Tag: Westerns
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30 Years Ago: Clint Eastwood Demystifies His Legend in ‘Unforgiven’
Clint Eastwood was the Man With No Name, a taciturn, iron-willed and seemingly indestructible antihero whose implacable drive for vengeance/justice left heaps of dusty, bloody bodies strewn all over the unforgiving landscape. It’s a myth the ambitious Eastwood leaned into as much as he began to deconstruct it once he embarked on his directorial career.…
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Beyond the Cowboy Image: John Wayne’s Hidden Desire for a Bold Career Transformation
Movie star John Wayne became closely intertwined with Westerns over the course of his career. He also dug into the war genre, but he was deeply associated with the image of a tough cowboy. Wayne once admitted that he felt “ashamed” of starring in Westerns and wanted to make a big career change. He desired…
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Spaghetti Western Revolution: Clint Eastwood’s Gritty Transformation Under John Wayne’s Watch
Movie star John Wayne was no stranger to Westerns. He starred in some of the greatest films ever to grace the genre, but he also starred in his share of war and drama movies. Wayne talked about the importance of Westerns to moviegoing audiences when the genre was at its peak. Fans of all ages…
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Rowdy Yates’ Legacy: Clint Eastwood’s Unspoken Longing for Ranch Life Post-Rawhide
Rawhide was one of the many early TV Westerns that inspired viewers all over the country. The series also helped Clint Eastwood become one of the most famous Western cowboys of the ’60s. For many years, Eastwood was a mainstay in the Western world. Unlike a few other TV Western stars, Clint Eastwood didn’t want…
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John Wayne’s Bold Stand Against Dirty Harry and Clint Eastwood’s Violent Wave in Cinema
John Wayne famously turned down Dirty Harry before Clint Eastwood took the role, which is ultimately for the best, as Wayne’s two 1970s cop thrillers show he was a bad fit for the part. The waning popularity of Westerns throughout the ’60s and ’70s in Hollywood did little to slow down Wayne’s output in the…
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Kevin Costner’s Western Mastery: Separating Fact from Fiction in the Iconic ‘Dances with Wolves.’
One of three Westerns to win an Academy Award for Best Picture (behind Cimarron and Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven), Dances with Wolves is one of those movies that you just have to experience. Shot between South Dakota and Wyoming, Costner’s directorial debut branded him a Western icon. Not only that, but it’s often been credited with…
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The Inside Story: What Led Steve McQueen to Decline a Role Opposite Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?
The 1969 movie is considered one of the greatest Westerns ever made, going on to win four Oscars. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid followed the two real-life Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker played by Paul Newman and Harry Longabaugh portrayed by Robert Redford. In the movie, the two criminals are on the run…