Clint Eastwood Photo Opportunity #9

Here’s our first Photo Opportunity of 2019. It features a great shot of Clint taken close to his then home near Pebble Beach around the tail end of 1976 or early in 1977. It was taken while the BBC was shooting their Documentary ‘The Man with No Name’ which was broadcast by BBC 1 on Wednesday, February 23^rd 1977. There are several photos that exist from this photo shoot, where Clint was filmed strolling around the beach area and being interviewed (by Ian Johnstone) for the documentary. I believe the hour long programme was filmed on 16mm, Clint can be seen here, seemingly unable to resist checking out the shot for himself!

The Seventh Art, a Toronto-based publication on cinema and filmmakers said;  

Iain Johnstone‘s BBC documentary on Clint Eastwood observes the budding career of the young actor-turned-director at arguably the peak of his celebrity–still figuring things out as a filmmaker and attracting enthusiastic support (and dissent) along the way. It seems strange now to think Eastwood was once a controversial figure whose films were met with heavy criticism toward their ostensible conservatism and unnecessary violence, especially when it came to Pauline Kael and the release of Dirty Harry, which she forever despised. Kael’s opinions, however premature in hindsight, raised interesting questions on the nature of the star’s acting and directing career, and she fortunately had the chance to speak in Johnstone’s film in between the lengthy interview with Eastwood (which is also excellent). It’s for essential fans and detractors, alike.

A personal note:

I can vividly remember watching this documentary as a 12 year-old kid - and (rather fortunately) it also happened to tie in with a school project we had been set – to write about an icon (probably referred to as ‘a star’ or ‘hero’ back then). I can also remember taping it on an audio cassette at the time. This, and the fact that the family home was often filled with the sound of Morricone, pretty much sealed the deal and made Eastwood the obvious subject of choice.

Life from here on would never quite be the same…