The only producer Clint Eastwood banned from stepping foot on set: “And he stayed away”
Thanks to his towering legacy, decades of success, and reputation as one of cinema’s most no-frills filmmakers, if Clint Eastwood tells you to fuck off and stay away from his set, you’re most likely going to fuck off and stay away from his set.
As it turned out, he didn’t even need to be a four-time Academy Award-winning legend to get the point across, since he banned a producer from coming anywhere near one of his shoots before he’d even made his directorial debut, never mind played Harry Callahan or won his first Oscar.
That kind of natural intensity can’t be faked, especially from someone who wasn’t quite a star yet. As popular as Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy had been in Europe, it took a while for American audiences to catch on. It wasn’t until 1967, the year after The Good, the Bad and the Ugly was released, that the ‘Man with No Name’ arrived on home shores, with the triptych debuting in January, May, and December, respectively.
It didn’t take long for cinemagoers to warm to Eastwood’s grizzled charisma and effortless screen presence, turning the antihero into a global icon and launching his career to new heights. Naturally, the studios rushed to cast him in his next western, and for his first post-Dollars outing, he settled on Hang ‘Em High.
Of all the scripts he read, the one co-written by Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg piqued his interest the most. Reuniting with former Rawhide director Tim Post, the deal was contingent on the filmmaker, since Eastwood had outlined that he’d only commit to the film with Post at the helm. United Artists wasn’t so sure, with studio boss Arnold Picker trying to change the terms.
“We have a list of directors we gave you,” he told Eastwood. “They’re all very experienced and talented people who have tremendous track records. I mean, we know Teddy is very good at what he’s doing, but that’s television, not features.” In response, the actor fought his case, describing Post as someone he was comfortable working with.
Once Hang ‘Em High began shooting, Freeman, who was also the producer, tried to make his presence felt. Post remembered him appearing “with the Cecil B DeMille boots and the riding crop, banging the crop against the leather, going on the set and changing things.” He tried to impose his will upon the director, and Eastwood wouldn’t stand for it.
Post informed his leading man that he planned to speak to the interfering interloper and let him know that he didn’t care for being undermined, but the star opted to do it himself. “No, don’t you do it, Ted,” he was told. “I’ll do it.” He spoke to Freeman in private, and after that, he wasn’t spotted again for the rest of principal photography.
What happened? Post inquired how Eastwood had managed to get rid of him, and what he told him made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t welcome: “‘If you come on the set again, there’ll be no set, no crew, no actors, no director: stay away’. And he stayed away.” Needless to say, you don’t fuck with a Clint Eastwood set, even when he’s not the director.
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