Top 10 Clint Eastwood performances (part one)

January 16, 7:10 AMAtlanta Movies ExaminerRyan McNally

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At 78, Clint Eastwood is still flexing his muscles at the cineplex, currently directing and starring in Gran Torino. His latest box office hit comes more than 40 years after he shot to international stardom in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western trilogy. But is he a great actor? Some argue that he has limited range, frequently portraying gruff, no-nonsense, taciturn tough guys. But within that framework, he’s proven a master at exploring the different nuances of his persona, using his characters to probe varying issues including masculinity, isolation and redemption. And few other actors match Eastwood when it comes to cutting to the core of a character, digging inward to reveal subtle truths about the people he plays.

But regardless of whether you watch Eastwood for nuance or the pleasure of seeing him deliver one of his classic-one liners through gritted teeth and jutted jaw, he’s given plenty of memorable performances. From the iconic to the boldy experimental, here are his 10 best:

1) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1967)—His Man With No Name didn’t say much, but Eastwood made his lines count, delivering them with equal parts menace and panache. In GBU, he also nailed his first dramatic scene, reacting sympathetically to the daily battle between Union and Confedrate soldiers (“I’ve never seen so many men wasted so badly.”). Oh, and he also created an iconic character for the ages.

Sample classic quote: “You see, in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig.”

Sample classic scene (WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS):


 

2) Dirty Harry (1971). Eastwood courted controversy with his portrayal of another legendary character, Dirty Harry Callahan. As a policeman who will do anything to save a victim—including battling inept bureaucrats or resorting to brutal and sometimes questionable tactics—Eastwood helped created a unique persona that was part hipster, part rebel, part vigilante. His final showdown with the killer he’s been tracking is a classic, and his subsequent act of defiance still cuts deep.

Sample classic quote: “When a naked man is chasing a woman through an alley with a butcher's knife and a hard-on, I figure he isn't out collecting for the Red Cross.”

Sample classic scene:


 

3) Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974)—In this underrated, offbeat gem, Eastwood got to stretch a little (as he had done in 1970’s The Beguiled), starring as a petty thief out to land one last big heist. There’s plenty of humor in his banter with George Kennedy, but it’s in his fascinating relationship with the young, free-spirited Lightfoot (Jeff Bridges) that Eastwood really shines. Bridges got a deserved Oscar nomination for his work, but Eastwood’s performance is essential viewing too.

Sample classic quote: “You all right, kid? You don’t look so good.”

Sample classic scene:



4) Tightrope (1984). After some strong work in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s (The Outlaw Josey Wales, Bronco Billy, Honkytonk Man), Eastwood got his first Oscar buzz for his turn as seedy cop Wes Block, a single father of two by day and frequenter of strip clubs and hookers by night. As he chases a psycho sex killer, Block is forced to confront his own sexual deviance, and Eastwood nails his turn as a conflicted cop.

Sample classic quote: “Maybe I have” (in response to a male prostitute’s question, “How do you know if you haven’t tried it?”).

Sample classic scene:



5) White Hunter, Black Heart (1990). It's not hard to see why this film—Eastwood’s lowest grosser ever—flopped at the box office. Studio execs must have shat a brick at the sight of Clint, in the film's opening scene, sporting a scarf, speaking in a rapid cadence and looking the polar opposite of Dirty Harry. It's jolting at first to see Eastwood—playing a character loosely based on film director John Huston—as a egotistic, high-society chatterbox. But as the movie progresses, it becomes apparent that this bold acting risk has resulted in one of his richest performances.

Sample classic quote: “It's not a crime to kill an elephant. It's bigger than all that. It's a sin to kill an elephant. You understand? It's the only sin you can buy a license for and go out and commit. Do you understand me? Of course you don't. I don't even understand myself.”

Sample classic scene:



To read part two of this article on Clint Eastwood’s 10 best acting performances, click here.