For my money, no one has a better or more complete career in
the history of Hollywood since Charlie Chaplin than Clint Eastwood.
I know that is a debatable statement to say the least, but I’ll stand by it. I
am open to contrary suggestions. But remember, I didn’t say Clint was the best
actor. I didn’t say Clint was the best director. What I said and what I’ll
defend is that over his career there isn’t another figure who has the
combination of successes, both critical and financial and in sheer volume, in all
phases as an Actor,
Director and Producer and even a composer. There are a few
that come real close IMO. Robert Redford makes a more than a compelling case
behind and in front of the camera. Mel Brooks could be a fun argument. Mel
Gibson, lunacy aside, has a strong resume for my criteria. But when you add everything
up you still have Clint. And truth be told…. Clint is not my favorite actor or
director by a long shot. But the body, the size and the success of the work are
hard to deny.
Probably a year ago I had ranked all of Jimmy Stewart’s Westerns. I enjoyed the
process so a few months ago I asked a question on Facebook about what I should do
next. The winning suggestion was to revisit and rank all of Clint Eastwood’s
Non-Westerns. By the way, Clint has a substantial film catalog and while
planning I realized it was probably going to be too many films to work with. So,
I made a not so arbitrary cutoff in 1990. I did this for 2 reasons. First, starting
with Coogan’s Bluff in ‘68 through 1990’s the Rookie there were 25 films that
hit my criteria. That seemed like a good round number. Secondly, and this can’t
be overstated, there is a clear demarcation in Clint’s career starting in 1992
with the release of Unforgiven through last year’s Cry Macho. To put it
plainly, he got better. At least his movies did, especially his non-westerns.
To be fair his westerns have always been held in high esteem. It is hard to get
better than The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976. But his non-western films were much
more inconsistent until 1993’s In the Line of Fire.
He hit a creative groove with non-westerns
after Unforgiven with Million Dollar Baby, Grand Torino, In the Line of Fire,
Bridges of Madison County, A Perfect World etc that deserves to be looked at
separately.
So…Here we go.
Clint Eastwood 1968 – 1990 Lead Feature Films, Non-Westerns…..Don’t
hate me in the morning!!
25. Coogan’s Bluff ’68 – Somewhere, someone decided Clint needed should make a hippie movie. This was his. He
wasn’t the hippie, but he tried to have sex with as many hippies as he could. It is horrible. Just a mess of a film.
24. The Rookie ’90 – Ill-fated,
buddy cop movie with Charlie Sheen. Enough said!
23. White Hunter Black Heart ’90 - Did
you ever see the movie where John Wayne played Genghis Kahn…. Well, Clint
Eastwood impersonating John Huston isn’t much better. Stay in your lane Clint!
22. Play Misty for Me ’71 – Clint’s
directorial debut. It was a hit and a well-received psychological thriller. Unfortunately,
it DOES NOT hold up over time. Sensibilities have just changed.
21. Pink Cadillac ’89 – Anytime you
expect Clint to be the over the top, extravert it may not go well. A bail bondsman with a heart of gold who will
dress up in disguises really feels like a last grasp at a once successful action
formula.
20.
The Eiger Sanction ’75- The
movie is never sure if it is trying to be an American pseudo-James
Bond spy
film or a mountain climbing adventure
. There is a good movie of either one in
there but not both. Also having a inter-racial love interest seemed progressive
until you realized her name was Jemimah……. even in 1975…. My goodness.
19. Honkytonk Man ’82 – I remember
seeing this at the theater when I was 11. I liked it. None of the adults I knew
were as enamored as I was. It has got its problems but I’m personally fond of
the film. Sadly, Eastwood’s son can’t act, and his dad can’t sing. Not a big
deal but the movie just happens to be about a guy who can sing.….so…. I still find it to be one of Clint’s better acting
performances.
18. Firefox ’82 – Two movies in
One. A potentially, exceptional cold war espionage thriller ruined by a
deplorably awful plane chase for the last 30 minutes.
17. City Heat ’84 – Two of the
biggest stars of the 70’s and early 80’s were Clint and Burt Reynolds. This
should have been a hit. IT WASN’T. Much of the reason may have been the
marketing. I remember it being billed as a slapstick comedy. It had funny
moments but was much more a period crime piece. Not nearly as slick or
sophisticated as The Sting from a decade earlier but along those same lines.
16. Sudden Impact ’83 – Dirty Harry
Callahan was back after an 8-year hiatus. He hadn’t really learned anything
since he left. How in God’s name can he always be shocked that there is a Constitution
and a Bill of Rights and Police Procedure. I get that Harry’s appeal is how
he’s willing to ignore those things to get the bad guy, but he acts surprised
every time he gets in trouble. This is the 4th movie for God’s sake.
When will he learn? This was a huge hit, but the film had most of the same
problems as the earlier Dirty Harry films.
15. Tightrope ’84 -Psychological
thriller from different source material. Not Clint’s typical flick. The
parallels between Clint’s character and the serial killer he is chasing was
deeper and a little out of character for Clint. He plays a much more vulnerable
character and really ramps up the tension. I liked it much better than I did in
1984. I was expecting Dirty Harry.
14. Paint Your Wagon ’69 – This was
the first time Clint sang on screen. Sadly…. very sadly it wouldn’t be the
last. By all counts Clint is an accomplished musician. Unfortunately, he is a deplorably,
awful singer. Regardless his handsome, straight arrow next to a crusty, scene-chewing
Lee Marvin proves to be pretty funny even if the premise is pretty outlandish.
Not a movie to overthink. Just enjoy for what it is and the time it came out.
13. Every Which Way but Loose ’78 –
It is hard to imagine but adjusted for inflation THIS is Clint Eastwood’s
biggest hit and one of the top 250 grossing pictures of all time…WTH? On the surface it’s just horrible. The plot is
non-existent and seems like Clint is trying for a Burt Reynolds level of silliness.
The acting is bad. Sondra Locke sings and she may be a worse singer than Clint
if that’s possible. Then the level of ridiculousness achieved by the nemesis
biker gang, the Black Widows of Pacoima, can’t be overstated. ….BUT and this is
important…Philo Beddoe and his strange, colorful family are terribly likable
and watchable characters. Plot be damned. Not to mention that everyone loves
Clyde the orangutan…and the monkey maketh the movie!
12. The Enforcer ’76 – Disgruntled Vietnam
vets and drugged out hippies are terrorizing San Francisco but they didn’t
count on Harry Callahan. This was the 3rd of 5 Dirty Harry movies. Killer
opening and seriously the whole counter-culture gang of hippie bad guys works.
All the Dirty Harry films have some head scratching moments but here the good
outweighs the confusing.
11.
Heartbreak Ridge ’86 – There is
a lot to love about Heartbreak Ridge. Clint is superb as the aging Marine
nearing retirement lamenting the mistakes of his life and fearing a future outside
of the corp. Every nook and cranny on his face tells a story. He’s believable
and sympathetic and really gives a great performance. But the festering boil of
this film is the downright absurd way it portrays the Marine Corp unit Gunny
Highway is taking over. The dialogue, the scenarios, the acting and the
premises are laughably awful. I must fast forward through about 6 scenes and
then I love it.
10.
The Dead Pool ’89 – While not
the most popular, Dead Pool is probably the Dirty Harry movie with the least
warts. Story is much more coherent, and Harry’s popular antics at least advance
the story as opposed to just popping up out of the blue.
Future heavy weights Liam Neeson and Jim Carrey
in supporting roles was fun to revisit.
9. Dirty Harry ’71 – Tip of the hat
and props to the original. With Dirty Harry, Clint now has another iconic film
character that is the standard bearer for its genre and this one actually
talks. Not too shabby.
8. Magnum Force ’73 – The second
of the Callahan movies and the best story of the bunch. A rogue group of
vigilante cops making life hard for Harry. Great early roles for David Soul,
Robert Urich and Tim Matheson. None of
them are Jim Carrey but not shabby.
7. The Gauntlet ’77 – It would
be easy to think The Gaunlet was a Dirty Harry movie, but it isn’t. It looks
like one. Sounds like one and probably smells like one but…. It isn’t. This is
Clint’s 2nd of 6 films with Sondra Locke and their chemistry is very
good. It turns into a bit of a travel/buddy movie with the most marvelously
ridiculous final sequence someone could imagine. But…and this is important…. It
works…. regardless of how ridiculous it is….it works.
6. Thunderbolt and Lightfoot ’74
– Really enjoyable buddy/heist movie with a painfully, young Jeff Bridges and a
nasty, mean, larger than life George Kennedy who plays a great foil for Clint
and Jeff’s lovable losers. A strangely, sweet film when all is said and done.
5.
Any Which Way You Can ’80 – The
only reason I put either of these in the top 10 is because as horrible as they
are there is a certain charm and likeability for the characters and they both
made so much damn money it’s hard not to acknowledge them. This movie was
strangely better that the original. No, this is not a Godfather vs Godfather II
situation. However, there is a slightly better plot and they made sure to use
the orangutan every chance they got. He even has a love scene…but Fellini it
ain’t.
4.
Kelly’s Heroes ’70 – Released
three years after The Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes has a similar feel but counter-culture was kicking a little harder. So instead of vile criminals
banding together to kill Nazis we get a bunch of goofy burnouts so sick and
tired of the war they go on a mission behind enemy lines to steal Nazi
treasure. So, nothing like DD and very similar at the same time. You also get
Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas as cross overs between the two.
This was released the same year at M*A*S*H and
Tora Tora Tora!
Those are 3 very
different looks at war to be sure. Terribly entertaining!! With a cast for the ages Clint, Don Rickles, Carol O’Connor, Gavin McCloud and Harry Dean Stanton join the
aforementioned Hawkeye Peirce
and Kojak!
3. Escape from Alcatraz ’79 – Clint
hasn’t made it a habit of playing real live characters. That’s probably not a
bad idea especially if you’ve seen his impersonation of Walter Huston in White Heart
Black Hunter. He’s not that kind of actor. But in Escape from Alcatraz, he’s
playing someone nobody knows so an imitation isn’t necessary. Whether or not
the film is historically accurate is debatable because honestly, we don’t know exactly
who it ended. However, as a piece of entertainment the film works. The script
is tight, and the performances are earnest. You are rooting for the “bad guys”
to make it and the suspense is real.
2. Where Eagles Dare ’68 – Clint
had made a name for himself. The “Man with No Name”
movies were huge hits. His
star was on the rise, but he was still getting 2
nd billing
especially to Sir Richard Burton. When you think of Alistair MacLean films you
think action-packed, large-scale events. Where Eagles Dare is no different. British
spies team with an American to break into a mountain-top, Nazi stronghold to
save someone that will turn the tide of the war. The suspension of disbelief
required of an audience in 1968 is no greater that required in 2022 but it is
different. Fight scenes, special effects and action sequences are just
different. That doesn’t make the filmmaking worse or less sophisticated. Since
Clint wasn’t the main star, it would be easy to drop this on in the list. This
is Burton’s movie. Clint is handsome window dressing but that’s OK cause the
film is still that good. Anyway, this would be one of the last times Clint
Eastwood’s name wasn’t on top of the marquis.
1.
Bronco Billy ’80 – In my
experience you either love Bronco Billy or you hate Bronco Billy, and most
people hate it.
I get it. It’s not
typical Eastwood fare. People came to the theater to see Dirty Harry or Josey
Wales and instead they got a quirky, almost whimsical, love story. Instead of John
Wayne or Clint Eastwood They got someone who actually believed all the John
Wayne, Roy Rogers and dare I say Clint Eastwood movies were real…..or at least their
ideas and themes were real.
Bronco Billy
has its issues. The love story feels genuine and believable within the context
of the film. However, its campy, over-the-top portrayal of Antoinette’s family
is at the least distracting. But Bronco Billy is about truth and honor and
working hard and obeying your parents and all the lessons Bronco learned from
his heroes and now wants to teach the little buckaroos who come to his show. It’s
about protecting your friends and being an example of righteousness and doing
good. For Bronco it is not silly and its not hokey. Bronco’s amazing level of naivete
and optimism is such a contrast to the image Clint cultivated for years. That’s
why it is one of Clint’s best performances of his entire career. And not for
nothing, when it’s all said and done, you end up pulling for Bronco. Even
though he’s frustrating and oblivious and painstakingly loyal despite the
consequences you want him to be right. You want this optimism to actually be
the truth and doggone it…..maybe it is.
Such a
sweet film.
I’m open for rigorous questioning!!
