On May 31, Clint Eastwood turns 90 years young. This four-time Oscar winner has entertained movie audiences for generations, and to honor this Hollywood legend, let’s look back at some of his memorable performances and films. Rather than visit his most celebrated hits like Sergio Leone’s westerns, the Dirty Harry series and his two Best Picture Oscar winners “Unforgiven” (1992) and “Million Dollar Baby” (2004), here are six gems (or two triple features) to watch on Clint Eastwood’s landmark birthday….or any day.
Happy Birthday, Mr. Eastwood!
Triple Feature # 1
Thunderbolt, “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” (1974) – “Just the good ol’ boys. Never meanin’ no harm. Beats all you never saw. Been in trouble with the law, since the day they was born.”
Okay, Thunderbolt (Eastwood) and Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) aren’t Bo and Luke Duke, but Waylon Jennings’ “The Dukes of Hazzard” theme song broadly fits. In an initial setting that resembles almost any scene in Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven” (1978), these two meet outside a church. Thunderbolt, a preacher by trade, finishes a sermon and dodges gunfire, when Lightfoot drives up in a stolen white Trans-Am.
Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot” (1974)
He dodges gunfire??
Anyway, their travels involve convenient - but sometimes necessary - hijinks that eventually leads to an attempted bank robbery with two other shady characters (George Kennedy and Geoffrey Lewis).
“Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) tenders a considerably more elaborate, state-of-the-art game plan, but like most amusing buddy pictures, this film’s treasure rests with the journey, not the destination. Eastwood – admittedly - doesn’t stretch his acting muscles too much, as Bridges – who earned an Oscar nomination as this happy-go-lucky loose cannon – plays off his elder costar. Director Michael Cimino’s first feature includes lots of lowbrow humor, car crashes and profanities, and Catherine Bach (a.k.a. Daisy Duke) makes a brief appearance. See, there is a connection.
Preacher, “Pale Rider” (1985) – In LaHood, California, a town where a strong-armed mining company bullies small-time Tin Pans searching for gold, the Wild West’s moral code rolls around in shades of gray. The same goes for the mysterious Preacher (Eastwood) who strolls into town on a pale horse and serves as a protector to Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty), his fiancée, her daughter, and several other families trying to strike it rich.
Clint Eastwood in “Pale Rider” (1985)
Preacher may be a man of the cloth, but he handles a hickory stick like martial arts master and fires a pistol with Olympic precision. This throwback western doesn’t employ a meticulous slide rule or protractor to deliver thrills for the genre’s avid and casual fans. “Pale Rider” simply strikes all the right gun-toting, pony-riding, spur-jingling beats, and Preacher’s towering persona also mixes in some approachable moments and quips like, “Spirituality ain’t worth spit without a little exercise.”
Clint also directs this engaging popcorn flick and taps Richard Dysart, Chris Penn and Richard Kiel (Jaws from “The Spy Who Loved Me” (1977) and “Moonraker” (1979)) to play colorful baddies, but a fearsome marshal (John Russell) and his six deputies deliver heaping doses of anxiety to the townsfolk and us. Thankfully, this pale rider sometimes lets his Remington revolver lead his sermons.
John Wilson, “White Hunter Black Heart” (1990) – Mr. Eastwood directs and stars in a movie about another director, a famous one. He plays John Huston on the somewhat-troubled set of “The African Queen” (1951), based on Peter Viertel’s novel, about his chronicles with the director during the shoot. Please note that Clint changes the names, as his character is John Wilson, and the movie (within a movie) is called “The African Trader”. For good measure, actress Kay Gibson (Marisa Berenson) and Phil Duncan (Richard Vanstone) look, act and sound like Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, however, Eastwood’s Wilson is easily the most magnetic personality. Wilson is brash, bold, stubborn, and speaks openly to anyone within arm’s-length, as his apprehension-quotient hovers around zero at (just about) all times.
Clint Eastwood in “White Hunter Black Heart” (1990)
For example, over drinks on a hotel patio, Wilson – with a mischievous smile – insults an anti-Semitic acquaintance. Shortly after, he confronts an imposing bully and declares, “I think you’re a yellow, rotten, sadistic son of a bitch.”
Eastwood seems to be enjoying himself, and hey, we want John Wilson on our team! Then again, those same emotional behaviors can turn against his coworkers before you can say, “It’s my way or the highway.”
The roads and prairies in picturesque, adventurous Africa act as Wilson’s imperfect companion, because this airy, faraway journey includes some surprising and moving gravitas when we least expect it.
Triple Feature # 2
Dave Garver, “Play Misty for Me” (1971) – Sixteen years before Glenn Close terrified millions and millions of men in “Fatal Attraction” (1987), Jessica Walter earned a Golden Globe nomination in Eastwood’s directorial debut by causing nightmares for – probably – the same number of guys in 1971. In the coastal town of Carmel, Calif., Dave (Eastwood) – a KRML disc jockey – has a fling with Evelyn (Walter), his number one fan. Their next few encounters, however, morph into awkward confrontations, as she insists on a relationship.
Before you go beating up Dave for acting like a typical noncommittal bachelor, this isn’t an ordinary case of an immovable object versus an irresistible force. You see, his old girlfriend is suddenly back in town, so his dating picture becomes muddled. More importantly, Evelyn waves big neon, flashing billboards that spell KOOKY, UNSTABLE and DANGEROUS.
Clint Eastwood and Jessica Walter in “Play Misty for Me” (1971)
Poor Dave.
Well, it’s not like he doesn’t see the madness coming. We certainly do!
Clint plays with our minds, but also our senses by alternating between big, sweeping views of this gorgeous California paradise and the closed, dark quarters of his character’s apartment, a local restaurant and a quiet radio station. Soon, nowhere is safe in this well-crafted, claustrophobic thriller, and it makes you wonder if Close and Walter (or Eastwood and Michael Douglas) ever compared notes. Just asking.
Ben Shockley, “The Gauntlet” (1977) – “Never saw a cop feeling sorry for himself before. Mind if I watch.” - Augustina Mally (Sandra Locke)
Sandwiched between Dirty Harry’s third and fourth movies, Eastwood plays Ben Shockley, an invisible Phoenix Police officer in “The Gauntlet”. Despite several years on the force, Ben hasn’t broken a big case yet, and he longs for a wife and kids. Unfortunately, he’s been married to alcoholism for far too long.
On a beautiful Downtown Phoenix morning, his commanding officer (William Prince) hands him a routine assignment to transport a witness (Locke) from Las Vegas to the Valley of the Sun. Still, Ben’s trip is anything but ordinary.
Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke in “The Gauntlet” (1977)
Clint – who also directs this road trip movie - doesn’t let Ben fire many rounds over the 109-minute runtime, but he probably spent about 80 percent of his budget on bullets. The story includes two wild, over-the-top shootouts that would make Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Charles Bronson blush.
While Augustina and Ben travel on several winding roads, his coarse language and actions – at times - aren’t super-palatable in the year 2020. Our hero, however, softens a bit, when he’s not complaining about her grievances by lightly uttering, “Nag, nag, nag.” Hey, it was 1977.
Frank Corvin, “Space Cowboys” (2000) – Twenty years ago, what would you say if NASA planned to send four senior citizens into space as first-time astronauts? A brief pause and a blank stare might precede your answer. What if these four individuals are Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland, and James Garner? Millions of fans and dreamers - including this critic - might moonwalk to their couches and pop on cable news to catch the lift off. Okay, this superstar quartet didn’t actually shoot into orbit, but Eastwood directs and stars in “Space Cowboys”, and he and his three pals have a blast. You probably will too.
Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner, and Donald Sutherland in “Space Cowboys” (2000)
This modern-day space mission wraps itself in the hope of second chances, because 42 years earlier, Frank (Eastwood), Hawk (Jones), Jerry (Sutherland), and Tank (Garner) missed their initial one. The script follows an expected formula, and the boys battle stiff backs, sore muscles and winded lungs during their training.
At one point, Tank mentions in the cafeteria, “I’m too tired to chew.”
This “Spies Like Us”-like boot camp does connect with humor, good feelings and the space travelers’ camaraderie. These actors know their strengths, and the film doesn’t lose any cinematic muscle during the second and third acts. Add impressive special effects and an Oscar nomination for sound editing, and “Space Cowboys” will inspire men and women of all ages to reach for the stars…and maybe apply to NASA. Can we fly in a space shuttle with Frank Corvin?
Jeff – a member of the Phoenix Critics Circle – has penned film reviews since 2008, graduated from ASU’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and is a certified Rotten Tomatoes critic. Follow Jeff and the Phoenix Film Festival on Twitter @MitchFilmCritic and @PhoenixFilmFest, respectively.
