The loveable buffoon. Comedy relief. The deceptively canny foe (well, it appears to me, there can't be many people driving around this valley with an ape). The dangerous man who is, all told, not that dangerous, but would hurt someone if given the chance, even an old lady. Cholla is all of these things and much, much more. I would argue that without John Quade as Cholla, the whole of Every Which Way But Loose would fall apart. Philo and Orville's light tone is not a dumbed-down or ridiculous tone, but the Black Widows were written (one assumes) so broadly that they could have easily played it as a Paulie Shore annoya-comedy. But they did not. They played it straight. Cholla is the leader of a dangerous gang of thugs and, damnit, will, as such, be respected.
Self-importance is very funny to us right now. Will Ferrell makes his whole living playing characters with a confidence to which they have no right. Ricky Bobby. Ron Burgandy. Chazz Michael Michaels. They could all be the leader of the Black Widows. Hell, if I was remaking Every Which Way But Loose, I might just put old Will Ferrell in the role. True, he's not short and fat, but I bet he could make it work. Not that I think anyone could improve on the excellent work of John Quade. John gets it. The internet is sketchy on this, and I know most of Quade's film work was as a tough guy, but I would be willing to bet that, as a younger man, Quade did a lot of stage work. His comic timing is perfect. And he seems to know the trick to playing a part like that, play it big, but not too big and, for God's sakes, play it straight. It's funny because he totally inhabits the part. Quade is Cholla. And Cholla truly thinks that the Black Widows are bad mothers.
Ever seen those venerable British actors, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen on Saturday Night Live? The reason they are so funny-- even when the sketch isn't that good of an idea-- is because they are stage actors and they know how to win over an audience. This is a little obscure, even for me, but did anyone see the "Naughty Cake" sketch where every naughty cake that Patrick Stewart made was a woman going to the bathroom? And then when someone asked for a cake with a woman having sex, Stewart was mortally disgusted? If Skeet Ulrich had been in that part, it wouldn't have been funny (Sorry, Skeet! I loved you in "The Craft," but you are not funny). My point is that John Quade fits right in with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen in knowing what is funny. When the old man in the trailer park runs the water over Cholla's boots and a pained Cholla looks to the heavens for salvation? Has anyone who played Richard III ever looked so despondent?
And I dont think just anyone could do that. Remember how I said that most of the parts Cholla played were tough guys? Most other tough guys (I don't even think Eastwood himself) aren't funny. You know who I don't think is funny? The Rock. Every time he tries to be funny, I'm reminded of those football players who were in my high school talent show every year doing an inept ballet. And, God help me, Arnold Schwarzenegger is not funny. Oh, sure, you can put him in funny situations if you know how to use him right. I love it in T2 when John has him take care of some street toughs for him and then balks when the T-800 was going to kill the men. "You were going to kill those guys!" John squeals. Schwarzenegger calmly explains, "I'm a Terminator." Funny stuff. But Arnold pregnant? Arnold brothers with Danny DeVito? One Joke Movies (although, of course, DeVito is one funny little son of a bitch).
What am I getting at? There are a lot of factors that make Every Which Way But Loose a work of genius. But the casting, my God, the casting. Without the synergy of the cast, the movie could easily be crap. Buddy Van Horn, who directed "Any Which Way You Can," was the stunt coordinator on "Every Which Way But Loose." John Quade spent much of his early career doing stunts. I have absolutely no other evidence for this, but I bet Buddy had something to do with John Quade getting cast. They were probably buddies and Buddy, who knew Quade was hilarious and a fine actor, got him in the movie and it was the right thing to do. Buddy, as seems to happen with Eastwood, at a glance seems to have been the stunt director for all of Eastwood's films since "Coogan's Bluff!" Hell, he did the stunts on Spartacus. Buddy, I would love to sit down and hear some of your stories. Did you have anything to do with that ax handle fight in "Pale Rider?" That was genius.
As another aside to my thesis, is anyone else fascinated that Quade was in a TV show called "Werewolf" as "Storage Shed Owner" and then again as "Mulligan" that same year (imdb is awesome). It would be difficult to find out this for sure, but I would be willing to bet that they cast him as Storage Shed Owner based on a headshot and then when he came in, he owned the part and they had to bring him back. How many other people billed as Storage Shed Owner are asked back with a bigger part?
But who do I think is Cholla's most direct ancestor? In Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer's Night's Dream," Bottom is part of the traveling troupe of actors who dream of a big score (a sixpence a day!) that is actually not that big of a score, but rather the job of performing for a local bigwig on his birthday. While practicing, the cause of Bottom's troubles the sprite, Puck, transforms Bottom's head into that of an donkey. Much trouble ensues, some love (which, alas, poor Cholla, has not), and then Bottom does get the dreamed-of gig for the King (or Prince or whatever).
Quade plays Cholla exactly like so many actors to great effect have played Bottom. Cholla's troupe are, of course, the Black Widows. And hell, at the end of "Any Which Way You Can," they even get their dreamed-of big score. Puck? That's Clyde. Clyde makes Cholla look like an ass more often than Philo, who is not a bully.
Sure, this doesn't have a one-to-one basis, but I think the argument is valid. We could also argue that WC Fields might have played the part of Cholla similarly to Quade's interpretation (isn't it funny when you see older actors at the Oscars or something and they'll say something like, "As Jack Benny used to say, "I'm thinking! I'm thinking!" And you kind of know what they're talking about, but not completely. I'm sure I'm going to be 80 and saying things to my grandchildren like, "No more yankee my wankee" and they'll have absolutely no clue what I'm talking about). As an aside, although I love Any Which Way You Can, Cholla's character does lose his compass a bit. The Cholla who shakes his belly in a full-on evil laugh when he finds out that he and Lynne Halsey-Taylor share a desire to set up Philo for a beat-down simply does not exist in AWWYC. He becomes more of a buffoon. And that's fine. But it can't quite stand up to his performance in EWWBL.
So, to sum up, Cholla, Shakespeare, Ian McKellen, Jack Benny. Maybe I don't have a thesis exactly, but John Quade is truly a great man.
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