Claim: Clint Eastwood performs.

Every Which Way but Loose is a 1978 American adventure comedy film , released by Warner Brothers , produced by Robert Daley and directed by James Fargo . It stars Clint Eastwood in an uncharacteristic and offbeat comedy role , as Philo Beddoe , a trucker and brawler roaming the American West in search of a lost love while accompanied by his friend/manager , Orville , and his pet orangutan , Clyde . In the process Philo manages to cross a motley assortment of characters , including a pair of police officers and an entire motorcycle gang -LRB- the `` Black Widows '' -RRB- , who end up pursuing him for revenge .   Eastwood 's appearance in the film , after his string of spaghetti western and Dirty Harry roles , somewhat startled the film industry and he was reportedly advised against making it . Although it was panned by critics , the film went on to become an enormous success and became , along with its 1980 sequel Any Which Way You Can , two of the highest grossing Eastwood films . When adjusted for inflation , it still ranks as one of the top 200 highest-grossing films of all time .