I see, so he was whipped by the men of the town years earlier. By using this site, you agree to our updated, Stranger (star and director Clint Eastwood) arriving in Lago, meets thugs at the bar then visits the barber (William O'Connell), violence coming soon, early in, Barber (William O'Connell), shaving sheriff (Walter Barnes) when "Stranger" (star and director Clint Eastwood) points out he's owed a bath, visiting with Mordecai (Billy Curtis) when Callie (Marianna Hill) drops by, in, A man with no name (Clint Eastwood) sets out to protect a town from banditsby any means necessary in. This 4K release also includes a new commentary with the always dependable film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson, who do a great job contextualizing the state of the western in the early 1970s. In general, this is an enjoyable commentary, which allows room for many cross-references to Eastwoods blossoming stock company. (Eastwood, shying away from the supernatural, has stated more than once that he had always thought of his character as the dead sheriff's brother, but the film never suggests this, and offers only notions of cosmic eeriness.) To keep the townspeople busy, he orders every building in town painted blood red. That isn't the American people who settled this country. 2023 Turner Classic Movies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The primary filming location for 'High Plains Drifter' is the area around Mono Lake in California. Director Clint Eastwood Writers Ernest Tidyman Dean Riesner Stars Clint Eastwood Verna Bloom Marianna Hill See production, box office & company info Watch on Prime Video Even more unnerving is the townspeoples indifference to Callies violation, though we soon learn they have a habit of allowing atrocity to flower for their own convenience. Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. Wayne, who it turns out wasnt a fan of the film, wrote an angry letter back, saying that High Plains Drifter isnt what the West was all about and that it isnt the American people who settled this country. The Duke may have thought that he was putting the young Eastwood in his place. Under a joint production between Malpaso and Universal, the original screenplay was written by Ernest Tidyman, who had won a Best Screenplay Oscar for The French Connection.[6]. The film was released in 1973 and was widely acclaimed by critics, as it presents an interesting turn on a traditional Western story. We may earn a commission from these links. Still, its Eastwoods flashbacks to Duncans murder-by-bullwhip that are even more horrifyingand technically dazzling thanks to Bruce Surtees fever-dream cinematography, Dee Bartons eerie score, and Eastwoods decision to have his longtime stunt double, Buddy Van Horn, play Duncan, making the physical similarities between Duncan and the Stranger all the more creepy. But High Plains Drifter is daring, weird and wonderful. The 60s and 70s were the start of social change that culminates in what we have today. "High Plains Drifter" is the story of a small mining town named "Lago" which is constantly troubled by outlaws and gunfighters. These people want protection, but theres no salvation for them. One day a stranger (Clint Eastwood) comes to town, and manages to kill three of those outlaws, gaining instant recognition and the offer of having whatever he wants from the town if he gets rid of the rest of the gang. Your email address will not be published. And it was during the shows hiatus toward the end of its run that he was offered the lead role in Sergio Leones 1964 spaghetti Western, A Fistful of Dollars. High Plains Drifter was released in theaters on this day in 1973. If you are not familiar with Clint Eastwood this is a good place to start. They now feel guilty, and their guilt comes out as paranoia, which is often how guilt manifests itself, and cruelty. As they unknowingly beat a dummy in the bed, the Stranger tosses a stick of dynamite into the room, destroying most of the hotel, then shoots two of his attackers dead, as Morgan flees, wounded. It's like he's begging to be taken out. It looks like WhatsApp is not installed on your phone. 1973 | Maturity Rating: 16+ | 1h 45m | Classic Movies. The innkeeper doesn't say a word when Eastwood drags his wife to his own bed. The drifter rides into the mining town of Lago and is harassed by a trio of toughs whore used to having the run of things. It seems the residents are the only ones in town. Additional scenes for High Plains Drifter were filmed in the Inyo National Forest, home to the oldest living trees in the entire world. All cuts were waived in 1987 when the film was granted an '18' certificate for home video. Callie Travers, - Did not understand why he had entire town painted red. [6] An uncredited rewrite of the script was provided by Dean Riesner, screenwriter of other Eastwood projects. It's a good thing High Plains Drifter is such a rich and thorny creature in its ambiguities and abstracted subtexts, because on the surface it does indulge in hammy TV acting (mostly from a supporting cast full of faces familiar from old TV westerns like Rawhide and Bonanza), and veers close to being simplistic and cheesy in its attitudes toward women, gunplay and tough-guy patois. The next morning, the Stranger rides past Mordecai in the cemetery. Please try again. Your email address will not be published. In an era when New Hollywood movie-brat auteurs grasped for Art, Eastwood seemed to unconsciously position himself as their antithesis. Amazon's Choice highlights highly rated, well-priced products available to ship immediately. Music: Dee Barton
It's a dark movie, it's a gritty movie, and it is a realistic movie. Murphy, Arthur D. (March 28, 1973). Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2022. Another man watched the horrific attack and doesn't help her - he smiles instead. Zito, Tom (May 29, 1973). Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. The movie is commenting on female repression in multiple ways, one of them in a quite lighthearted manner (poking fun at her insatiable libido and shameless sluttiness). "[18], The film had its share of detractors. Review: Gordon Parkss Blaxploitation Classic. High Plains Drifter Official Trailer #1 - Clint Eastwood Movie (1973) HD. Did he want to be a stripped-down bareknuckle filmmaker like Siegel, or a baroque allegorist like Leone? But the plot is not really that important. Casting himself as the nameless Stranger, a riff on his role in Sergio Leon's Man with No Name Trilogy, Eastwood establishes his character's badass bona fides right from the get-go. Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Starring: Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill. But Eastwood has always been cagier about interpreting his film, saying that that interpretation might be true, but its also possible that the Stranger is Duncans avenging brother. With the possible exception of John Wayne, no actor was more synonymous with the movie Western during the second half of the 20th Century than Clint Eastwood. From her native southern California, her family moved around quite a bit, including to Canada, Spain and Great Britain. He pushes her into a barn and rapes her. Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2023. The film stars Eastwood as a mysterious stranger who metes out justice in a corrupt frontier mining town. The story is a parable. Later, Stranger has dinner with the same woman, and it is implied they have sex later in the evening. Clint Eastwood is a legend and you can't cancel a legend! Director: Clint Eastwood
The Stranger replies, "Yes, you do." Beer. High Plains Drifter. Thomas, Kevin (April 6, 1973). Follow The Culture Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQCulture. Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2018. High Plains Drifter was released in theaters on this day in 1973. Which is not to suggest that Eastwood's movie is a dead-serious intellectual indictment it's raw pulp, with plenty of adolescent overripeness and crude narrative ideas. As the Stranger rides off into the desert, a perplexed Mordecai stands beside the tombstone he just finished engraving: "Marshal Jim Duncan, Rest in Peace". Or the ghost of Duncan, hanging in a tortured purgatorial limbo, until he can get a proper burial, a shred of justice, and some overdue payback. [19], Nigel Andrews of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote that "after Play Misty For Me, High Plains Drifter emerges as a disappointingly sterile exercise in style, suggesting that the first thing Eastwood should do as a director is forget the lessons he has learned from other film-makers and start to forge a convincing style of his own. Eastwood knew nothing about Leoneand frankly, there wasnt much to know yet. This content is imported from youTube. the twist is that Clint is kind of a bad guy in that movie, isn't he? film editor Casting By It is the understanding of human psychology that is demonstrated by the film that is important. "[20] John Wayne criticized the film's iconoclastic approach; in a letter to Eastwood, he wrote, "That isn't what the West was all about. Check out this behind the scenes picture of Eastwood filming for High Plains Drifter: #POTD Filming "High Plains Drifter", 1973. As he leaves, he paints over the town sign with a single word: "Hell". Meanwhile, after spending a night in a hotel bed together, Sarah Belding tells the Stranger of her belief that Jim Duncan cannot rest in peace nor depart the physical realm because he was buried in an unmarked grave. Brief content visible, double tap to read full content. [13], Vincent Canby of The New York Times called the film "part ghost story, part revenge Western, more than a little silly, and often quite entertaining in a way that may make you wonder if you lost your good sense. (You must log in or sign up to reply here. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKu-Cq7QglQ Only version I found, but it's really short. This is among the most disturbing sequences of Eastwoods career, as the towns citizens watch the murder with paralyzed awe while shrouded in darkness as the whips crack into the air like gun blasts. When the gang that killed the marshal returns to find this hellscape, its members are brutally dispatched before the drifter rides off into a desert that shimmers with primordial, hallucinatory heat. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. pic.twitter.com/D5MoSWg0oZ, Picturesque Matchstickable (@artyomrilen) November 4, 2016. This reduces the stress Very upsetting to watch and no nudity. There are no faces. Watch the scene below . Eastwood in The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. As it so happens in westerns, The Stranger gets into a shootout with a few local thugs, beating them handily and catching the eye of the local townspeople. Limited filming for certain interior scenes was also done at the famed Universal Studios at 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City in California. ${cardName} not available for the seller you chose. Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. An extremely violent and vicious rape towards the beginning of the film. director of photography Film Editing by Ferris Webster . It's all there is. Which brings us to 1973s High Plains Drifter, a movie thats so frequently overlooked and uncharacteristically strange and surreal that it sticks out like a sore, red-painted thumb in the long sweep of Eastwoods filmography. Just a peaceful hour to drink it in. Eastwood portrays a mysterious stranger who emerges out of the heat waves of the desert and rides into the guilt-ridden town of Lago. Eastwood proceeded to crank out a bunch of lean, economical WesternsHang Em High, Two Mules for Sister Sara, The Beguiledand was encouraged by his frequent director and most formidable mentor Don Siegel to try his hand behind the camera. I also remember a midget giving Eastwood props after the rape. Additional scenes were also filmed in other locations in Nevada and California. Later, Stranger has dinner with the same woman, and it is implied they have sex later in the evening. Clint Eastwood rapes a bitchy woman, she seemed to enjoy it at the end. Besides California, a few scenes in High Plains Drifter were also filmed in Reno and the Winnemucca Lake in Nevada. Lago is positioned along and often above a large body of water that reflects the sky, subtly proffering the illusion that the town itself is in the clouds, a notion of heavenly paradise that the drifter destroys when he assumes control and orders the townspeople to paint every building a deep, dark red. So, rape was definitely a thing that was accepted as something that happened, not a thing that was ok. You see many sights familiar to old westerns including dusty taverns full of hardy men, and vast desert expanses. Read More: Where Was The Shawshank Redemption Filmed? But like a Broadway-trained thespian who periodically returns to the stage to keep his or her instincts honed, Eastwood would keep circling back to the genre that had first forged his mythology in a crucible of six-shooters and squinting glances, the Western. Reviewed in Canada on November 29, 2022, Learn more how customers reviews work on Amazon, Clint Eastwood, Marianna Hill, Verna Bloom. In any case, it becomes clear that what we've got here is a postmodern morality play, in which justice is methodically served but no one is heroic or good at heart. Blood is shown all over his face and body. Every scene is immaculately done. The next morning, Sarah tells the Stranger that Duncan cannot rest in peace because the town buried him in an unmarked grave. He arrives in the small town of Lago and heads into the saloon, followed by three men who obviously intend to do him harm. High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Studios. They don't smile at him, they look at him with hatred even though you don't even know him. In an interview, Eastwood said that earlier versions of the script made the Stranger the dead marshal's brother. Not just politically, but also stylistically. With an excellent new audio commentary and a solid boost in A/V quality, Kinos 4K release of High Plains Drifter offers the ultimate experience of Clint Eastwoods mean, bleak trip to hell. Eastwood's character even renames the town 'Hell' in red paint on the sign at the town limits, further suggesting an Old Testament reading or even an existentialist view, in which Hell, as per Sartre's No Exit, is no more than our own sins and our own communities. Strangers stand out effortlessly. High Plains Drifter is a 1973 American Western film directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Ernest Tidyman, and produced by Robert Daley for The Malpaso Company and Universal Pictures. Maybe thats because back in 1973, working as a director for only the second time, Eastwood was still figuring out what kind of director he wanted to be. [4] Strangers stand out effortlessly. And maybe it stung the young director at the time. Been a very long time since I've seen that movie but I thought that. Belding, aiming a shotgun at the Stranger's back, is shot dead by Mordecai. When the attractive, blond townswoman Callie Travers flirtatiously insults him, he rapes her in the livery stable. Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2022, One of the better shot em up gunfighter/ revenge Saga's , the midget is fantastic, Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2023. It was one generations Great Western Star reaching his hand out to the previous generations. From Clint Eastwood, the acclaimed director/star of The Outlaw Josey Wales, Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino and The Mule, comes this western masterpiece and homage to his The Man with No Name legend. A gun-fighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way. When the movies exploded like TNT overseas, no one was more surprised than Eastwood to learn that he had transformed into a global superstar overnight. Flea-bitten range bums don't usually stop in Lago. 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