A Fistful of Dollars / Yojimbo Paired for 60th Anniversary

A Fistful of Dollars / Yojimbo Paired for 60th Anniversary

A big thank you to our Australian friend Travis Trewen who recently sent me this piece celebrating the 60th Anniversary of A Fistful of Dollars. September 12th marked sixty years since the first screening at the Supercinema in Florence of what was supposed to be just a B movie, directed by an unknown Bob Robertson and which, instead, became a monument in the history of cinema. 'A Fistful of Dollars' conquered, day after day, a vast audience, imposed a genre, the spaghetti western, which would make the Italian film industry the second largest in the world.

Sergio Leone was thirty-four years old, with a career as an assistant director, a debut, 'The Colossus of Rhodes', which had led him into a dead end. It was the viewing of 'Yojimbo' in a Roman cinema, distributed in Italy after its presentation at the Venice Film Festival, where Mifune won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, that sparked for him the possibility of turning it into a western.

Leone, who had adored 'Seven Samurai', knew the success that John Sturges had achieved in 1960 with the western remake of Kurosawa's masterpiece, 'The Magnificent Seven', and immediately understood that 'Yojimbo' could become a low-cost western because most of the scenes could be shot in a single location. Leone studied Kurosawa's film frame by frame and created a faithful copy. Art history is made up of insights and a continuous transmission from one director to another. What Leone manages to do is something that only the greatest artists can achieve, because 'A Fistful of Dollars' owes everything to its original but at the same time is completely different, due to the infinite variations and inventions that turn it into the archetype of the new season of westerns. A film that changed the lives of Leone, Eastwood, and Morricone.

Now the two films exist in restored versions and it seemed like the right time to present them together to the Italian audience.

(Gian Luca Farinelli)

Below: The Italian 2 sheet poster

Below: The Italian Locandina poster

Below: The superb trailer celebrating the limited Italian release

       

Flashback: April 1972

Flashback: April 1972

While we are on a bit of an early 70’s vibe, I thought I’d dig out this rare shot of Clint at the 1972 Oscar party. In terms of timeline Dirty Harry was still enjoying its theatrical run, while his latest, Joe Kidd was in the post production stage ready for its release in July 1972.

Clint is pictured here chatting with actor Ernest Borgnine (January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) who was right in the middle of filming The Poseidon Adventure along with Gene Hackman. 

Those Big Hair days!

THREE vintage 70’s interviews!

THREE vintage 70’s interviews! 

I thought I’d bring some early Christmas joy to the Archive in the shape of 3 recently discovered vintage interviews. We are constantly amazed (as well as curious) as to what material is still out there just waiting to be discovered – and when it eventually turns up, it continues to take our breath away. 

These 3 interviews are really interesting. Each of them often possesses a challenge – particularly in regards to dating them, so we usually end up trying to take clues from what is presented, such as the subject, the hair style and even the clothing. 

Working through these 3 interviews each of them provide certain pieces of information, and sometimes revelations of particular interest…

I have presented these here in what I believe is the correct order starting with the earliest and made an attempt to date them based on the information and clues provided in the interviews:

Firstly, this is a great interview with Bill Carlson (November 26, 1934 – February 29, 2008), born William Meyer Carlson, he was an American journalist and long time television anchor at WCCO in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Carlson was born in Thief River Falls, Minnesota and grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota. Here he is in conversation with Clint – who is in a particularly happy mood, and talking about Don Rickles and the making of the film The Warriors! So, this is obviously pre-release footage before the film eventually became Kelly’s Heroes. The hair cut also indicates Kelly’s Heroes. Clint also discuses Paint Your Wagon which was also released around the same time period. He also mentions recently completing Two Mules for Sister Sara and now making The Warriors – so this pretty much dates it around late 1969 or early 1970. Kelly’s Heroes was shot in July 1969 and was completed in or around January 1970. Previous to this, Two Mules for Sister Sara was made between February and May 1969. 

This second interview is also with Bill Carlson. Whilst it is never clear what film Clint was promoting at the time; clues seem to indicate that this might be late 1971. Clint mentions ‘this year’ we made Play Misty for Me and Dirty Harry in San Francisco. Filming on Misty commenced in Monterey, California, in September 1970, whilst the filming for Dirty Harry began in April 1971 and was released theatrically in the December of the same year. However, if this is the case, there is a very interesting conflict here which might suggest that Eastwood changed his original schedule. During the interview Clint mentions that in ‘the first of the year’ (suggesting that they are closer to the new year) he will be directing Breezy and would not be featuring in a starring role. Clint seemed particularly interested in Breezy at this time and it was obviously still at the fore of his mind, plus if Clint had just come off Misty and Harry, I believe it was Jo Heims who pitched Breezy to Clint during this period. But of course, Clint ended up making Joe Kidd and High Plains Drifter before Breezy which didn’t begin filming until November 1972. So, there is a bit of a contradiction here. If this interview is from late 1971, I wonder if Universal actually got cold feet about Clint directing Breezy so soon? It was a different prospect with Play Misty for Me, as it also starred Clint in the lead role – so was effectively a ‘Clint Eastwood Movie’. If this was the case, did Universal insist on a couple more starring roles from Clint before granting him a green light on a director only project? A couple of Eastwood western movies ‘in the can’ before a riskier venture with Breezy certainly seemed like a pretty good insurance policy - should Breezy fail at the box office? Whilst Breezy was not a huge hit, it did manage to recoup its low budget. If however Breezy was signed and sealed as his next project during this interview we can only assume Clint was promoting High Plains Drifter as his latest release – but as I have said, there is certainly conflicting information. Nevertheless, it’s a real gem. 

The last of the 3 interviews seems to be a little later in the 70’s. Again, there is no real mention of the film Clint is currently filming. Interviewing Clint here is American television news reporter, film critic, talk show host, Bobbie Wygant (Roberta Frances Wygant, November 22, 1926 – February 18, 2024). Looking at the terrain here, it’s suggested that this may have been filmed during The Gauntlet. Another clue is in the clothing, close observation reveals that Clint is actually wearing the Josey Wales belt buckle – so it is certainly post The Outlaw Josey Wales. There is also some social discussion which mentions the names John Mitchell and H. R. Haldeman both of whom were in the news and I believe still serving prison time for their part in the Watergate scandal. Filming for The Gauntlet took place from April 4, 1977 to June 1977 in Arizona and Nevada. So, 1977 seems to be a reasonable suggestion for the timeline. 

Rare Eastwood Double Bills

Rare Eastwood Double Bills

We do like a good double-bill feature – especially when it includes a bit of Eastwood. There have been many pairings in the past, double-bill features that often paired up an Eastwood film with another big movie of the day. Both films usually belonged to the same studio and it was a nice way to double up on a run after both films had enjoyed their first, initial release. 

Our friend Davy Triumph recently spotted two great examples from both Paramount and United Artists. The first teamed up Eastwood and John Wayne in two very different westerns. Tru Grit and Paint your Wagon. True grit was originally released in June, 1969 with Paint your Wagon released a few months later in October. Both of the Paramount films were likely to have been released the following year in 1970. 

The second programme came from United Artists – the studio had already put together several combos featuring the dollar movies and at one point showed all 3 movies with Eastwood’s first American western, Hang ‘em high (1968). 

This double-bill show was probably from around late 1971, as it saw Hang ‘em high paired up with the Oliver Reed and Gene Hackman western, The Hunting Party (1971). It’s a bit of a strange pairing – The Hunting Party was described as a ‘repellently violent western’ and sadistically nasty, whist Hang ‘em high was more of an ‘apple pie’ western with a vague capital punishment message. However, the pairing provided a great excuse for a great tagline in ‘Hunt ‘em! / Hang ‘em!' How could you possibly resist? 

My kind thanks to Davy Triumph.

Clint and Geneviève Bujold – early 1970 meeting

Clint and Geneviève Bujold – early 1970 meeting

Geneviève Bujold is of course familiar as the rape prevention adviser Beryl Thibodeaux in the 1984 thriller Tightrope. However, not so many people are aware that Eastwood and Bujold first crossed paths some 14 years earlier in 1970. 

Bujold was enjoying some major acclaim and international recognition after she starred as Anne Boleyn in Charles Jarrott's film Anne of the Thousand Days, with Richard Burton. Producer Hal B. Wallis cast her after seeing her in Isabel. For her performance, she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. It was released by Universal who signed her to a three-picture contract.

Some time ago, I came across a very rough photo from the press premiere of Anne of the Thousand Days. The picture was pretty beaten up and worse of all, it had a large blue marker pen line drawn across it. However, the picture was so rare that I had to make an attempt to restore it. I was quite happy with the results, so gave it a nice clean surround and a caption to record the event. Clint was in attendance for the screening along with his then wife Maggie, so thought it should have a place here on the Archive. 

Below: I have taken this opportunity to also include a further rare shot of both Eastwood and Bujold together at the Montréal Film Festival, Canada on August 23rd 1984. 

Photo Opportunity #56 on location Two Mules for Sister Sara

Photo Opportunity #56 on location Two Mules for Sister Sara 

I can’t believe it’s December already? Our 1st of the month Photo Opportunity for December features a nice, rare shot of Clint on location in Mexico for the film Two Mules for Sister Sara. The 1970 western marked the second collaboration in the Eastwood / Don Siegel partnership. The pair had first worked together in Coogan’s Bluff (1968), then Clint made a couple of epic movies in Where Eagles Dare and the western musical Paint Your Wagon (1969). Two Mules saw Clint back in the saddle in a more conventional role.

Clint is pictured here with Budd Boetticher, a long term-resident of Mexico who was renowned for his series of Randolph Scott westerns. Boetticher wrote the original 1967 screenplay that was bought with the provision that he would direct. Boetticher had planned the film for Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr, who had played a man of action and a nun in Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. Kerr's character was a member of the Mexican aristocracy escaping the vengeance of the Mexican Revolution, with Mitchum's cowboy protecting her as he led her to safety to the United States. 

Carrol Case sold the screenplay to Martin Rackin, who had Albert Maltz, also living in Mexico, rewrite the story. Maltz's version had Clint Eastwood playing a soldier of fortune for the Juaristas and Shirley MacLaine playing a revolutionary prostitute now set during the French intervention in Mexico. The film saw Eastwood embody the tall mysterious stranger once more, unshaven, wearing a serape-like vest and smoking a cigar and the film score was composed by Ennio Morricone. Although the film had Leonesque Hispanic villains, the film was considerably less crude and more sardonic than those of Leone.

Boetticher expressed disgust that MacLaine's bawdy character obviously did not resemble a nun, as opposed to his idea of a genteel lady whose final revelation would have been more of a surprise to the audience. Though Boetticher was friends with both Eastwood and director Don Siegel, Siegel understood Boetticher's dislike of the final film. Boetticher asked Siegel how he could make an awful film like that; Siegel replied that it was a great feeling to wake up in the morning and know there was a check in the mail, and Boetticher responded that it was a better feeling to wake up in the morning and be able to look at yourself in the mirror. The film was shot over 65 days in Mexico and cost around $4 million. Despite Boetticher’s thoughts on the film, Two Mules for Sister Sara still remains a favourite among fans. 

Photo Opportunity #55 on location Where Eagles Dare

Photo Opportunity #55 on location Where Eagles Dare

For our November Photo Opportunity, I thought I’d post this rare photo of Clint while on location shooting the 1968 World War II epic Where Eagles Dare.

Here Clint can be seen between takes and descending the stairs of the castle. Hohenwerfen Castle is a medieval rock castle, situated on a 500 ft rock pillar overlooking the Austrian market town of Werfen in the Salzach valley. The fortress (known as the fictional Schloß Adler in the film) is surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps and the adjacent Tennen Mountains. Hohenwerfen was built by the Archbishops of Salzburg in the 11th century. 

Although we can’t be sure of the photographer, there is a strong possibility that the photo was taken by 1st unit still photographer John Jay (uncredited). John Jay was born on November 14th 1920 in Brixton, London, England. He is known for his photography on Star Wars (1977), The Human Factor (1979), Hanover Street (1979) and Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense (1984). 

He died on April 29th 2005 in London.

A big thank you to our Where Eagles Dare expert, Neil Thomson who sent the following pic of photographer John Jay with Richard Burton during the filming. Neil informed me that John jay was in fact injured during the explosion with the station hut... according to second unit cameraman Bob Thomson. My kind thanks again Neil.