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High Plains Drifter (1973)

 -  Western  -  22 August 1973 (USA)
7.6
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Ratings: 7.6/10 from 23,373 users  
Reviews: 143 user | 53 critic

A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
Callie Travers (as Mariana Hill)
...
Dave Drake (as Mitchell Ryan)
Jack Ging ...
...
Ted Hartley ...
Billy Curtis ...
...
Stacey Bridges
Scott Walker ...
Bill Borders
Walter Barnes ...
Sheriff Sam Shaw
Paul Brinegar ...
...
Asa Goodwin
...
...
Bootmaker
Edit

Storyline

A stranger rides out of the hot desert into a small town in the wild west. The towns people are scared of him, and 3 gunmen try, unsuccessfully, to kill him. He takes a room and decides to stay. Meanwhile, a group of outlaws are about to return to the town and take their revenge - will the towns leaders convince the mysterious man to help ? Written by Colin Tinto <cst@imdb.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

Aim to see it! See more »

Genres:

Western

Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

22 August 1973 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

La venganza del muerto  »

Box Office

Gross:

SEK 1,512,351 (Sweden)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(Westrex Recording System)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Billy Curtis got a stiff neck from working with Clint Eastwood, but he said it was worth it to play such a wonderful part. See more »

Goofs

When the Stranger buys drinks for everybody in the saloon, the shots of the bar from behind where the glasses are stored clearly show fluorescent lighting underneath the bar. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
The Stranger: Beer... and a bottle.
Lutie Naylor: Ain't much good, but it's all there is.
[brings drinks]
Lutie Naylor: You want anything else?
The Stranger: Just a peaceful hour to drink it in.
See more »

Crazy Credits

The closing shot of The Stranger disappearing into the heatwaves plays out over the end credits. See more »

Connections

Referenced in Legend of the Phantom Rider (2002) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Supernatural Western?
20 July 2008 | by (United Kingdom) – See all my reviews

A lone gunman with no name and seemingly with no past, rides into the dusky town of Lago. The residents of Lago at first view the stranger with suspicion, but when news that some outlaws that are out for blood, are on their way to town, they ask the stranger for his help.

This is Clint Eastwood's first Western film that he directed, and it's clear and evident that the guy not only loves the genre that made his name, he also knows what makes it work. Obviously having worked for Sergio Leone, Eastwood was making notes because High Plains Drifter oozes the mythical aura of many of Leone's finest genre offerings. To which, with thanks, the result is one of the best offerings in the 70s for the Oater enthusiast.

The film opens with our mysterious drifter slowly coming out of the beautiful sprawling haze and into Lago, just the sound of the horse breathing and the clop of its hooves can be heard {the sound mix here is incredible}, it's a gloriously mysterious opening that sets the tone perfectly. Yet Eastwood is just toying with us tho, for a quick jolt of sex and violence snaps us out of the beatific warmth and into a quite hauntingly cold and morally challenged place. From here on in the stranger will demand all manner of odd things from the residents of Lago, he seems to be toying with them and revelling in their discomfort, Lago quickly resembles an arid hellhole. You see, Lago has a dark secret, and our mysterious stranger has a purpose, and it's this purpose that makes High Plains Drifter a truly wonderful and attention holding movie.

A well known fact now is that the great man of the genre, John Wayne, wrote Eastwood to strongly complain about his harsh vision of the West, one can only think the Duke failed to grasp the post Vietnam feel of a 70s made Western. It's a great directorial effort from Eastwood, more so when you marry up his acting performance to his directorial duties. Very much the perfect role, it lets Eastwood accentuate his rugged Western leanings. Eastwood would direct the similarly themed Pale Rider in the 80s and then the magnificent Unforgiven in the 90s. A Western great in each decade? Well that will always be debatable, but what we do know is that the Western genre was considerably lucky to have had such a man to keep the genre going for the newer, interested, observers.

Mysterious and magnificent, High Plains Drifter. 9/10


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