...	Hattie (as Camila Ashlend)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Spain:18 | UK:15 (video rating) (cut) | UK:AA (cinema rating) (cut) | Australia:M | West Germany:12 | UK:18 (uncut) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1981) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Bakersfield, California, USA

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

The fifth of six movies made by real-life couple Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When Clyde is demolishing the Mercury, he is using both hands to hold up the front windshield. A crew member wearing an ape glove provided a third hand to help Clyde move the windshield.

Quotes:

[repeated line]
Philo Beddoe: Right turn, Clyde.

Movie Connections:

Spoofs The Quiet Man (1952)

Soundtrack:

Cotton-Eyed Clint

Okay, One Of Clint's Mokey Movies, But Still Pretty Funny

If any animal deserved its own trailer, chauffeured limousine and personal trainer, it would be Clyde.

"Any Which Way You Can" proves once and for all the similarities of ape to man (and in some cases, the ape's superiority).

Basically, this movie is a great improvement over the stillborn humor of "Every Which Way But Loose". Clint wisely plays straight man to Clyde, who provides the funniest moments, when not befriending William Smith ("Big Bill" Smith from the old biker movies. Go look it up.), then engaging in a bare-knuckle fight with him later on.

Everyone fares better in this movie, in fact. Sondra Locke is far more graceful, Geoffrey Lewis gets more laughs, even Ruth Gordon is seen as the next Bo Derek (bless her heart).

And if the Black Widows aren't more menacing this time around, well... that's kind of hard to do when you're wearing fake wigs and have penciled-in facial hair.

I've seen this movie so many times myself, that I have nearly the entire screenplay committed to memory. What more indelible impression could a filmmaker want to make than that?