At this point, Eastwood reportedly reached out to Wayne to suggest they work together, and Wayne’s rejection came in the form of a letter that outlined his take on “Drifter.” The most telling excerpt: “That isn't what the West was all about.
Meanwhile Clint was riding high, having just released the successful “High Plains Drifter,” which he starred in and directed. According to Eastwood’s account of Siegel’s tale, “Wayne turned blue and said ‘I don’t care what that kid would have done, I don’t shoot people in the back!’”ġ973 marked a low point for Wayne after the controversial reception to his film “The Cowboys,” which was considered by some to be a right-wing pro-Vietnam War allegory. When Wayne refused, saying “I don’t shoot people in the back”, Siegel made the egregious error of saying “Clint Eastwood would have shot him in the back”. There was a sequence in the script where Wayne was to shoot an enemy in the back. In a n interview with James Lipton on “ Inside the Actor’s Studio,” Eastwood shared an anecdote he was told by “Dirty Harry” director Don Siegel about working with Wayne on “The Shootist”.
#PAINT THE TOWN RED CLINT EASTWOOD PROFESSIONAL#
There may have been some professional jealousy at play too: for instance, we know the Duke was kicking himself for turning down 1971’s “ Dirty Harry”, which was a monster hit for Eastwood, spawning several sequels (more on this later). Though their careers overlapped for over a decade, they were not fated to work together, mainly due to Wayne’s discomfort with the type of Western Eastwood was making. By contrast, Eastwood brought an anti-hero darkness and pragmatism to his characters that fit with the more conflicted, ambiguous social climate of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Wayne’s idealized, stolid, quick-drawing hero, always on the side of the righteous, was a welcome, reassuring character for the trying years just before, during and after World War II.
#PAINT THE TOWN RED CLINT EASTWOOD FULL#
Two sides of the same buffalo nickel, these Cowboy Gemini each cultivated a unique star-caliber image that embraced rugged individuality and an indomitable stoicism – harkening back to a time when our nation was full of pioneers drawn to the open range.Įach reflected the times in which they lived. Each stands or stood an imposing 6’4”, and each represented a peculiarly American brand of machismo. Interestingly, both were born to battle over this final week of May, twenty-three years and six days apart – Wayne on May 26th, 1907 (Happy 107th Birthday to the Duke) and Clint on (could Clint really be turning 84?). But on which would you stake your claim when facing a hail of bullets? (Cue the “Waah Waah Waah Waah Waah” of Ennio Morricone’s signature soundtrack theme).Īs far as I’m concerned, the only man thick-skinned enough to stand up in a town square to the cool, rattler squint of Clinton “Clint” Eastwood, would be the Duke himself (better known as John Wayne).
You duck down inside an old barrel and hold your breath… a tumbleweed rolls by… and the church bells chime…. Two gunslingers stand toe-to-toe in a dusty crossroads… on the left, a powerfully built man donning a cowboy hat and wearing a leather vest and bandanna on the right, a tall, cool customer in a serape, with a rope burn ‘round his throat.