The Malpaso Company (USA): 30

Directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Ernest Tidyman, High Plains Drifter (1973) is an American Western film. In this isolated mining town of Lago in the Old West, a mysterious stranger rides out of the desert. The hired gunmen meant to protect the town taunt and threaten him, but he swiftly takes them all down without breaking a sweat. Later on, the attractive blonde Callie Travers insults him with flirtatious comments. That night, as he sleeps in his hotel room, the Stranger has a vivid dream of Jim Duncan, a U.S. Marshal, being brutally whipped to death by Stacey ...

Magnum Force (1973) is an American neo-noir action thriller and the second film to feature the iconic Clint Eastwood as renegade cop Harry Callahan. The year prior, mobster Carmine Ricca had been acquitted of a mass murder charge due to a legal loophole. As he drives away from court in his limousine, the SFPD pulls him over. However, instead of issuing a ticket, the motorcycle cop calmly guns down everyone in the car. Harry and his new partner, Early Smith, visit the crime scene despite being assigned to a stakeout. Their superior, Lieutenant Neil Briggs, seems eager to keep Harry away from the investigation. During his ...

The American Revisionist Western film, Joe Kidd (1972), features renowned actors Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall. Written by Elmore Leonard and directed by John Sturges, the story takes place in Sinola, a town in New Mexico during the early 1900s. In this setting, we meet Joe Kidd, a disgruntled ex-bounty hunter who is imprisoned for trespassing on Indian land and causing chaos. Luis Chama, a Mexican bandit/revolutionary, has organized a peasant revolt against the local ...

In his directorial debut, Clint Eastwood brings us the American psychological thriller film, Play Misty for Me (1971). The story follows Dave Garver, a radio DJ at KRML who often incorporates poetry into his nightly broadcasts from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. After a shift at the station, Dave heads to his favorite bar where he plays a game with the bartender involving corks and bottle caps. It is here that he catches the eye of Evelyn Draper, who reveals that she purposely sought him out after hearing about the bar on his show. As they drive back to her place, it becomes clear that Evelyn is the recurring caller who ...

Dirty Harry (1971), the first installment in the famous action-thriller Dirty Harry series, was produced and directed by Don Siegel. The film follows SFPD Inspector Harry Callahan as he investigates a murder committed by a psychopathic sniper known as ‘Scorpio’ on a San Francisco skyscraper rooftop pool. After discovering a threatening letter left behind by Scorpio demanding $100,000 to spare more lives, Callahan teams up with the mayor and the police to track down the killer. Despite objections from Callahan, the mayor agrees to meet Scorpio’s demand as a stalling tactic. During his lunch ...

The film, The Beguiled (1971), directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood, is a Southern Gothic psychological thriller set during the American Civil War. In rural Mississippi, young Amy discovers a gravely injured Union soldier named John McBurney. Despite initial plans to turn him over to Confederate soldiers, headmistress Martha Farnsworth decides to nurse him back to health within the gated enclosure of her all-girls school. John is confined to the music room and closely monitored. However, he catches the eye of Edwina, an inexperienced teacher, and Carol, a ...

The film, Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), is an American-Mexican Western directed by Don Siegel and starring Shirley MacLaine and Clint Eastwood. Set after the American Civil War, a former Northern soldier named Hogan rescues a woman from bandits attempting to rape her. After he dispatches the bandits, the woman reveals herself to be a nun and begs for his protection from French soldiers who are searching for her as a supporter of the Juarista rebels. Despite initially hesitating due to his own plans, Hogan agrees to help ...

The American Western musical film, Paint Your Wagon (1969), features Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, and Jean Seberg. After a wagon crash in a ravine, prospector Ben Rumson discovers two occupants: brothers, one deceased and the other injured. While burying the dead brother, gold dust is found at the site. Ben stakes his claim on the land and takes in the surviving brother as his ‘Pardner’ during his recovery. Pardner hopes to strike it rich in the gold rush and is wary of Ben’s wild ways. However, Ben assures ...

Coogan’s Bluff (1968), an American crime thriller film directed and produced by Don Siegel, follows the story of Arizona deputy sheriff Walt Coogan. He is sent to New York City to extradite escaped killer James Ringerman, but Detective Lieutenant McElroy informs him that Ringerman is currently recovering from an LSD overdose and cannot be moved until cleared by doctors. To obtain extradition papers from the New York State Supreme Court, Coogan must first win over probation officer Julie Roth and take her out for lunch. Despite facing resistance at the prison hospital, Coogan manages to trick attendants and reach ...

Hang ‘Em High (1968) is an American revisionist Western film directed by Ted Post. In the Oklahoma Territory of 1889, retired lawman Jed Cooper finds himself surrounded by a posse of nine men: Captain Wilson, Reno, Miller, Jenkins, Stone, Maddow, Tommy, Loomis, and Charlie Blackfoot. They demand proof of purchase for the cattle that Cooper is driving. The seller of the cattle is a notorious robber who is also responsible for killing the rancher. Despite Cooper’s protests that he had no involvement in the murder, only Jenkins expresses skepticism about his guilt. While retrieving a prisoner, Cooper notices ...