High Plains Drifter (1973)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

Ernest Tidyman (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

22 August 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Welcome to Hell

Plot:

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.

Plot Keywords:

Outlaw | Gunfighter | Desert | Revenge | Vengeance

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	The Stranger
Verna Bloom	...	Sarah Belding
Marianna Hill	...	Callie Travers (as Mariana Hill)
Mitch Ryan	...	Dave Drake (as Mitchell Ryan)
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 Sam Shaw
Paul Brinegar	...	Lutie Naylor
Richard Bull	...	Asa Goodwin
Robert Donner	...	Preacher
John Hillerman	...	Bootmaker
Anthony James	...	Cole Carlin
William O'Connell	...	Barber
John Quade	...	Jake Ross
Jane Aull	...	Townswoman
Dan Vadis	...	Dan Carlin
Reid Cruickshanks	...	Gunsmith
Jim Gosa	...	Tommy Morris (as James Gosa)
Jack Kosslyn	...	Saddlemaker
Russ McCubbin	...	Fred Short
Belle Mitchell	...	Mrs. Lake
John Mitchum	...	Warden
Carl Pitti	...	Teamster (as Carl C. Pitti)
Chuck Waters	...	Stableman
Buddy Van Horn	...	Marshall Jim Duncan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jimmie Booth	...	Target Wagon Driver (uncredited)
Alex Tinne	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Clint Eastwood

Writing credits
Ernest Tidyman		(written by)
Dean Riesner		uncredited

Produced by
Robert Daley	....	producer
Jennings Lang	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Dee Barton

Cinematography by
Bruce Surtees		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ferris Webster

Casting by
William Batliner		(uncredited)
Robert J. LaSanka		(uncredited)

Art Direction by
Henry Bumstead

Set Decoration by
George Milo

Makeup Department
Joe McKinney	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Gary Morris	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Marina Pedraza	....	hairdresser (uncredited)

Production Management
Ernest B. Wehmeyer	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
James Fargo	....	assistant director (as Jim Fargo)

Art Department
Chester Duncan	....	props (uncredited)
Greg C. Jensen	....	carpenter (uncredited)

Sound Department
James R. Alexander	....	sound
William Griffith	....	sound recordist (uncredited)
Edwin J. Somers Jr.	....	boom operator (uncredited)
Jerry Whittington	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunt coordinator
Mario Arteaga	....	stunts (uncredited)
Cody Bearpaw	....	stunts (uncredited)
Blair Burrows	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard Farnsworth	....	stunts (uncredited)
Chuck Hayward	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Hudkins	....	stunts (uncredited)
George Orrison	....	stunt double: Clint Eastwood (uncredited)
George Orrison	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carl Pitti	....	stunts (uncredited)
Bob Terhune	....	stunts (uncredited)
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Chuck Waters	....	stunts (uncredited)
George P. Wilbur	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Alfred Baalas	....	camera assistant (uncredited)
Don Christie	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Charles Holmes	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Charles W. Short	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Billy Simpson	....	key grip (uncredited)
Roland 'Ozzie' Smith	....	camera assistant (uncredited)
Bill Tenny	....	best boy (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
James Gilmore	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Joanne Haas	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Glenn Wright	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Jeff Gourson	....	assistant film editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)
Mike Deasy	....	musician (uncredited)
Jerry Whittington	....	music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Jack Lloyd	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
John Buckins	....	wrangler (uncredited)
Edward Duarte	....	wrangler (uncredited)
Tom Moore	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
Buzz Newhouse	....	production coordinator (uncredited)
Dominic Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)
Ruth Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)
Paul Spahn	....	wrangler (uncredited)
Bill Steinmetz	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Universal Pictures (presents)
• Malpaso Company, The

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (1973) (France) (theatrical)
• Cinema Internazional Corporation (1973) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1974) (USA) (TV)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Action Gitanes (1997) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Studios Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• CIC Video (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (2001) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Action Gitanes (2003) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Cinema International Corporation (CIC) (197?) (Norway) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2012) (USA) (DVD) (3 film set)
• Universal Studios Home Video (2012) (Canada) (DVD) (3 film set)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes (uncredited)
• Cinematique  cosmetics
• Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management  locations thru the cooperation of
• Panavision  filmed in
• Technicolor  color
• U.S. Forest Service, Inyo National Forest  locations thru the cooperation of (as The Forest Service, USDA, Inyo National Forest)
• Universal Title  titles and opticals

Also Known As:

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Australia:M (cable rating) | Australia:R (original rating) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (heavily cut) | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 (heavily cut) | UK:18 (video rating) (1987) (1993) (2001) | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Norway:(Banned) (1983-2003) (cinema release) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Germany:BPjM Restricted | Iceland:16 | USA:R (MPAA rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Spain:18 | Argentina:16 | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | Canada:18+ (Ontario - 2006) | Brazil:18 | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:16LV | Italy:VM14

Filming Locations:

Inyo National Forest - 351 Pacu Lane, Bishop, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

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.

Goofs:

Continuity: The morning after his first night in Lago the stranger steps out of the hotel and the mayor says "good morning." The shadows on the ground clearly show that it is late afternoon as Lago is located on the western shore of Mono Lake.

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.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "ER: Man with No Name (#12.3)" (2005)

Drifting Winds

Clint Eastwood revives his signature role as "The Man with no Name" as he seems to come out of nowhere from the distant prairie and descends upon the sleepy little town of Largo and after that things there will never be the same again for the people who live there.

A film that has a lot more to it then what you see at first with Eastwood not being that mysterious and having a past which is seen in flashback every so often in the movie. Styled a lot like "High Noon" but with a twist that builds up slowly at first then takes off like a loose bronco to it's dramatic and fiery conclusion."High Plains Drifter" doesn't follow the well worn standard western scenario which is why it make it unique and thought-provoking at the same time.

Eastwood was never better here as the cool yet pragmatic stranger who's very anonymity makes him both mysterious and threatening to everyone he ruins into, friend or foe. Over the years since "High Plains Drifter" was released, back in 1973, it has reached cult statues and Eastwood has never made another western as good and as "High Plains Drifter" and that includes "The Unforgiven".

Eastwood is more then a match against those out to get him but what they, his enemies as well as the audience, don't know until the very end of the movie is that Clint has something, besides his quick guns and steel nerves, that is far beyond that of mortal man.