High Plains Drifter (1973)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writer:

Ernest Tidyman (written by)

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

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)

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.