The Clint Eastwood Westerns
By (author) James L. Neibaur
Publication date:
12 March 2015Length of book:
196 pagesPublisher
Rowman & Littlefield PublishersISBN-13: 9781442245037
While the western was a staple of cinema for many decades, the form began to fade as its greatest star, John Wayne, made fewer films of distinction toward the end of his career. In the mid-1960s, the genre was redefined by a handful of directors, including Don Siegel and Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone, who offered something edgier, bloodier, and more violent. Working with both directors was an actor who had made a name for himself on the small screen in the hit western Rawhide. While Clint Eastwood would also star in and direct a number of successes with contemporary settings, his work in westerns represents the most significant part of his film career.
In The Clint Eastwood Westerns, James L. Neibaur takes a film-by-film look at each of the superstar’s signature works, from A Fistful of Dollars in 1964 to his modern-day classic Unforgiven, which earned him two Academy Awards, including best director. The author discusses in detail the production, impact, influences, and successes (both critical and commercial) of each film. In addition, Neibaur examines the continued success and influence of these works—how they redefined, challenged, and progressed the western genre. The book also features chapters that look at Eastwood’s other films in the context of his overall career.
From the spaghetti westerns he made with Leone, including The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, to his revisionist look at the Old West in Unforgiven, The Clint Eastwood Westerns shines a spotlight on some of the most thrilling films of the genre. For devotees of Eastwood—the actor or director—or simply fans of the western, this book is an entertaining look at one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars.
In The Clint Eastwood Westerns, James L. Neibaur takes a film-by-film look at each of the superstar’s signature works, from A Fistful of Dollars in 1964 to his modern-day classic Unforgiven, which earned him two Academy Awards, including best director. The author discusses in detail the production, impact, influences, and successes (both critical and commercial) of each film. In addition, Neibaur examines the continued success and influence of these works—how they redefined, challenged, and progressed the western genre. The book also features chapters that look at Eastwood’s other films in the context of his overall career.
From the spaghetti westerns he made with Leone, including The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, to his revisionist look at the Old West in Unforgiven, The Clint Eastwood Westerns shines a spotlight on some of the most thrilling films of the genre. For devotees of Eastwood—the actor or director—or simply fans of the western, this book is an entertaining look at one of Hollywood’s most enduring stars.
Film historian Neibaur surveys Eastwood’s westerns, from the 1959–65 television series Rawhide to Sergio Leone’s 1967 classic A Fistful of Dollars to 1992’s Oscar-winning Unforgiven. It’s an interesting approach to Eastwood’s cinematic career; although both as an actor and as a director, Eastwood has tackled a wide variety of subjects and styles, he’s probably most commonly associated with westerns, and it was in that genre that, Neibaur suggests, Eastwood defined himself as an actor and director. Charting the production of each film, its cultural impact, and its impact on Eastwood’s career, the book shows us a working actor who became a movie star, a filmmaker, and a cultural icon. The book isn’t just a history of Eastwood’s career in westerns; because he was so involved in the genre, the text is also, in some ways, a history of screen westerns from the early 1960s to the early 1990s. For fans of books about moviemaking, and especially Eastwood’s fans, it’s a real winner.