Clint Eastwood remains, at 94, one of the most legendary presences both on and off the screen. And you don’t get 70 years in the industry by releasing dud after dud. And that was kind of Eastwood’s plan at a certain point, especially when he first stepped behind the camera for 1971’s Play Misty for Me, lest he be tossed out of Warner Bros. unceremoniously – not unlike them rushing Juror No. 2 to streaming, but that’s another story entirely…
Clint Eastwood sat down with Metrograph (via IndieWire) to discuss his legacy and how he had no choice but to persist even when handing over lousy movies that nobody bothered seeing. “After you get a few films that are reasonably successful, people kind of stick with you. But if you’re grinding out turkeys, they don’t stick with you.”
With that, Clint Eastwood was asked about what his legacy is, again going back to films that might not have landed. “That would be up to them, to the audiences, to answer. Up to the people on the outside. I just kind of go along. I consider this, again, emotional. It comes upon you. You have a story, you make a movie of it. You have to just go for it. If you think too much about how it happened you might ruin it. I go back and look at films I’ve made, and I could easily ask, ‘Why the heck did I make this?’ I don’t remember! It might have been a long time ago…” While Eastwood didn’t name-check any of his clunkers – as he put it, “I’m sure I’ve had disappointments. If I did, I wouldn’t dwell on them.” – surely we’re in the realm of Blood Work, Firefox, J. Edgar, The Rookie, and, yes, plenty of others.
But there’s no denying that Clint Eastwood’s talents – perhaps more so than his contacts or his luck, punk – have kept him a mainstay in the industry. As he prepares to possibly ride off into the sunset with Juror No. 2, we’ll always go back to the great ones, of which there are plenty.
What do you think Clint Eastwood’s legacy will be? What are your favorite films he directed?
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