Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970)

3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

And Then There Were Nun

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Clint Eastwood stars in Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), his second of five films for director Don Siegel. He plays a stoic cowboy much like his "man with no name" character from the Sergio Leone spaghetti Westerns who happens upon a group of miscreants attacking a nun (Shirley MacLaine) and reluctantly agrees to help her escape from the Mexican army. Much like The African Queen, the mismatched couple bicker and eventually fall in love, united by a common goal -- in this case a cache of gold. Siegel shoots in beautiful widescreen and keeps the action scrappy and pulpy, just like his best "B" movies. The movie boasts a story by Budd Boetticher, a score by Ennio Morricone, and cinematography by the great Gabriel Figueroa.

In 2020, Kino Lorber released a most exciting, two-disc Blu-ray edition, featuring both the 114-minute international cut and the 105-minute domestic cut, both beautifully restored in 4K. Disc One, with the longer cut, includes an audio commentary track by filmmaker and Spaghetti Western expert Alex Cox, a vintage 8-minute, black-and-white featurette, "At Home with Clint," and a poster and image gallery. Disc Two, with the shorter cut, comes with a whole batch of radio and TV spots, and trailers for this and many other Eastwood films. Both cuts also offer optional English subtitles. Highly recommended.