The CLINT EASTWOOD Appreciation Thread

I first became a fan of Clint Eastwood’s work many years ago. I can’t remember exactly how I became a fan but I think it had something to do with asking my mom who her favourite actor was. There was a period around ’96-’98 that I started renting Eastwood films like crazy, one or two a week or even three on a weekend. I came to love his work. I’m thankful I was able to find his work as I’m frightened as to what kinds of films I would have like had I not found his wonderfully directed, paced and acted films.

I have yet to see a few of his directed films but of the ones I’ve seen I rank them like this:


1.Unforgiven (1992) A+
2.Bird (1988) A+
3.The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) A
4.High Plains Drifter (1973) A
5.The Bridges of Madison County (1995) A
6.Million Dollar Baby(2004) A
7.A Perfect World (1993) A-
8.True Crime (1999) A-
9.Mystic River (2003) B+
10.Play Misty for Me (1971) B+
11.Pale Rider (1985) B+
12.Bronco Billy (1980) B+
13.White Hunter, Black Heart (1990) B+
14.The Eiger Sanction (1975) B
15.Flags of Our Fathers (2006) B
16.The Gauntlet (1977) B
17.Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997) B
18.Space Cowboys (2000) B-
19.Heartbreak Ridge (1986) B-
20.Absolute Power (1997) C+
21.Sudden Impact (1983) C+
22.Firefox (1982) C
23.Blood Work (2002) C
24.The Rookie (1990) C-


Clint Eastwood was born on May 30, 1930 to Clinton and Ruth Eastwood and spent many of his young years on the move. He became interested in jazz music (which would play a large role in some of his films later in his life) and learned the hardship of being put to work as a young fellow.

1950 – 1969

In 1951 he was drafted by the army and was to be sent to Korea but after a navy plane he was aboard had engine problems and was forced to make a water landing, Eastwood was given the job of a swimming instructor. He was discharged in 1953 and moved to Southern California where attended Los Angeles City College where he studied drama and business administration.

He received an acting contract with Universal but after a year they dropped him. He began to just look for any work at this point and would try out for almost any part. During this time he started getting minor gigs in such films as Revenge of the Creature, Tarantula and Francis in the Navy. He would guest star on “Maverick” with James Garner, whom he would work with again some forty years later). In 1959 he was spotted and offered the role of Rowdy Yates in the classic TV western “Rawhide”. “Rawhide” proved to be a wise choice for Eastwood and he’s thankful for having that job. During the shows run Eastwood was able to learn everything about making a show or film. He learned about the different jobs and learned about directing. Any chance he got he would watch the directors and learn from them. He also developed his trademark “coolness” during this time when he would see the directors yell “ACTION!” and the horses would take off everywhere. Eastwood just uses the terms, “ok, go.” “Go ahead.” “Begin.” He doesn’t yell action or anything to that effect.



During his stint on “Rawhide” Eastwood was contacted by a man named Sergio Leone. Leone was an Italian director who wanted to make a low budget western remake of the classic Yojimbo. Clint was a huge fan of Yojimbo and was intrigued with the part so he accepted but under one condition… that he have full creative control over his character. This character would prove to be the smartest choice Eastwood had ever made.
The film was released overseas in 1964 under the title of Per un pugno di dollari . It wasn’t until around 1966 when Eastwood saw an article in a local newspaper that he realized that this film was getting attention. He decided to screen it for his friends and they were blown away.
The film was eventually released in the U.S. under the title of A Fistful of Dollars. It would be a success and make Eastwood a star. At this time Eastwood had already made two sequels to the film called: For a Few Dollars More (1965) and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly (1966).


With these films being a huge success and Eastwood quickly rising to stardom he started his own production company called Malpaso Productions. Malpaso means “bad step” in Spanish. Eastwood’s first film under this companies name was Hang ‘Em High (1968). A decent western about a man who was falsely accused of cattle robbing and hung to death only to not die and come back for vengeance. His next film would be with director Don Siegel with whom he would strike up a great friendship.Coogan’s Bluff (1968) would still see Eastwood as a “cowboy” but this time in the urban setting of New York City. Eastwood’s next two films would be a war movie with Richard Burton entitled Where Eagles Dare (1968), which was nothing more then a straight forward shoot’em up movie, and the terrible musical-comedy Paint Your Wagon (1969). Apparently Paint Your Wagon went so over budget that this inspired Clint to keep an eye on his budgets which is another trademark of Eastwood.

1970-1979

The 1970’s opened with Clint becoming more popular. His movies were making money and he was getting offers everywhere. This is the time when he started to choose his projects more carefully. He would pick pieces that had interesting stories and interesting characters. He fell in love with flawed characters and anti-heroes. Between 1970 and 1971 Clint made five films: Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), Kelly’s Heroes (1970), The Beguiled (1971) (another collaboration with Siegel), Play Misty For Me (1971) and Dirty Harry (1971).

Play Misty For Me was Eastwood’s directorial debut. The film was about a record D.J. who becomes stalked by a fan of his radio show. The film had a small budget and Eastwood even forfeited his director’s salary just to get the chance to direct it. He shot the film in what became his “hometown” of Carmel, California. The film even features a cameo by Don Siegel as a bartender.


That same year he made a film which would take Eastwood from stardom to superstardom. The film was called Dirty Harry. In a role that was originally slated for Frank Sinatra Eastwood made it his own and made ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan one of the most popular and famous characters in movie history. The film would spawn four sequels but the consensus is that the first one is the best. The film also spawned the popular phrase, “Do you feel lucky punk?” The film would go onto to be a box office success and secure a place for Clint as a respectable actor and a bankable star.

He followed Dirty Harry with another western titled Joe Kidd (1972) and the magnificent High Plains Drifter (1973). High Plains Drifter proved to be a success for Eastwood and is considered by many to be one of his absolute best films and one of his best westerns. The film is about a mysterious man who wanders into a small town begins to take over. The sheriff of this town was murdered and the citizens did nothing to stop it. No one knows exactly who this “stranger” is and the answer is never given. Eastwood leaves it up to the viewer as to who the stranger is. Some think it is an avenging angel sent to clean the town up. Some believe it is the Sheriff’s brother while others think it is the sheriff reincarnated. Eastwood has said this about the identity of the Stranger:

And:


It’s a remarkable film and is a bright spot in Eastwood’s career for the 70’s. He followed Drifter with a directed only film called Breezy (1973) and the first sequel to Dirty Harry Magnum Force (1973).

In 1974 Eastwood team with then unknown writer/director Michael Cimino for a film called Thunderbolt & Lightfoot. Cimino would later go on to direct The Deer Hunter. Eastwood and Cimino worked together on Magnum Force which Cimino wrote. Eastwood liked his work so much that he agreed to be in this film. Jeff Bridges was brought on as the co-star and the two proved to be quite a good team. The chemistry was so good between the two that Bridges was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

In 1975 Eastwood made the spy thriller The Eiger Sanction. It’s a nice little film and definitely departs from Eastwood’s usual films up to that point. The cinematography is astounding the performances are marvelous.

After The Eiger Sanction Eastwood went back to his roots for another western entitled: The Outlaw Josey Wales. Some consider this to be his finest western and one of the greatest westerns ever made. It’s definitely a great piece of work and its one film Eastwood is really proud of making. The film failed to garner any Academy Award support despite its box office and critical success. However not earning Academy Award nominations was something Eastwood was too by this point.


Eastwood rounded out the 70’s with a third sequel to Dirty Harry called The Enforcer (1976), a cop thriller called The Gauntlet (1977), and a film called Every Which Way But Loose (1978) which featured Clint teamed up with an orangutan. This film happened to be the second highest grossing film of 1978 behind Superman. It’s also Eastwood’s highest grossing film ever.

Eastwood’s last film for the 70’s was the true story of the men who escaped from Alcatraz prison. Escape From Alcatraz teamed Eastwood with Don Siegel for a fifth and final time. By this time they had become such great friends and knew what each other wanted that Clint was able to sit in on the editing of the film and make final decisions without Don’s consent.

1980-1989

The 80’s proved to be a great decade for Eastwood. By this time Eastwood had secured himself as a bankable star and as a proven director. He was able to pick projects only he wanted to do and get financing for them. He started off the 80’s with his “Capra” film called Bronco Billy (1980) and followed that with a sequel to Every Which Way But Loose entitled Any Which Way You Can. He starred in the espionage thriller Firefox (1982) and followed that with a personal project titled Honkytonk Man (1982).

1983 saw Eastwood return to what made him star as he dusted off the .44 Magnum and brought Dirty Harry Callahan back for a fourth time in Sudden Impact. This film entered movie history with the famous line: “Go ahead, make my day.” He followed this with the cop thriller Tightrope (1984) and the misfire City Heat (1984). In 1985 he returned to the western genre with Pale Rider.


It was also around this time that Eastwood was becoming upset with the way his town was being run. Residents had spoken up and were shot down. So Eastwood decided to take matters into his own hands and run for Mayor of Carmel, California. On April 8, 1986 Eastwood was elected to the Mayor’s Office. He served a two year term and declined to run for re-election. During his term in office he made a military film called Heartbreak Ridge. The film was backed by the U.S. Marines until they saw a cut and declined further involvement. They were upset with the way the Marines were portrayed and even came out against the film. The film takes place during the troubled event in Grenada and although it was the Army that liberated the students however Eastwood plays it as the Marines.

Unfortunately Eastwood finished the 80’s on a low note with a fifth and final sequel to Dirty Harry called The Dead Pool (1988) and the comedy Pink Cadillac (1989). The only exception was Bird (1988) a movie about the life of Charlie “Bird” Parker a famous jazz musician. The film received critical praise everywhere and even won Clint the Golden Globe for Best Director and a Golden Palm nomination at the Cannes Film Festival. It won an Oscar for Best Sound.

1990-1999

The 90’s opened on very quiet note with under the radar film White Hunter, Black Heart and the terrible buddy cop comedy The Rookie.


Eastwood took a year off to make a film that would turn out to be the greatest film he has ever made and one of the greatest pieces of cinema ever. That film is Unforgiven (1992). Eastwood had been holding onto the script for about 10-12 years just waiting for the right time to make it.
At a time when the western genre was dieing Eastwood resurrected it with a fresh take on the genre. The film starred Eastwood as en ex-outlaw who has reformed his ways. After a whore is cut up he comes out of retirement for the money to help support his kids. Morgan Freeman co-starred as Eastwood’s former gun slinging friend and Gene Hackman stars as the town’s hard nosed sheriff.

The film received massive critical praise, box office success and many awards and nominations including: nine Academy Awards nominations with four wins (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor [Hackman] and Best Editing), a DGA award for outstanding directorial achievement, and four Golden Globe nominations with two wins for Best Director and Best Supporting Actor. The film still remains one of the most important films of the 90’s and one of the greatest westerns ever made.


Eastwood followed this with the Wolfgang Peterson directed CIA thriller In the Line of Fire (1993) and the self directed drama A Perfect World (1993). In the Line of Fire was a huge hit and showed that Eastwood still had what it took to be an action star. A Perfect World teamed Eastwood with Kevin Costner in what turned out to be a wonderful little film that has hardly been seen.

In 1995 Eastwood returned with a complete and utter change in pace from what audiences were used to… a romance movie. Eastwood teamed with Meryl Streep for the film The Bridges of Madison County. It was a popular film and did well at the box office and has become a favourite among Eastwood fans. Eastwood was praised for taking such a risk and was also praised for his performance which remains one of his finest ever.


After Bridges he took a year off and then returned in 1997 with two film Absolute Power and the directed only Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Both proved to be weak and weren’t that successful at the box office. Midnight had a great ensemble cast and has become an under appreciated gem in Eastwood’s career.

Eastwood took another year off and then in 1999 returned the thriller True Crime which featured an innocent man on death row. Eastwood played a brunt reporter who believes the man is innocent and races against the clock to prove it. The film tanked at the box office and Eastwood was furious with Warner Brothers (his home for over 30 years) for not marketing it properly. It remains one of Eastwood’s best films and also features some of the strongest supporting performances in any Eastwood film.

2000’s

In 2000 Eastwood decided to star in another comedy but this time he did so with some fellow friends. He re-teamed with James Garner and Donald Sutherland (Kelly’s Heroes) and brought in Tommy Lee Jones for the old timer comedy Space Cowboys. The film was loved by audiences and made close to $100 million at the box office.

Eastwood then took two years off only to return with the clunky and formulaic thriller Blood Work in 2002. The film didn’t do much at the box office and annoyed fans with its lazy writing and mediocre directing.

Eastwood more then made up for that film a year later with Mystic River in 2003. The film starred Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden and Laura Linney. It received wide spread critical praise and received Academy Award nominations for: Best Actor (Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Robbins), Best Supporting Actress (Gay Harden), Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. It won the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards. It also received Golden Globe nominations for: Best Actor (Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Robbins), Best Director, Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay winning two: Best Actor and Supporting Actor.

Some felt Eastwood deserved the Best Director Oscar but was robbed since Peter Jackson won for all three Lord of the Rings films. And also because in his whole career he was only nominated once before; 11 years earlier.


That following year Eastwood stuck Oscar gold again with the drama Million Dollar Baby (2004). The film re-teamed Eastwood with Morgan Freeman and let him work with Hilary Swank. The film, like Mystic River the year before, received massive critical praise and had a big box office success. The film received Academy Award nominations for: Best Actor (Eastwood), Best Supporting Actor (Freeman), Best Actress (Swank), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture and Best Editing. It won: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Actress. It also took home Golden Globes for: Best Director and Best Actress and a DGA award for Best Directorial Achievement.

In 2005 it was announced that Eastwood would be directing a World War II film based on the famous flag raising on Iwo Jima. The film was based off the book "Flags of our Fathers" and the book recounted how the men raised the flag and how they became heroes for it. The film took the same name as the book. Shortly into 2006 it was announced that Eastwood would also make a film to coincide with Flags of our Fathers. It would be from the Japanese point of view and would be released around the same time as Flags. This was an ambitious assignment for Eastwood as he had never dabled in World War II (not from a directing stand point) and his films never seemed to be overly heavy on action. Also not to mention he was making two films at once. Flags was released in October 2006 to good reviews but it failed to capture everyone like his previous two films (Mystic River & Million Dollar Baby) did. Critics praised the film for it's look and feel and the performances but felt the narrative was weak. Letters From Iwo Jima, the companion film shot entirely in the Japanese language, is scheduled for release in January 2007.


Eastwood’s career has been alive and well for over 50 years and shows no signs of slowing down. He has many projects lined up and he has even dabled in TV directing with Steven Spielberg's 80's TV Show "Amazing Stories". Clint directed the episode entitled: Vanessa in the Garden. In 2003 he also directed a mini-documentary for pal Martin Scorsese’s mini-series called “The Blues”. His episode was entitled: “Piano Blues”.


Eastwood has become known for his fast and efficient production schedule (he shot and completed Million Dollar Baby in less then a year) and his ability to work with and get great performances out of his actors. He’s also never afraid to take risks and try something new. His calm, cool manner on set has won him over with many actors and crew members which is why everyone loves to work with him. Clint Eastwood will definitely go down in cinema history as one of the greatest actor/directors of all time.


Info:

IMDb.com – Clint Eastwood
ClintEastwood.net – A fan site
Wikipedia.com – Clint Eastwood

*I apologize for any and all spelling/grammar mistake*

Leone mentioned that Eastwood was like a block marble because he was constantly changing and chipping away at the block and creating something new.

As for True Crime, yeah it is a little high and I might change that but I still feel it's a wonderful Eastwood film. The performances is what makes it and the chemistry between James Woods, Eastwood and Denis Leary (in one his best performances) is astounding. Lisa Gay Hamilton as the wife of the prisoner is just wonderful to watch and Isaiah Washington is great too. It's all in the performances that make the film for me.

A little less Clint love then I though when I typed this up.

No thoughts on Bridges? His performance? No thoughts on Bird? Or the comic masterpiece The Rookie?

Actually I haven't seen Bird in YEARS! But I do remember loving the style, tone and performances. And just the story. I'll have to watch it again.

I'd say True Crime is worth seeing. It seems to be a hit and miss with general audiences but the performances are worth it alone. Blood Work is trash and my belief is that he did it to do Mystic River.

Hey hey, this ain't a Mel Gibson anti-semitism Appreciation Thread.

Anyways, I liked Magnum Force (Dirty Harry is my fav of the Harry movies) and I did like the bad guys. The bad guys just got more and more ridiculous after that. Espicially the guy in Sudden Impact who has to be THE WORST villian in any Clint film. "Get the bitch!" Ugh. And the crazy guy in Dead Pool who wanted to be Liam Neeson or some shit.