Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood's 25th film as a director, Million Dollar Baby stands proudly with Unforgiven and Mystic River as the masterwork of a great American filmmaker. In an age of bloated spectacle and computer-generated effects extravaganzas, Eastwood turns an elegant screenplay by Paul Haggis (adapted from the book Rope Burns: Stories From the Corner by F.X. Toole, a pseudonym for veteran boxing manager Jerry Boyd) into a simple, humanitarian example of classical filmmaking, as deeply felt in its heart-wrenching emotions as it is streamlined in its character-driven storytelling.

The mission is clear. Get in. Get the general. Get out. Commandos charged with freeing a U.S. general from an Alpine fortress should also be told to trust nothing - including the search-and-rescue orders just issued. Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood go Where Eagles Dare in this twisty World War II thriller written by action master Alistair MacLean (The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra) and directed by Brian G. Hutton (Kelly's Heroes). Known for fiery dramatic roles, Burton ventures into the realm of movie pyrotechnics with dynamic efficiency.

Clint Eastwood is a hard-hitting high plains drifter who rides into town and single-handedly rescues a local nun (Shirley MacLaine) from a gang of attackers. After meeting a band of Mexican revolutionaries bent on resisting the French occupation of Mexico, the cowboy and Sister Sara decide to join forces with the freedom fighters and set off on a deadly mission to capture the enemy's garrison. But along the way, a steamy romance develops between them when the soft-spoken hero discovers the nun is not what she seems.

You remember Dirty Harry. He's the hard-boiled San Francisco homicide detective who thinks bad guys get off too easy, so he is out to punish them his way. But Harry isn't the only one with a score to settle. Relentless rogue cop "Dirty Harry" Callahan finds himself chasing a ritualistic killer to a rural Northern California town. When Harry is spinning his wheels, it's his new partner Horace Kind that steers him in the right direction. Together, they race to catch the killer in a head-on collision of good vs. evil.

Clint Eastwood (making his very assured directorial debut) is a poetry-spouting stud-muffin DJ stalked by a maniacally amorous fan after a misguided one-night stand in this enjoyably schlocky, undeniably effective film about good intentions gone murderously wacky.

In Pale Rider, Clint Eastwood returned to the saddle after nine years - and Western movies were riding high again. Here the star/director crafted an exciting film in the suspenseful tradition of Shane and High Noon. After corporate mining boss Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) begins a campaign of terror to drive independent pan miners out of the area, a nameless stranger called Preacher (Eastwood) rides into the underdogs' camp. He becomes their avenger. The tycoon then hires a badge-wearing killer and his duster-shrouded deputies, men loyal to whomever pays the most. LaHood pays gold.

As The Outlaw Josey Wales, Clint Eastwood is ideal as a wary, fast-drawing loner, akin to the Man With No Name from his European Westerns. But unlike that other mythic outlaw, Josey Wales has a name - and a heart. That heart opens up as the action unfolds. After avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of killers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts (including Sondra Locke and Chief Dan George) are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprotected. Time called it one of 1976's best movies.

uperior acting, writing, and direction are on impressive display in the critically acclaimed Mystic River, Clint Eastwood's 24th directorial outing and one of the finest films of 2003. Sharply adapted by L.A. Confidential Oscar-winner Brian Helgeland from the novel by Dennis Lehane, this chilling mystery revolves around three boyhood friends in working-class Boston--played as adults by Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, and Kevin Bacon--drawn together by a crime from the past and a murder (of the Penn character's 19-year-old daughter) in the present.

When a mysterious wave of killings sweeps the Mafia underworld, it's Inspector "Dirty Harry" Callahan who answers with Magnum Force. In this sequel to "Dirty Harry," a San Francisco homicide detective investigating a rash of gangster murders discovers they are the work of a rookie police assassination squad. Despite a demotion by Lt. Neil Briggs for his questionable methods, Harry will stop at nothing to find the killers.

This tongue-in-cheek 1970 variation on The Dirty Dozen looks less fresh than it did in the year of its release, but it still has some enjoyable moments. Clint Eastwood stars along with Donald Sutherland, Harry Dean Stanton, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor, and Gavin MacLeod in the story of American soldiers who try to steal gold behind enemy lines in World War II. Sutherland's hippie G.I. doesn't have the sardonic and timely appeal he did during the Vietnam War, but the film's irreverence and several of the performances are worth a visit.