Clint Eastwood first rose to prominence following his starring role on the television Western series Rawhide, which ran for eight seasons from 1959 to 1965. Unsatisfied by his television character Rowdy Yates, Eastwood took a gamble in the early 1960s when he agreed to star in an Italian Western, A Fistful of Dollars, by a then-unknown director named Sergio Leone. The film, along with the rest of the Dollars Trilogy, turned Eastwood into an international superstar.
Learning from his mentors Leone and Don Siegel, Eastwood began directing his films in the early 1970s. Over the years, Eastwood developed a directorial reputation as one of cinema’s most efficient filmmakers, using minimal takes and frequently coming in under budget and schedule. Iconic films such as Unforgiven, Letter from Iwo Jima, and Million Dollar Baby have cemented Eastwood’s legacy as one of the greatest actors/directors in film history.
10 American Sniper Is Eastwood’s Highest-Grossing Film (2014)
American Sniper
Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle’s pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home with his family after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can’t leave behind.
- Director
- Clint Eastwood
- Release Date
- January 16, 2015
- Studio
- Warner Brothers
- Cast
- Bradley Cooper , Sienna Miller , Kyle Gallner
- Writers
- Jason Hall , Chris Kyle , Scott McEwen
- Runtime
- 2 Hours 13 Minutes
- Main Genre
- Action
- Producer
- Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper, Peter Morgan
- Production Company
- Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Mad Chance Productions, 22nd & Indiana Pictures, Malpaso Productions
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United States Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle served four tours in the Iraq War, resulting in him becoming the deadliest marksman in U.S. history. In 2012, Warner Bros. purchased Kyle’s memoir, with directors David O. Russell and Steven Spielberg in the running to direct. During pre-production, Eddie Ray Routh murdered Kyle at a gun range. Eventually, Eastwood signed on to direct American Sniper, which would depict Kyle’s military career, family life, and tragic death.
Upon its release, American Sniper was an unprecedented box office success, surpassing Saving Private Ryan as the highest-grossing war film of all time. The movie also remains Eastwood’s biggest commercial triumph. While American Sniper attracted some controversy due to its depiction of both Kyle and the Iraq War, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Overall, American Sniper earned nearly 70 award nominations, winning approximately 25.
9 Pale Rider Was The Highest-Grossing Western Of The 1980s (1985)
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By the 1980s, Westerns had fallen out of favor with American audiences. The monumental critical and commercial disaster of Michael Cimino’s epic Western Heaven’s Gate brought about the end of the New Hollywood movement and caused studio executives to view Westerns as an obsolete genre. Eastwood, a legend of the Western genre, had not appeared in a true Western since The Outlaw Josey Wales in 1976. That all changed in 1985 when Eastwood directed and starred in Pale Rider, a Western about a mysterious preacher who protects a prospector village from a greedy mining company.
A considerable risk due to the current state of the Western genre, Pale Rider defied expectations and became the highest-grossing Western of the 1980s. Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote, “Pale Rider is the first decent western in a very long time.” Famed critic Roger Ebert lauded the film, stating “Pale Rider is, overall, a considerable achievement, a classic Western of style and excitement.” In 2008, the American Film Institute nominated Pale Rider for their list of the best American Westerns.
8 A Perfect World Is One Of Eastwood’s Most Underrated Films (1993)
While amid Academy Award campaigning for his film Unforgiven, Eastwood desired a project that would give him a break from acting. A Perfect World seemed like the ideal project, with Kevin Costner approached to play the lead role. A crime thriller road movie, A Perfect World tells the story of a kidnapped boy who strikes up a friendship with his captor. Eastwood took on the supporting role of Texas Ranger Red Garnett, who pursues Costner’s Butch Haynes.
Although not successful in the United States, A Perfect World connected with international audiences, driving its gross to upwards of $135 million. Janet Maslin of The New York Times championed A Perfect World as one of Eastwood’s best, writing that the movie is “a deeply felt, deceptively simple film that marks the high point of Mr. Eastwood’s directing career thus far.” French magazine Cahiers du cinéma named A Perfect World the best film of 1993.
7 Eastwood Returns To Acting With Gran Torino (2008)
Following a four-year acting hiatus after his Academy Award-nominated performance in Million Dollar Baby, Eastwood returned to the silver screen with Gran Torino. A riveting drama, Gran Torino centers on Walt Kowalski, a disgruntled, prejudiced Korean War veteran who takes a Hmong teenager under his wing after the boy attempts to steal the former soldier’s prized 1972 Gran Torino. Walt seeks redemption for both the boy and himself.
With a budget of around $30 million, Gran Torino grossed over $270 million at the worldwide box office, making it Eastwood’s biggest financial success then. Critics praised Gran Torino for its direction, performances, and inclusion of Hmong-American actors. Gran Torino won over 20 awards out of over 40 nominations. However, the Academy Awards snubbed Gran Torino of any nominations, which caused backlash and criticism towards the organization.
6 High Plains Drifter Was Eastwood’s First Great Western As A Director (1973)
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Eastwood began his directorial career with the thriller Play Misty for Me. With his second film as a director, Eastwood took on the genre he is most synonymous with, the Western. In High Plains Drifter, Eastwood stars yet again as a no-named stranger who comes to a small town and must protect the townspeople from three notorious outlaws.
Even though Westerns had already begun their box office decline by 1973, High Plains Drifter was a commercial success and was one of the highest-grossing Westerns of the 1970s. High Plains Drifter’s revisionist approach to the Western genre angered some, including John Wayne, who wrote an angry letter to Eastwood proclaiming Eastwood’s pessimistic view of American settlers and the West was an inaccurate representation of the period. The American Film Institute nominated High Plains Drifter for their list of the greatest American Westerns.
5 Eastwood Adds Composer To His Resume With Mystic River (2003)
For the first 50 or so years of Eastwood’s illustrious career, he was among the most important actor/director/producer in Hollywood. In 2003, Eastwood added composer to his resume with Mystic River, a crime drama based on Dennis Lehane’s 2001 novel of the same name. Mystic River focuses on three childhood friends whose lives become even more interconnected following the murder of one of the friends’ teenage daughters.
Despite Mystic River’s grim and heavy-handed nature, the film was a box office success, grossing over $150 million against a budget of only $25 million. Critics hailed Mystic River as another phenomenal work by Eastwood. Mystic River won over 55 awards out of 200 nominations, including Academy Award wins for Best Actor in a Leading Role and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone commended Eastwood’s direction, writing “Clint Eastwood pours everything he knows about directing into Mystic River. His film sneaks up, messes with your head, and then floors you. You can’t shake it. It’s that haunting, that hypnotic.”
4 The Outlaw Josey Wales Was The First Eastwood-Directed Film Inducted Into The National Film Registry (1976)
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Missouri farmer Josey Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from the Union soldiers who murdered his family.
- Director
- Clint Eastwood
- Release Date
- June 30, 1976
- Cast
- Clint Eastwood , Sondra Locke , Chief Dan George , Bill McKinney , John Vernon , Paula Trueman
- Writers
- Forrest Carter , Philip Kaufman , Sonia Chernus
- Runtime
- 2 hours 15 minutes
- Production Company
- Warner Bros., The Malpaso Company
Originally, Eastwood signed on to star in The Outlaw Josey Wales with Philip Kaufman slated to direct. However, constant conflicts between the two marred the early stages of production, culminating in Eastwood firing Kaufman and stepping into the director’s chair himself. This controversial decision led to a fine of around $60,000 and the Directors Guild of America implemented “the Eastwood Rule,” which forbids actors or producers from firing a director and then personally taking over the role.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a revisionist Western about a Missouri farmer who joins a Confederate guerrilla unit and winds up on the run from a group of Union soldiers who murdered his family. The critical success of The Outlaw Josey Wales helped elevate Eastwood’s status as a director. Fellow filmmaker Orson Welles called The Outlaw Josey Wales one of the best Westerns ever made. Roger Ebert praised both Eastwood’s acting and directing abilities, writing “Eastwood is such a taciturn and action-oriented performer that it’s easy to overlook the fact that he directs many of his movies—and many of the best, most intelligent ones. Here, with the moody, gloomily beautiful, photography of Bruce Surtees, he creates a magnificent Western feeling.” In 1996, The Outlaw Josey Wales became the first Eastwood-directed film inducted into the National Film Registry.
3 Million Dollar Baby Earns Eastwood His Second Academy Award For Best Picture (2004)
Million Dollar Baby
Frankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.
- Director
- Clint Eastwood
- Release Date
- December 15, 2004
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures
- Cast
- Hilary Swank , Morgan Freeman
- Runtime
- 132 minutes
Demonstrating his versatility as an auteur, Eastwood ventured into the world of sports with his drama Million Dollar Baby. Based on stories from Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner by F.X. Toole, Million Dollar Baby stars Hilary Swank as Maggie Fitzgerald, a waitress who desires to become a professional boxer. Eastwood co-stars as Frankie Dunn, an elderly boxing trainer who reluctantly takes Fitzgerald under his wing.
One of the biggest successes of Eastwood’s career, Million Dollar Baby earned over $216 million at the worldwide box office. In addition to its financial accomplishments, Million Dollar Baby garnered Eastwood some of the best reviews of his career. Million Dollar Baby won four Academy Awards for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, and Best Achievement in Directing. Roger Ebert wrote of the film, “Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby is a masterpiece, pure and simple.” Retrospectively, The New York Times named Million Dollar Baby the third-best film of the twenty-first century, while Parade ranked the movie the 63rd best of all time.
2 Letters From Iwo Jima Is One Of Cinema’s Greatest War Films (2006)
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In 2006, Eastwood directed companion World War II filmsFlags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. The two films depict the Battle of Iwo Jima, with Flags of Our Fathers from the American perspective and Letters from Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. Ken Watanabe stars as Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the general who commanded the Japanese garrison at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Eastwood’s decision to authentically make Letters from Iwo Jima in Japanese most likely hurt its North American box office numbers, however, the film was a hit in Japan. Although not quite the box office force as some of Eastwood’s other top-tier films, Letters from Iwo Jima still received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. Letters from Iwo Jima won 25 awards out of nearly 65 nominations, which included the National Board of Review naming the movie the year’s best film. Tom Charity of CNN described Letters from Iwo Jima as “the only American movie of the year I won’t hesitate to call a masterpiece.” The American Film Institute nominated Letters from Iwo Jima for their list of American cinema’s greatest epics.
1 Unforgiven Is Eastwood’s Crowning Achievement As A Filmmaker (1992)
Unforgiven (1992)
Retired Old West gunslinger William Munny reluctantly takes on one last job, with the help of his old partner Ned Logan and a young man, The “Schofield Kid.”
- Director
- Clint Eastwood
- Release Date
- August 7, 1992
- Cast
- Clint Eastwood , Gene Hackman , Morgan Freeman , Richard Harris
- Writers
- David Webb Peoples
- Runtime
- 2 hours 10 minutes
- Production Company
- Warner Bros., Malpaso Productions
Unforgiven is Eastwood’s crowning achievement as a filmmaker and one of the very best Westerns in movie history. After Westerns fell out of favor in the 1980s, the genre experienced a brief renaissance in the early 1990s, led by films such as Dance with Wolves, Unforgiven, and Tombstone. In Unforgiven, Eastwood stars as Bill Munny, a retired gunslinger who reluctantly takes on one last job. Munny receives help from his old friend Ned Logan and a young man nicknamed “The Schofield Kid.”
With a budget of roughly $14 million, Unforgiven grossed almost $160 million at the worldwide box office, making it one of the highest-grossing Westerns of all time. At the 65th Academy Awards, Unforgiven won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. Unforgiven’s win for Best Picture made it only the third Western to claim the Academy Awards’ top prize. The American Film Institute voted Unforgiven the fourth-greatest American Western and the 68th-best American film overall. The Writers Guild of America named Unforgiven’s screenplay the 30th greatest ever written. In 2004, the Library of Congress inducted Unforgiven into the National Film Registry.
