Every Which Way but Loose (1978): 20 Weird Facts You Didn't Know

What happens when Clint Eastwood takes a role that almost everyone around him thinks is a bad idea? You get Every Which Way but Loose — one of the strangest movies of his career and an unexpected box-office hit. The film combined Eastwood’s tough-guy image with an orangutan named Clyde, a biker gang, bare-knuckle fighting, romance, and country music. Behind the scenes, things became even more surprising. Manis could become difficult and dangerous, the title song was written in roughly thirty minutes over the telephone, real country music stars appeared in the film, and Warner Bros. spent heavily to promote the movie. Here’s the fascinating story of how one of Hollywood’s riskiest ideas became a major success.