The directors who were “very influential” on Clint Eastwood
It’s not often that an acclaimed actor makes the jump from their primary profession into the world of directing with much success, but one person who undoubtedly made the leap is Clint Eastwood, who joined the likes of Orson Welles and John Cassavetes in earning just as much admiration from the director’s chair.
While many film fans came to know Eastwood through his brilliant performances in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy and the Dirty Harry movies, the truth is that Eastwood has been responsible for countless other excellent productions as a director, although he’s often also played the lead role.
Throughout the likes of Heartbreak Ridge, The Bridges of Madison County, Gran Torino, Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, Eastwood has shown himself to be a master of the cinematic medium, far more than just a macho screen actor, but also a person that deeply understands how to get great movies made.
Of course, with that in mind, it’s only right that Eastwood has his personal directing heroes and he once stated the directors that inspired him the most, particularly going back to his early days watching movies when he was “growing up” in the 1940s, the likes of which would play an important hand in his future career.
Speaking with GQ, Eastwood pointed out the brilliance of John Ford and Raoul Walsh, noting, “They were very influential on me. They all just told stories. They didn’t necessarily follow one genre—whatever they felt like doing. But I do believe I came along at the right period for me.”
John Ford is, of course, one of the greatest directors of all time, particularly during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Throughout his career, the Maine-born filmmaker directed more than 140 films, although his most acclaimed works include the likes of The Informer, The Grapes of Wrath, How Green Was My Valley and The Quiet Man, each of which he was awarded an Academy Award for ‘Best Director’ for.
Raoul Walsh, like Ford, had earned acclaim for his work in the western genre, particularly in his film The Big Trail, starring John Wayne. Elsewhere, though, he had also made films like High Sierra and White Heat, showing his ability to direct films in a wide range of narrative genres.
John Huston was another “influential” director on Eastwood, a man who was known for handling a number of classic movies like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Moulin Rouge, The Misfits and Prizzi’s Honor, while Alfred Hitchcock, who ought to need no introduction, was another key figure in Eastwood’s early movie-watching life.
Just as a refresher, though, Hitchcock was one of the greatest British film directors of all time, known and loved for his efforts on the likes of Psycho, The Birds, Rear Window, Vertigo and Notorious. In the interview, Eastwood spoke of how he served as one of the first actors to make the jump to directing and how he was keen to succeed.
“There had been precedent before that, dating back to Stan Laurel. But I was just determined,” Eastwood said. “I said, ‘Someday I’m gonna look out there, and I’m not gonna like what I see. And I don’t necessarily want to be out of the business. I like doing this.’ So I took it on.” And undoubtedly, he was inspired by the likes of Hitchcock, Ford, Huston and Walsh.
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