Any Which Way You Can (1980)

A trucker turned prize fighter, his brother and their pet orangutan have a series of misadventures involving the mob, corrupt cops, motorcycle gangs and pretty dames.

Director:

Buddy Van Horn

Writers:

Stanford Sherman, Jeremy Joe Kronsberg (characters)

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Geoffrey Lewis

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Philo Beddoe (Clint Eastwood) takes part in a bare knuckle fight, as he does, to make some more money than he can earn from his car repair business. He decides to retire from fighting, but when the Mafia comes along and arranges another fight, he is pushed into it. A motorcycle gang and an orangutan called Clyde (C.J. the Orangutan) all add to the "fun".

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Plot Keywords:

orangutan | bare knuckle fighting | fistfight | hit in the face | bare knuckle boxing | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Certificate:

PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Per Sondra Locke's autobiography, Clint Eastwood took megadoses of vitamins and ate boiled potatoes like popcorn to bulk up for his role as a street boxer.

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Goofs

When Philo tells Clyde to, "scrap the Merc" he proceeds to do. However, just before Clyde removes the left fender of the "merc", a hood ornament is clearly seen. The hood ornament is the Lincoln "L", which was not used on the Mercury line.

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Quotes

Cholla, Black Widow Leader: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will chew on Philo Beddoe's ass for my last supper!

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Alternate Versions

In the version shown on network television, scenes were added that were cut from the theatrical and home video versions. Those scenes include: Big Tony's thugs shooting Beekman's snake (the scene showing Beekman later eating the snake when he finds out the fight is on exist in all prints) and Big Tony ordering his commercial jet to head back to Jackson for the big fight. The final credits are time compressed or speeded up to end sooner.

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: Jack Frost (1997)

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Soundtracks

Any Which Way You Can
Written by Milton Brown (as M. Brown), Steve Dorff (as S. Dorff) and Snuff Garrett (as S. Garrett)
Sung by Glen Campbell

User Reviews

a funny movie

I just love this movie. I love the music in the film because i am a fan of country music. Clyde is as funny as ever. Every time he came on and done something stupid I was in fits of laughter. The motorcycle gang were just as funny when they went through the tarpit and then they started hardening up because of the tar. The other part of the film where Clint's girlfriend is kidnapped by this mob boss is pretty good. And the bare knuckle fight scenes are well choregraphed as well.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Any Which Way You Can

Filming Locations:

Jackson Hole Airport, Jackson, Wyoming, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,024,663, 21 December 1980

Gross USA:

$70,687,344

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$70,687,344

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Malpaso Company, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1