In such a long, distinguished career as that of Clint Eastwood, it’s not easy to pare down to the best 10 films. One of the most interesting things about Eastwood’s career is the fact that he was ignored, if not downright loathed as an actor for so long. A funny thing happened some time in the 80’s, however. Clint Eastwood went from being persona non grata as far as critics were concerned, to an acclaimed actor/director.
It may have started with Pale Rider, I don’t remember exactly. In any event, at some point around twenty years ago, the perception of Clint Eastwood in Hollywood changed dramatically. It happened in a flash, the time it took Eastwood’s “Dirty” Harry Callahan to dispense justice with his .44 magnum, and without Eastwood changing much as an actor. It was a subtle change, but the critics finally started seeing what audiences had been seeing for years. Now the man is a media darling with virtually anything he’s associated with gathering acclaim form critics.
From Rowdy Yates of the 60’s TV show, Rawhide, to the Man With No Name of the “spaghetti westerns” of the 60’s (so named because they were filmed in Italy), to Million Dollar Baby, here is my list of the Top 10 films in the 50 plus year career of Clint “The Squint” Eastwood.
10. Every Which Way But Loose
Yeah, I know, cheesy comedy in which Eastwood is often upstaged by an orangatan named Clyde. And this was in the middle of the unfortunate Sondra Locke era. For those of you who don’t remember, there for several years in the late 70’s to mid 80’s, Sondra Locke was in virtually every film that Eastwood appeared in. That fueled more than a few tabloid stories, at least some of which were true. Even Clint Eastwood is entitled to his mistakes, but that one was a doozy. Locke was a no talent hack as an actress, but she must have had some talents, one supposes.
Anyway, other than Locke, there are many funny scenes, especially the ones involving Ruth Gordon as the shotgun-toting Mother of Eastwood’s Philo Beddoe. The ape, Clyde, continually outwits the over the hill biker gang chasing Beddoe throughout the film, providing most of the highlights. It is a very funny movie with the biggest minus being the presence of Sondra Locke. One wonders what Beddoe sees in her in the film and ditto for Eastwood off the screen, but the comedy holds up well to this day.
9. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot
Most critics savaged this film upon its’ release in 1974, but as most of Eastwood’s other films in this period, the critics missed the point entirely. I found it to be a highly underrated action adventure tale with a lot of thrills and spills as the story of John Doherty (Eastwood), nicknamed Thunderbolt, and his buddy Lightfoot, played by Jeff Bridges, robbing a bank in Montana. Of course, the plan goes awry at some point, the pair and their two accomplices must improvise and the ending is bittersweet for Doherty. In an unlikely development, at the beginning, Doherty is in the pulpit of a church, impersonating a preacher.
8. Dirty Harry
The movie that introduced the world to Harry Callahan and the .44 Magnum, “the most powerful handgun in the world”, forever changing the way police were presented onscreen and creating a whole new genre. As in most Clint Eastwood flicks, there are some great “deadpan” lines such as: “you’ve got to ask yourself ‘do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya’ punk?”
7. A Perfect World
Another underrated film, this one co-starring Kevin Costner as an escaped Texas convict with Eastwood as Chief Red Garnett of the Texas Rangers. The Real Texas Rangers, not the mediocre baseball team. Another one with a sad ending, at least for the co-star, but as usual Eastwood is superb as the gruff cop Garnett, but this one has a little more compassion than Harry Callahan.
6. Escape From Alcatraz
In this one Eastwood’s character, Frank Morris and his cohorts devise a brilliant escape plan from the most secure prison on the planet. Patrick MacGoohan is dastardly as the cold-blooded warden. Of course, Morris and his buddies were “innocent”. Hey, it really happens sometimes. The brilliant plan is flawlessly executed and there are funny scenes as well. The funniest is when the biggest, baddest, bully on the (cell) block, a guy named Wolf, tries to ..er.. how can I put this delicately, ahem, “pick up” Eastwood’s Morris in the shower by “ropping the soap”.The result is hilarious, the film exciting.
5. The Eiger Sanction
This has become a cult film with mountain climbers, anyway. In a bit of a departure for Eastwood, he plays an art-collecting college professor, who just happens to be a former hitman for the CID, the movie’s version of the CIA. A ham-handed middle man is beaten to a pulp by Eastwood’s Dr. Jonathan Hemlock numerous times. The Head of the Agency is an albino, the love interest is a black woman with an unfortunate name, and Jack Cassidy plays a gay hitman. This flick is a mix of belly laughs, high adventure (in more ways than one) and suspense as Hemlock tries to find which fellow climber is the murderer of his friend and former colleague.
4. Magnum Force
The second in the Dirty Harry series is the best of all of the films, in my opinion. This one deals with a squad of vigilante San Francisco cops taking on the role of Judge, Jury, and Executioner, killing suspects long before they can be brought to justice by the system. Callahan is the unlikely, at least to the vigilantes, enemy of their cause. Tim Matheson and David Soul are two of the young cops taking the law into their own hands. The duo and their other buddy are so inseparable the rest of the SFPD thinks they’re gay, and in one of the memorable lines of the movie, Callahan remarks after watching them in action on a shooting range “if the rest of you guys could shoot like that, I wouldn’t care if the whole damn force was gay”. He didn’t say gay but the “q” word, but you get the point.
There are several great lines in the film. In one, after a scathing critique of his work by his boss, when asked if he had anything to say, Callahan simply replies “yeah, your mouthwash ain’t makin’ it”. In another, Harry and his partner pull alongside a car filled with mobsters. As they pass, Callahan has the partner roll the window down and Harry asks if the man knows where the entrance to San Quentin is. When the mobster replies “it’s back there, doncha see good?”, Harry retorts “yeah, I just wanted to see if you knew….@$$hole”. In yet another, at the end, after a harrowing chase, when Harry finally sees his foe vanquished, he says of his bookish boss played by Hal Holbrook, he contemptuously sneers, “man’s gotta know his limitations”. Words to live by. In a sidenote, a young Suzanne Sommers has a small role before she was famous. If you ever wanted to see her topless……
3. Million Dollar Baby
Like so many Clint Eastwood films, this one features the tragic demise of a co-star. In this one, Hilary Swank. Eastwood plays Frankie Dunn, training boxers in a sweaty gym, kind of like the Burgess Meredith role in Rocky. But, that’s where the similarities end. Dunn becomes like the only family member that Swank’s Academy Award winning character has after she becomes estranged from her white trash Mother and sister. Eastwood shines but still lets Swank be the focus of the film. He also directed, as he has 30 other films in his long career. This one has another sad ending. Eastwood was accused of making a political statement at which he scoffed something like one meets the same nutcases way out on the right as the one on the left. Great movie.
2. In The Line Of Fire
In this one, Eastwood plays Frank Horrigan, a Secret Service Agent nearing retirement. Having been on the detail assigned to protect JFK in Dallas is forever on Horrigan’s mind, which his enemy, Mitch Leary, played creepily by John Malkovich, knows all too well. There is some subtle political commentary woven into the script, about politicians and the corrupting influence of money on the political process, without being preachy however. Like so many of his other films, most in fact, Eastwood’s Horrigan is single and not considered the most desirable beau to the modern woman. One line uttered by Clint in his raspy, laconic way is one to a female cohort, played by Rene Russo as he played the piano in a piano bar: ” I’m a white, piano playing heterosexual over the age of 50. There ain’t a whole lot of us, but we have a powerful lobby”. The line so intrigued Russo’s character, well, I won’t spoil it for you if you haven’t seen the film but want to. Another great line is one Horrigan makes while sitting under the Lincoln memorial “I wish I could have been there for you, Abe” he says with no one else around.
The battle of wits with Malkovich’s Leary, a psycho former CIA hitman, is engaging and suspenseful. Leary is a master of disguise and has cooked up a brilliant plan to assasinate the current President, protected by Horrigan. Eastwood at his best, but still #2.
1. The Outlaw Josey Wales
This tale of a law-abiding Civil War veteran who watches as his wife and son are murdered by post-war hooligans and his quest for justice, if not revenge, is better, in my opinion than the more acclaimed Pale Rider. It’s the best Western ever, as far as I’m concerned. The late Chief Dan George is brilliant and hilarious as a member of one of the 5 “civilized Tribes”, so called as the Chief’s character remarked, because they “were easy to sneak up on”. A lesser actor than Clint Eastwood might have been upstaged, but Clint more than holds his own. I don’t subscribe to all the Civil War views espoused in the film. They aren’t many, or heavy-handed however, that’s not Eastwood’s style.
In this flick, Eastwood’s Wales spits tobacco early and often, usually on his victims, who invariably are trying to kill Wales, or capture him for a nice bounty. With a couple of exceptions. In one instance, when asked by George if his redbone hound can come along with the party, which had grown to four by then, Wales replies “Hell, he might as well, everyone else is” and with that, spit tobacco directly on the growling mutt’s forehead. I don’t remember if this 1977 film had the disclaimer about not harming any animals in the making of this film.
In another, a snake oil salesman was pitching his product in the street, preaching the benefits of his product like a carnival barker or a modern pitchman in an infomercial. Why, it’s good for… and the man went on a long spiel of all the myriad benefits. “How’s it for stains” Wales quips while spitting tobacco juice all over the man’s white suit.
There are many good character actors in small roles, including the guy who played Uncle Leo in Seinfeld and the late John Vernon, who played Dean Wormer in Animal House, . Unfortunately this film began the long infatuation of Eastwood with Sondra Locke. Nobody’s perfect, but this guy is damn good and these are the Top 10 films of his long, illustrious career in the writer’s opinion.
