By the 1960s Westerns were hugely popular and Lee Marvin, with his performances in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Cat Balou, was one of the biggest stars, winning an Oscar for the latter film. When he signed up to do Paint Your Wagon (turning down the more traditional Western The Wild Bunch) it was a change of direction for both him and the genre. His version of Wanderin Star is more infamous than celebrated but it proved the most memorable moment of a very strange musical. Even though Marvin does little more than growl the lyrics out in a deep, bass-heavy voice he managed to get a UK number one single out of it.