Firstly, and on behalf of
everyone connected with the Archive – A very happy Christmas to Clint, a deserved
rest seems to be the order of the day, although I doubt that the big man will
not stray too far away from looking towards his next project! Perhaps a glass
of wine in one hand and a script in the other – sounds like a perfectly
acceptable compromise…
I would also like to thank and
wish a very happy Christmas to everyone who helps me to bring all of this
material here in one place and for the fans. I’m also going to give myself a
minor pat on the back as 2018 has been the most prolific year with over 100 new
posts. A massive amount of updates are always being added to other dedicated
pages behind the front line stories and are all there to be discovered.
So 2018 was a very fulfilling year.
In January I presented an original piece on Clint and his fondness of meaty
motors, a story which I’m sure will continue to unveil a few more additional
discoveries. Also in January our Film focus was on Thunderbolt & Lightfoot
with some wonderful written contributions from our friends Paul Rowlands and
Steve Saragossi. January also saw the first spouts of speculation relating to The
Mule as Clint’s next project.
February also saw a really good
book, Clint Eastwood's Cinema of Trauma: Essays on PTSD in the Director's Films
by Charles R. Hamilton and Allen H. Redmon. The Witches (Le Streghe) 1967 also
became available on Blu-ray. I also began a couple of on/off, ongoing projects
- Collecting Clint in print – detailing the many books on Clint and Photo opportunities,
an outlet for me to use the many thousands of photos I have on file. We also
covered Clint’s film The 15:17 to Paris extensively, a film which ultimately
turned out to be a little disappointing. Also in February I unearthed an
original script from my collection from 1960, a show which featured Clint in a
guest appearance but is not referenced in any of Clint’s bios or filmographies.
We also featured David Frangioni’s Clint Eastwood: Icon Book - The Updated and
Expanded Edition.
In March we did a feature on Early
Eastwood photos captured by Earl Leaf. April saw the A Fistful of Dollars 2018
4K Re-release and some damn nice posters to accompany it. I also posted some
rare shots of Clint at Petrovaradin fortress during the making of Kelly’s
Heroes.
May saw the incredibly rare
Magnum Force Christmas Teaser poster raise its head, as did Clint’s original
Pink Cadillac car... in North Wales! May also saw casting begin for The Mule.
In June we reported on an incredibly
rare set of 22 international lobby cards for Magnum Force and we reported that
filming had begun on The Mule in Georgia. In June I also put together another
original piece Destination London: In between shooting Where Eagles Dare.
In August we did a feature Clint
and his connection to The Los Angeles Police Museum – with help from Bob Taylor
who works at the Museum. We also unearthed actor Peter Fitzsimmons who appeared
in the deleted scenes from Magnum Force. In September we featured a great
collection of photos - Clint and Maggie at Marineland of the Pacific.
Whilst in October we featured the
amazing digital artwork of Stanislav Klabík and we got our first glimpse of The
Mule with the release of the trailer. Also in October, one of our regular Flashback
features was on the National Association of Theater Owners Awards 1971 – we were
given some very special material to use by two very lovely ladies - Vice President
and Chief Operating Officer Kathy Conroy and Executive Assistant Cheryl Dickson.
Totally out of nowhere, November
saw a whole host of new photos appear featuring Clint directing Breezy – a very
rare treat for all of us. November brought some great news that Composer Lalo Schifrin was
awarded a long overdue Oscar. We also saw some incredibly rare poster art
surface such as the Magnum Force subway poster and the You Only Live Twice / A
Fistful of Dollars UK Double Crown poster. We also did a nice mini feature on Doris
Nieh: The woman who shot Dirty Harry.
In December we gave you all the
coverage leading up to the release of The Mule. We also reported on the Big 50th
Anniversary showing of Where Eagles Dare (to take place on Jan 26th
2019) – an event for which almost a dozen of us will be meeting up for on
London’s Southbank. It should be a great event boys and gals and I’m looking
forward to seeing you all. I should also thank the lovely and ever helpful Liz
Parkinson from the BFI for helping make this happen for us.
Of course, 2018 also saw us say
farewell to some much loved and admired members of the Eastwood family circle -
Dave Toschi, the original Dirty Harry, actor Bradford Dillman, artist and
poster designer Bill Gold, screen icon and long-time friend Burt Reynolds and
former partner and regular co-star Sondra Locke.
This journey simply wouldn’t have
been the same without you all.
Thank you to everyone and for your continued support
Darren, The Clint Eastwood Archive
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