Pale Rider (1985)

A mysterious preacher (Clint Eastwood) protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers:

Michael Butler, Dennis Shryack

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Preacher
Michael Moriarty	...	Hull Barret
Carrie Snodgress	...	Sarah Wheeler
Chris Penn	...	Josh LaHood (as Christopher Penn)
Richard Dysart	...	Coy LaHood
Sydney Penny	...	Megan Wheeler
Richard Kiel	...	Club
Doug McGrath	...	Spider Conway
John Russell	...	Stockburn
Charles Hallahan	...	McGill
Marvin J. McIntyre	...	Jagou
Fran Ryan	...	Ma Blankenship
Richard Hamilton	...	Jed Blankenship
Graham Paul	...	Ev Gossage
Chuck Lafont	...	Eddie Conway (as Chuck LaFont)

Storyline

A gold mining camp in the California foothills is besieged by a neighboring landowner intent on stealing their claims. A preacher (Clint Eastwood) rides into camp and uses all of his powers of persuasion to convince the landowner to give up his attacks on the miners.

---

Plot Keywords:

preacher | miner | gold | prospector | henry rifle | 

---

Taglines:

... and hell followed with him.

---

Genres:

Drama | Western

---

Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The clerical collar is from the late 18th century, which would make the family immediately recognizing Clint as a preacher strange, as it wasn't common.

---

Goofs

After the preacher left, the men find a huge nugget in the dry river. The man holds it easily in one hand. A nugget of that size would weigh at least 30 kilos (66 pounds).

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Megan Wheeler: Lindsey.

---

Crazy Credits

The credit for catering just says "The Caterers" (including the quotation marks in the credit).

---

Connections

Referenced in Men Behaving Badly: The Sting (1997)

User Reviews

Best Western of the 80's?

I don't know if this is the best Western of the 1980's, it wouldn't be too hard I suppose as there wasn't really that many made in that decade, or now unfortunately. Its the best Western of that decade that I have seen, the only other good one I can recall is Silverado and Young Guns was pretty good though the sequel was even better. The 1990's was a much better decade for Western fans, Dances with Wolves, Unforgiven, Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, Young Guns 2, The Quick and the Dead and of course Bad Girls (Only joking!). Anyway Pale Rider seen Clint Eastwood return to the Western after quite a few years doing other types of movies and luckily Pale Rider is a great film. As has been mentioned in numerous other user comments it does borrow very heavily from the Classic Western Shane and Clint's own High Plains Drifter but it never tries to hide this fact and its a great film in its own right. Very moody and beautifully shot with great performances all round. Clint was on top of his game on this one and produced a top notch Western that ranks amongst one of his best below The Good the Bad and the Ugly, Unforgiven and The Outlaw Josey Whales. I would love to see Eastwood make another Western but find it highly unlikely as he couldn't possibly top his last one Unforgiven but at least Kevin Costner has got one coming out later this year. Look out for Richard Kiel in this one he played Jaws in a couple of Bond films and Sean Penns brother Chris, who was a lot thinner in those days! Highly recommended ***8/10***

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 June 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pale Rider

Filming Locations:

Columbia State Historic Park, 11255 Jackson Street, Columbia, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,900,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,119,111, 30 June 1985

Gross USA:

$41,410,568

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$41,410,568

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Malpaso Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1