As always, I would like to begin by wishing Clint a very happy Christmas on behalf of all his fans and everyone connected with the Archive. I would also like to thank and wish a very happy Christmas to everyone who helps me to bring all of this material here and for the benefit of the fans.
This year we have averaged a little less than one post per week, but of course there has also been hundreds of updates on many of the dedicated pages. Posts also dropped off during the last quarter of this year due to a forced break and illness. So thanks to my great admin team for helping during this period.
I suppose it’s fair to say that 2020 has been something of a sombre year. However, we have all tried to keep positive, and hopefully attempted to maintain some form of continuity here on the Archive.
In January we got off to a really bright start and a feature on Anthony James, a co-star and friend of Eastwood and his book which focused on his career in movies. We also posted some nice lobby collections from The Gauntlet and City Heat and some unusual Photo Opportunities. The following month of February brought some exciting news in the shape of the Eastwood Fest at the NFT – a huge season which looked like an ideal chance for some of us to all get together again and catch a few classics such as Dirty Harry and Josey Wales on the big screen. Unfortunately, March brought with it the dreaded Covid lockdown, a turning point that not only wiped out our immediate plans, but changed and reshaped our lives completely. Of course, the whole BFI/Eastwood film festival was cancelled as a result.
April was a fairly quiet time, one highlight was a small piece I created for The Dalys – Rare UK Fistful of Dollars 7” Record. It was something I had been searching for some time, and was actually tied in with the whole 1967 Fistful of Dollars U.K. promotional campaign. In May I tried to brighten up the general gloom by posting a couple of major photo features including a rare selection from both Dirty Harry and Magnum Force – a nice selection of 28 behind the scenes stills. Later that month, I posted a set of 18 lovely photos entitled Clint at CBS in the Sixties. Also in this month I posted some classic TV appearances. The end of May also brought us Clint’s Birthday, and a special one it was too with Clint celebrating his 90th. Unfortunately we celebrated this a little later due to some technical problems – but it happened, and in great style. In the week of Clint’s birthday the Archive was invited onto BBC radio to talk about Clint’s career. It was great to be part of it and at the same time provided some great nationwide exposure for the Archive. May and June also delivered some very sad news, with the passing of both Ennio Morricone and Lennie Niehaus. Somewhat ironically, July was also the month that brought us the first complete release of Morricone’s soundtrack for Two Mules for Sister Sara, it’s 50th anniversary. Record label LaLa Land provided us with some great support.
In July I wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kelly’s Heroes, still a major favourite among fans – we celebrated this with a number of posts which also included the surfacing of some pretty rare on set footage. July and August also saw more friends from the Eastwood circle sadly leave us (see below). October at least brought us some good news – the announcement that Clint was returning to screen with his new project, Cry Macho. Based on a book which was published in 1975, the project at least provides us with something positive to look forward to in 2021. In November I put up one of our occasional ‘Clint’s crew’ features, this time on Cinematographer Jack N. Green, the man behind the camera and the man responsible for giving Clint’s movies that signature look. In December we finished on a great positive note and the first ever full release of Ennio Morricone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly soundtrack - a 3 CD collection that was guaranteed to brighten up our Christmas.
In Memoriam:Unfortunately, 2020 also saw the passing of some people from the Eastwood circle of friends, Anthony James, Lennie Niehaus, Ennio Morricone, John Saxon and Reni Santoni – all of whom made the Eastwood light shine so brightly and will be sadly missed.
Thank you to everyone and for your continued support - please stay safe during these testing times.
Darren, The Clint Eastwood Archive
No comments:
Post a Comment