Clint Eastwood – Icon

David Frangioni

2009

Insight Editions

Hardcover, colour

This book is not intended to be a history of Clint Eastwood’s film career. The subtitle The Essential Film Art Collection sets its place – it is highlighting the worldwide popularity of this prolific actor and producer through the author’s comprehensive collection of film posters and other memorabilia. In the process, however, we also get a beautifully illustrated filmography.

There is something about collectors. They have a passion for their subject that carries over into their writings and conversations and turns an otherwise unknown subject into something fascinating. So it is with this book. Frangioni has been collecting for a long time and he discusses the differences between poster artists, the styles preferred in different countries, and the different promotional materials used. The high quality illustrations demonstrate and supplement his text.

Since the artwork is arranged in chronological order we get a capsule history of Eastwood’s films built into the book. Although I have enjoyed his films for many years, especially the “spaghetti westerns” that made his name, this book has reminded me of many of his lesser-known films as well. The “Dirty Harry” series was popular, but I had completely forgotten his attempt at a musical in Paint Your Waggon. OK, it wasn’t all that bad, but some films are best forgotten. His performance in the war film Where Eagles Dare was somewhat better

Eastwood continued his career with more out-of-character films like Every Which Way But Loose and Escape From Alcatraz in the 1970s. In the poster art for these, guns were for a change noticeably absent. They returned in the comic war film Kelly’s Heroes, which I regard as one of his best after The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Somehow, though, Eastwood just couldn’t get away from the Westerns. Two Mules For Sister Sara was a really enjoyable film that seems to have been completely forgotten – until this book. The same goes for the 1971 film The Beguiled. The posters for both these show what had become a rather stereotyped Eastwood image – a closeup of his roughly-shaven face and the inevitable revolver held in front of him. The gun was replaced with a knife for the posters for the thriller Play Misty For Me, but it returned for the range of westerns and thrillers that followed in the late 70s.

This continued through the 80s with unusual films like Bronco Billy, Firefox and Bird. Even in the 90s, though, he could still manage a high quality western like Unforgiven. Eastwood turned 70 in 2000 but has still continued to produce good films (apart perhaps from Space Cowboys). His production company Malpaso seems to be able to come up with a winner film on a modest budget at a time when the blockbusters were breaking the big Hollywood studios.

Even a quick glance through the book will bring back memories of some of those forgotten films as well as Eastwood’s most successful ones. In a career of over fifty years he must have surely made at least one film that every viewer would enjoy. This book is a tribute to the man and his films.

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This review will appear in Volume 3 No. 4 of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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