EPISODE 15: SADDLE UP
A shot of the prairie landscape with a lonely rider intruding on the serene space is the best way to start this. For it will ultimately be the way we recollect the memory of Eastwood for better or for worse. And one does have to wonder if that recollection is too closely held to heart as this lionized genres impact continues in different shapes and forms.
In a film career that spans 62 years at minimum, Clint’s image is solidly planted in the mythos of the old west and the stories they behold within. Its an image that in many ways disrupts tradition for this genre and has defined its approach up to and probably beyond the present. The Western is the oldest form of storytelling film has realistically. This came out of practicality in the early days of Hollywood, where the then widely undisturbed landscape of California was suitable and cheap for Westerns to dominate the film output over any multitude of genres that required more complicated sets and controlled environments. As it progressed through the earliest parts of the 20th Century, the Western stamp was firmly defined by traditional heroics that now seem either cheesy or completely outdated. If there was a world where Clints Westerns were not around; we’d probably still have grown beyond the Ford/Wayne image, but it would have taken time. The Ford/Wayne image of the west defined lines of good and bad with a strict line down the middle, not too mention relied heavily on severely outdated notions of gender roles and race relations. It’s an image that sadly still persists in the memory of some as the definitive Western mythos.
It would be a fools errand to suggest that Clint’s Westerns solved the aforementioned issue with the Old Western tropes. The films that are at hand here are very much of a time and place culturally that several things will make you cringe within the current sphere. Undeniably though, what Clints films in the Western genre do accomplish are the breaking of many barriers from aesthetic on down to characterization. Gone are the clean cut, only slightly dirty, noble hero ethics. No, these Westerns are dirty. They inherently ask a loyal fan base to question their love of a genre that had inherently never understood the reality of their backdrop. An unrelenting free for all where everything could and probably would happen. The randomness of life and death, the amoral selfishness, and the lack of control are what define the Western atmosphere. It frankly wasnt until Clints films that we actually saw what the west was (barring some exceptions prior).
So going forward, we are tackling the stories of Clint saddling up to adventures unknown on the lone prairie. The best place to kick it off is with the Westerns he made with Universal. The three films at hand today each show a unique aspect to how Clint, whether as actor or director, handled the west in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Each shows a great desire to break convention, and in their own way they do just that.
So lets get along little doggies, as we discuss a drunk gunslinger, a mercenary with mules, and a vengeful spirit.
JOE KIDD
3 OUTTA 4 BAR SANDWICHES
With a script by the legendary Elmore Leonard, JOE KIDD is the closest to to traditional western in regards to it’s approach. In the town of Sinola, former bounty hunter Joe Kidd (Eastwood) is arrested for drunk and disorderly by the Sheriff and about to serve 10 days rather than pay his ten dollar fine. His sentence is interrupted by the disruption of a Mexican Revolutionary named Luis Chama (weirdly played by John Saxon), who becomes the target of the villainous and land hungry Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall). Harlan hires Kidd to dispose of Chama so that his acquisition of Native land will remain undisturbed by legal claim, thus pushing our reluctant gunslinger to a pulpy adventure where all is made right by Kidd refusing to go along with his employers scheme. Joe Kidd is a quick 87 minutes that gets in and out with enough action and tension to satiate, yet it revels in its desire to be anything but a fun ride. It’s glossing over of key thematic potential is almost necessary to it’s function as a good guys vs bad guys story. Clint is fun in the film, clearly having the time of his life sticking it to authority and going his own way, even if there is little depth in the process. It’s a performance that has all the Clint tropes without thematic baggage, and in a way is closer to the icon of Clint rather than the reality. Nevertheless, it’s complete fun watching his character swing into action and his final shootout with Robert Duvall is Pulp Gold.
TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA
3.5 OUTTA 4 “NUNS”
TWO MULES FOR SISTER SARA is an interesting beast because it dares to balance comedy with tense action in a way that many viewers may think is closest to a Tarantino film than anything else they can recall. Directed by Clint mainstay Don Siegel, Clint plays a mercenary for hire who saves a nun, Sister Sara (Shirley MacClaine) from four undesirables in the desert. He then teams up with Sister Sara to help Mexican Revolutionaries in their struggle against French Soldiers during the French intervention of Mexico, and along the way develop feelings for each other. SISTER SARA’S strength in the film is putting Shirley MacClaine on almost equal footing with Eastwood in terms of grit, ability, and wit. To be honest, it is astounding that they didnt do more films together, as they are almost a match made in heaven, with their squabbling debates on religion and morals providing for some excellent character moments. In a scene where he is instructing MacClaine on how to remove an arrow from his shoulder, we see him get progressively drunk and numb while she attempts to follow steps. It’s a prolonged sequence that is worth every frame. For Clint’s part, it’s a delight to watch the character develop with the help of his co-star, and provides for some memorable moments and one liners. He definitely shows us why we would follow him for so long beyond the silent drifter. In addition, Don Siegels direction is unsurprisingly masterful, with the climatic battle at the French Army camp being an exhilarating and bombastic watch. Plus, if you ever wanted to see Shirley MacClaine eat a rattlesnake and declare it good grub, this is your movie.
HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER
4 OUTTA 4 BUCKETS OF RED PAINT
Clint Eastwood should have made a truly traditional horror film. I think he would have done fantastic with the genre. Previously we discussed PLAY MISTY FOR ME, and how it operates as a supreme slasher film worthy of that distinction. With HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER, Clint makes a Horror Western that operates on a similar level to the art house horror films we gobble up like candy today. A stranger (Eastwood) enters the seemingly timid town of Lago and from that point forward, raises hell. Despite a very disturbing first impression, the townsfolk ask The Stranger for assistance with gunning down three killers who are due to be released from prison and will undoubtedly return to the town. It is truly best, if you havent seen the film, to not go beyond this point plot wise. While the fact of it being a scary ghost story has already been spoiled, the story as it develops and plays out is much more spoiler- filled from and aesthetic and thematic sense. HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER is a brutal and unrelenting film supremely directed by Eastwood who utilizes his standard dark and shadowy imagery to full effect. It’s beats hit hard and by the end you have gone on a dizzying yet endlessly fascinating and effective horror ride. Clints performance as The Stranger, for that matter, is a horror performance that is nearly iconic and should not go unnoticed. The same praise goes to the ensemble cast, particularly the recently passed Verna Bloom and the always amazing Geoffrey Lewis. I would love to do a whole podcast episode on HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER at this point. Revisiting it for this series left me speechless in a way I never acknowledged the first time I saw it years ago.
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All right, we’re gonna stop and camp here for the night. Next time we arise and head out on the trail, we shall visit more of Clint’s journeys on the wild frontier.