The poncho

[elliot_belt]

Dear Cigar Joe, many thanks for providing the picture! This sketch was done pre-production?

@ Titoli: It sounds exaggerated to have so many costumes made, you're right, so I looked it up again. The documentary I'm refering to is a included in the special features of the '3:10 to Yuma' DVD with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale and part of the 'making of'. The costumes designer who is interviewed states that her company provided 80% of the costumes needed and says literally: "We have made well over 500 pieces at least. Could be over 700 or over 1.000." She further adds:"Because every single costume that is on camera is multiplied multiple times for all the stunt work". If the extras are included in this count, then of course  there are less costumes per main character available and in that case I've misunderstood what she tried to say. But if this effort has been done for the principal characters only this would yield to rather a lot of identical costumes per character and that was what I wanted to say - it puts this production in a strong contrast to GBU even if there weren't so much as 20 costumes per character made.  Quantity is not a substitute for quality and that is the point I wanted to make. Is this alright with you?

[cigar joe]

If this was done before the shooting, it is odd it bears not the pristine movie title "The Magnificent Stranger".

Adds more mystery, so now we need to research when the changed the title, no? .....and why make a sketch when you could just photograph it?

[titoli]

Adds more mystery, so now we need to research when the changed the title, no? .

It was post-production, as Eastwood went back to the States ignoring the definitve title and in the working pictures I saw the title on the clapboard is TMS.

And yes, Elliot Belt, your new interpretation makes sense: considering all of the hundreds of people to be seen in the new Yuma (but I thought you were referring to the original version) the number is reasonable.

[dave jenkins]

It was post-production, as Eastwood went back to the States ignoring the definitve title and in the working pictures I saw the title on the clapboard is TMS.

This must be the case. It is highly unlikely that someone would do a design sketch of a poncho, and then they would find in Spain (or wherever) a poncho answering to every detail of that design. And I've yet to hear of anything supporting the notion that SL had a poncho specially woven. They had barely any budget at all, forced to piggy-back on another production to economize; how could they have afforded to have a poncho specially woven? They went with the cheapest option.

[titoli]

And still the box with title and director might have been added later for cataloguing purposes. In fact the hat of the figure is not the one worn by Eastwood.

[marmota-b]

This is just a theory with almost no facts, but... isn't that a rather common design of a poncho actually?
I'm only basing this on the fact that I've seen very similar ponchos, in different colours, used in other SW's. I don't remember where exactly, I just know that the totally obscure Quintana seems to be wearing a poncho with the same design, only in deep red, from what I've seen.
Well, if this is a common design - just a guess, of course - then it could have been drawn beforehand, couldn't it?

[pablo113]

Eastwoods poncho is like Supermans cape. He has a lethal arsonal under it. It also set him apart from the other characters.


Pablo