High Plains Drifter

High Plains Drifter

It is said that Clint's Western directorial debut was assisting Ted Post with Hang 'em High (1967). While this may be true, is was not until High Plains Drifter (1972) that Clint directed a Western on his own. Clint takes the opportunity to pay tribute to Sergio Leone with a grave marker in his name and a movie more akin to a spaghetti Western than any other movie Clint made.

High Plains Drifter is a revenge Western. The Stranger (Clint Eastwood) is the mythical ghost of Lago's former marshal. He returns to Lago to exact vengeance. He rapes, kills, steals, and generally torments the town for its past misdeeds. Graphic sexual violence is pictured as The Stranger spares no one.

The most remarkable feature of the film is its' inclusion of Billy Curtis. Curtis' acting debut was as the hero, Buck Lawson, in The Terror of Tiny Town (1938!), an all midget Western. Curtis' is Mordecai in High Plains Drifter, he is the only man (or woman) in Lago that holds a conscious (albeit small), and the only one who is spared The Stranger's wrath.

Fans of Clint will revel at his performance in High Plains Drifter, we tally the movie as a Good View.

Director: Clint Eastwood

Screenwriter: Ernest Tidyman

Cast: Clint Eastwood.... The Stranger
Verna Bloom.... Sarah Belding
Marianna Hill.... Callie Travers
Mitch Ryan.... Dave Drake
Jack Ging.... Morgan Allen
Stefan Gierasch... Mayor Jason Hobart
Ted Hartley.... Lewis Belding
Billy Curtis.... Mordecai
Geoffrey Lewis .... Stacey Bridges
Scott Walker .... Bill Borders
Walter Barnes....Sheriff Dan Shaw
Paul Brinegar.... Lutie Naylor

Date: 1972 105 minutes