I Finally Watched Clint Eastwood's Monkey Movie, Every Which Way But Loose, And Liked It! Here's Why

If you're a millennial like myself, or younger, it might be inconceivable to you to imagine that one of Clint Eastwood's most successful movies is actually one in which he costars with an orangutan, but it's true!

Upon its release in 1978, the action comedy, Every Which Way But Loose was Clint Eastwood's most profitable movie to date. I know, right? Dirty Harry? Forget that! Sergio Leone’s westerns with Clint? Nope! It's Every Which Way But Loose, buddy, as it was a massive success at the box office.

Which I find funny since the film has kind of been forgotten by my generation. As a film fan, of course I'd heard of it, but mostly as a stain on Eastwood’s career, kind of like the non-traditional western, Paint Your Wagon. But, after watching it, I love it! Here’s why.

I Know It’s A Cheap Laugh, But I Always Giggle Whenever The Orangutan Is On Screen

The plot of Every Which Way But Loose honestly doesn’t even need an orangutan in it, but it’s all the better for it. Clint Eastwood plays a truck driver/bare knuckle boxer named Philo Beddoe, and his buddy, Orville (Geoffrey Lewis) arranges fights for him. One night, Philo becomes smitten with a sultry country singer named Lynn (Sondra Locke), but she goes missing, and Philo searches for her.

Simple, right? It is, but, for some reason - probably because monkey + movie = funny - Eastwood’s character is paired up with an orangutan named Clyde (whose real name was Manis). The reasoning behind this is because Philo won Clyde after a fight, and so the orangutan has been with him ever since. Now, even though Eastwood’s face is the main one on the poster, Clyde is the true star of the film. This orangutan has personality for days, and when he’s not drinking beer, he’s giving the finger to Nazi bikers (who I’ll get into later).

When I was flipping through movies on TCM, I was hesitant to watch this flick. I love movies like Unforgiven, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, and I also love a lot of the movies that Eastwood’s directed, like Mystic River, and the gem Bird, which I wrote about recently. So, the idea of watching his “monkey movie” didn’t sound too appealing to me. But then, I started it, and I was laughing almost immediately, because the formula of monkey + movie = funny IS ACTUALLY TRUE.

Every single moment with Clyde and Eastwood together made me giggle uncontrollably, and now I have to see the sequel, Every Which Way You Can, because I LOVE this pairing. They’re great!

Clint Plays A Bare Knuckle Boxer. What Else Do You Need To Know?

Eastwood - at least to my generation - has always been known as a tough guy. He’s the man who squints and wonders if the punk in front of him feels lucky (well, does he?). Sure, he didn’t always play tough guys, but similar to how Sylvester Stallone will always be Rocky and Rambo to a certain generation, Clint will always be The Man With No Name, and Dirty Harry.

So, it makes sense that this film made Philo Beddoe a man’s man. And, what’s “manlier” than bare knuckle boxing with your shirt off? (I of course ask that in jest since I've seen Fight Club and caught the homoerotic undertones). Anyway, a lot of the film features close ups of him punching dudes in the face or stomach, and I mean A LOT of the film.

In fact, if you went to see this movie back when it first came out and wanted to see Eastwood punching dudes, and only punching dudes, then you would have gotten your money’s worth, because there are so many fight scenes in this movie…maybe even too many. There’s a lot of action in this action comedy, and as I mentioned earlier, this could have just been a bare knuckle boxing movie.

However, with the added benefit of Clyde being in attendance, you get tons of laughs, too. Honestly, it’s always a good time. And, I haven’t even brought up the neo-Nazis yet!

There Are Neo Nazi Bikers Here…For Comic Relief

Eastwood makes serious movies. Million Dollar Baby? Man, Maggie’s death breaks my heart. Gran Torino? Sad stuff. Same with Unforgiven. I always tend to shed a tear at Ned’s death. So, if he ever directed a movie about a neo-Nazi motorcycle gang, it would likely have been a tearjerker.

However, Eastwood didn’t direct Every Which Way But Loose. James Fargo did. Here, there are neo-Nazi motorcyclists, but they’re a joke! A complete and utter joke. In fact, Philo isn’t even the least bit concerned with them, and doesn’t even realize that they have a vendetta against him after he takes their motorcycles and sells them off to give his girlfriend the money.

Led by John Quade as a man named Cholla, the gang is called The Black Widows, and they all have matching tattoos and jackets with a picture of a black widow spider. And get this. The way they end up meeting Philo is because two of the gang members make fun of him and Clyde at a traffic stop, and Philo gets so mad that he chases them with his truck…for like five whole minutes of screentime! Eventually, the two motorcyclists go into a car wash (on their bikes!) in order to escape, and they eventually hop a train. It’s just utter calamity.

But, the funniest thing is that Cholla keeps rubbing his face in dismay at just how incompetent his underlings are. Pretty much everybody beats them up, and when they finally collide with Clyde and Philo at the end, it’s almost like a Benny Hill skit with how ridiculous it is. It’s just so silly.

The “Love Story” Takes Some Interesting, Unexpected Turns

Okay, so while I’ve talked about the bare knuckle boxing, the neo-Nazi bikers, and the orangutan, I haven’t talked about the “love story” yet, and that actually might be the most interesting aspect about this film.

I put “love” in quotation marks because this movie turns out to be something entirely different than what you initially think it’s going to be. As mentioned, Philo takes a liking to a country singer, and she SEEMS to take a liking to him as well. However, when she disappears, WE know that she’s done this before, but Philo doesn’t know that. He just thinks she’s been kidnapped or something, and he’s on a quest to find her.

The only thing is, she doesn’t WANT to be found. She staged the whole disappearance, and is actually quite horrified when Philo winds up tracking her down. In fact, even though she gives him a pity lay, she yells at him and starts hitting him when he comes to see her again, asking him why he has to be so damn persistent.

It’s a turn I definitely didn’t see coming, and it makes the movie all the stronger for it. In the end, this is not a great movie, but I still love it. I know a lot of people likely wouldn’t consider this one of Eastwood’s best movies, but I do. Now, I just need to watch the sequel!

Have you seen this ‘70s gem? I’d love to hear your thoughts!