Two Mules for Sister Sara

**_One of Eastwood's top Westerns_** In Mexico during Maximilian's brief reign (1864-67), a nun named Sara (Shirley MacLaine) is rescued from three rowdy rapists by a loner named Hogan (Clint Eastwood). The pair team-up and assist the Juaristas in their fight to free Mexico from French rule. Manolo Fábregas plays the colonel of the Juaristas. Released in 1970 and directed by Don Siegel, "Two Mules for Sister Sara" is superior to Eastwood's first two "Man with No Name" movies. While it's not technically as good as the renowned "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (1966), it has a more compelling story with better characters. And that's the key to this movie's effectiveness: It focuses on the two protagonists and their developing relationship. Because we're interested in them we're more interested in the extraordinary events with which they're entangled. Speaking of which, there's a nice buffet of Western staples: gunfights, an Indian attack, a saloon scene, a train wreck, a house of ill repute and a rollicking climax. MacLaine is young, beautiful and charismatic here. The movie runs 1 hour, 56 minutes, and was shot in Morelos, Sonora and Sierra Madre Occidental, Mexico. GRADE: A-