High Plains Drifter (1973)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

Ernest Tidyman (written by)
(more)

Release Date:

22 August 1973 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller | 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:

Gunfighter | Desert | Revenge | Vengeance | Small Town

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
Dan Vadis	...	Dan Carlin
Buddy Van Horn	...	Marshal Jim Duncan
Jane Aull	...	Townswoman
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)
Alex Tinne
Chuck Waters	...	Stableman

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

Art Direction by
Henry Bumstead

Set Decoration by
George Milo

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

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

Sound Department
James R. Alexander	....	sound
Jerry Whittington	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Stunts
Buddy Van Horn	....	stunt coordinator
Mario Arteaga	....	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)

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

Music Department
Bob Bain	....	musician: guitar (uncredited)
Mike Deasy	....	musician (uncredited)

Other crew
Dominic Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)
Ruth Santarone	....	caterer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Malpaso Company, The

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1974) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Universal Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1973) (France) (theatrical)
• CIC (1973) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Action Gitanes (1997) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Universal Studios Home Video (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• CIC Video GmbH (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)
• C.I.C. (197?) (Norway) (theatrical)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• Columbia TriStar (Brazil) (DVD)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Cinematique  cosmetics
• Universal Title  titles and optical effects

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:16 | USA:R (MPAA rating) | New Zealand:R16 | Spain:18 | Argentina:16 | UK:X (original rating) | Canada:18+ (Ontario - 2006) | Brazil:18 | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:16LV | 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 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Norway:(Banned) (1983-2003) (cinema release) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Malpaso Company, The

Trivia:

Editing of the film was done in a log cabin on the shores of Mono Lake.

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 bar to drink in.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Frasier: High Crane Drifter (#3.17)" (1996)

Supernatural Western ?

High Plains Drifter (1973) Supernatural Western ? 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 of 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 best films, and thankfully the result is one of the best offerings in the 70s for the Western genre.

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. 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 picture.

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, and doubly it's a great performance from him as well, the perfect role which accentuates 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 for sure.

Mysterious and magnificent, High Plains Drifter 9/10.