Who else but Clint Eastwood can carry a Western like this? I have seen many movies of John Wayne (personal favs. Stagecouch (1939) and The Searches (1956)), but I almost always prefer this man with no name to ubercool and overweight cowboy Wayne. Clint has become a great director off late but we can see his directing genius as early as this movie which came more than 35 years back.
Stranger comes to town, has an agenda in mind and carries his plans out meticulously. Sounds familiar and most of the Westerns have this theme. But when Clint is the stranger, things are a bit different. He is probably the most remorse-less cowboy I have ever seen portrayed. The rough rider comes out of the prairies and dissapears back into them. In High Plains Drifter, which Clint himself directed, a gunfighter comes to the small mining town of Largo, and tries to bring the people together in their fight against three outlaws who are about to attack the town. This is the basic premise on which is built more intrigue and a hidden motive. In the process of bringing townmen together, Clinton tears the town apart, creates more problems than he solves and ultimately seeks his revenge without a trace of compunction.
High Plains Drifter is probably the darkest Western Clint ever directed. Unforgiven (1992) is a close second and surely more mature in terms of direction but this movie is a beast. The hero is a ghost, does not blink before opening his gun, treats women like dirt and leaves without a trace. We are not told what his motives are until the second half by which it becomes clear about his plans in Largo. The movie is full of excellent dialogue and non-stop surprises. The screenplay is tight without a dull moment. There is no love in this movie. Only vendetta and Clint delivers it in full style. A must watch for any fan of Clint Eastwood and/or Westerns. This is one of the great film-noirish westerns from the 70s.
8 comments:
excellent, well written review. i have always known this was a great film long before the critics of it's day finally came around. thank you.
Thanks John. I am glad you liked the review.
you are very welcome. for me high plains drifter is like what if gary cooper had been murdered at the end of high noon and came back for revenge as an avenging spirit. it could be called high noon in the twilight zone. best wishes. take care. i hope you had a merry Christmas and that 2010 is a great year for you.
Very apt description John. High Noon is one of my fav Westerns along with a few like Gunfighter (Gregory Peck) and Outlaw Josie Wales (Are you gonna whistle dixie or take your guns out :).
Have a great year 2010, all the best!
thank you. my all time favorite western is a three way tie between once upon a time in the west, one eyed jacks and the searchers. my #2 is the good the bad and the ugly. my #3 all time favorite western is outlaw josey wales. #4 is high plains drifter. #5 is unforgiven. six is a fistful of dollars. my #7 fave western film is for a few dollars more. eight is a tie between shane and high noon. nine is the ballad of cable hogue. ten is ride the high country. #11 is the wild bunch. that is as far as my list goes. there are many, many other westerns that i like especially those directed by john ford and to a lesser degree howard hawks. the gunfighter is a classic as well. bend of the river is another. thank you for the reply. best wishes.
i really like john ford's my darling clementine. i have never seen the original 3:10 to yuma, but have heard many good things about it. i have never seen clint's favorite western the ox bow incident with henry fonda.
Hi John:
I agree with most of whats on your list, and I think Ox-Box Incident is a classic, you should check it out.
I havent seen one eyed jacks and I put that on my netflix q. Thanks for that!
Have a wonderful new year!
i really need to see ox-bow incident. i have been meaning to since about '92 when clint first started talking about it regularly in interviews.
one eyed jacks is one of the most beautifully shot westerns ever. the studio did not like the original ending. it was a downer. so one year + one day after the final shot of the film the studio forced brando to go back and re-shoot the finale. brando did the new ending under pressure. if he didn't do it the film would not be released. i would love to see the originally intended finale, but i really like the ending as it is. at one time brando shot more film for the movie than any other up until that time. i would really like to see some of that footage as well.
thanks for the reply. i hope 2010 is a positive, productive, pleasant experience for you. best wishes. take care.
thanks for the recommendation of the ox-bow incident.
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