Flashback: November 11th 1985, Clint’s dance with Princess Diana

It’s hard to believe that 32 years ago this month, Clint attended a gala dinner at the White House and danced with a beautiful 24-year-old Diana. The dinner attended by Diana and Charles was part of a trip to the U.S. - and is also remembered for President Ronald Reagan forgetting the Princess of Wales's name in an after-dinner speech (Princess David). Nevertheless, the princess looked radiant, if a little nervous on her first trip to the United States. Fortunately, White House photographer Pete Souza captured and immortalised the event with a couple of photos that were finally seen in 2013.

The event was also immortalised by cartoonist Charles Griffin (left) in the British press, when his caricature featuring John Travolta, Princess Diana and Clint appeared in The Daily Mirror on Tuesday, November 12^th and still remains a memorable piece. 

Clint Photographed by Terry Fincher

Here' are a couple of great photographs that have recently surfaced of Clint. Photographed by Terry Fincher, they were shot in London in 1969.

Terry Fincher (8 July 1931 – 6 October 2008) was an award-winning British photojournalist. His career took off in 1956 when he accompanied British forces that invaded Egypt during the Suez Crisis. He later did five tours of Vietnam covering the war there for the Daily Express, as well as reporting extensively from trouble spots in the Middle East and Africa. He was British press photographer of the year for 1957, 1959, 1964, and 1967. 

University of Granada’s Eastwood season posters

The Madraza Centre of Contemporary Culture is the University of Granada’s centre of cultural programs for the UGR. Its broad programming includes activities related to artistic, music and film.

I recently discovered these series of posters for some of their film seasons. It appears that Clint continues to be a very popular choice of subject.

Below: October 2014 saw a short season showing- Fistful of Dollars, The Beguiled and Thunderbolt and Lightfoot

 

Below: Eastwood was the subject of the UGR’s Masters of Contemporary Cinema series which was spread over November and December of 2015. The November program consisted of – Play Misty for Me, High Plains Drifter, The Outlaw Josey Wales, The Gauntlet, Honkytonk Man, Pale Rider, Pale Rider and Bird. December program consisted of Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County and Absolute Power. 

 

Below: Two posters for the March 2017 season which included Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, Space Cowboys, Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby.

Mel Tillis Country Music Hall of Famer Dies at 85

Mel Tillis in 1978

Unfortunately, I have to report another sad piece of news from the 'which way' family this morning after the death was announced of country legend Mel Tillis. He was 85.

According to the Tennessean, Tillis died early Sunday morning at the Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Fla. after almost two years of ill health stemming from a bout of diverticulitis, for which he received surgery. The suspected cause of death is respiratory failure.

Tillis began recording in the late 1950s and continued to perform through 2015, but remained best known for a string of No. 1 country hits in the late ’70s, along with a succession of appearances in Hollywood movies alongside Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood that helped make him a household name even outside the country music sphere.

His song Coca Cola Cowboy was of course featured in Every which way but loose in 1978. However, the version that appeared on the soundtrack was a slightly edited version with a different arrangement, as it actually makes reference to both Clint and Robert Redford. Having 'Eastwood' mentioned in an 'Eastwood' film would perhaps seem a little out of place, so the lyric 'Eastwood smile' is replaced with 'Sexy smile.’

So I thought I would post the original Coca Cola Cowboy here today as a tribute.

RIP sir

             

Clint with Weaver Arms Nighthawk 9mm Carbine

Here's a picture that has myself  and a great deal of friends a little confused. Taken in 1984, a couple of us first thought the gun looked a little like the classic Tommy gun of the U.S. prohibition period, which lead us to conclude that it was perhaps a pre-production picture for City Heat. However, I'm no gun expert, so I did a little research on the gun, which revealed that it was actually manufactured in 1984, and pretty much ruled out the City Heat scenario. The only information surrounding this photo reads: 'Clint Eastwood with a 'Weaver Arms Nighthawk 9mm Carbine' 1984 Photo taken in the editorial offices of International Combat Arms Magazine.' I have also since learnt that this magazine is no longer in publication. As one friend also suggested, perhaps it was just a simple case that Clint knew some people or had some friends who were connected with the publication and he was simply visiting or had the chance to try out the new model at a range? I can't seem to find any type of publicity campaign behind the gun that Clint was involved with, so it's a real puzzler. Nevertheless, it's a photo that I felt was worthy of a mention, and of course, worth preserving here on the Archive.

  

Rare Outlaw Josey Wales soundtrack Test Pressing LP 1976

I thought I would post a little something about this Josey Wales test pressing album which fortunately came my way last month. Whilst I still have my original Warner Bros LP (left) featuring Jerry Fielding’s superb score, I am always looking out for Eastwood vinyl rarities. These are often in the form of Japanese records with superb alternative artwork, booklets within gatefold sleeves etc. But it's very rare that something rather special comes along in the shape of a promo or test pressing. Test pressings are often the rarest form of vinyl. For those unfamiliar the Wikipedia page defines them as:

'Test pressings, usually with test pressing written on the label, with catalogue number, artist and recording time or date, are the first vinyl discs made at the factory. They are produced in small quantities (usually fewer than five copies) to evaluate the quality of the disc before mass production begins.'

I have only previously been fortunate enough to obtain one other Eastwood related test pressing or ‘white label' copy, which was Lalo Schifrin’s Kelly’s Heroes soundtrack and there was an incredible story behind that find which can be read on the Kelly’s Heroes page of this site. I didn’t honestly think I would ever come across another. But that all changed last month when I discovered this wonderful item. Thankfully, the vinyl is stunning and comes in its original DJ style sleeve with the original job sheet stuck to the outside. It’s a lovely collectable piece and something that you just don’t see very often. 

Hopefully, one day we will all see the eventual release of the full score on CD – it’s hard to believe it has not been picked up by the likes of Intrada. We can only live in hope. 

Where Eagles Dare 10x8 b/w Photo Gallery No 2 101-163

Besides being a big favourite among Eastwood fans, we are all constantly surprised at how many photos from this classic war movie continue to surface. A few of us were only discussing this again a couple of weeks ago. It had me thinking, and thought it would be a good idea to create a dedicated gallery of Where Eagles Dare b/w press stills. This is the second Gallery, taking us beyond the first 100. Most of the UK stills were marked with an ‘ED’ number, both on the front and on the reverse as part of the printed (usually purple-ish) legend (information). The stills will not only be direct scenes from the film, but will also include publicity and behind the scenes stills that officially tied in with the movie. These will just be b/w. Colour lobby stills and colour photos can be found on the dedicated Where Eagles Dare page from the drop down menu on the right. I hope to eventually make this the most complete archive of Where Eagles Dare stills on the web. Each and every photo has been cleaned up, repaired and re-touched in order to present them in the best possible quality. Thanks to Kevin Wilkinson and Neil Thomson for their continued help. There are still more to come so I will continue to update this second Gallery (and the count in the post heading) as more come to me.