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Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood Copied A Secret Service Trick To Keep His Crew Calm On Set

Clint Eastwood’s first film as a director was “Play Misty for Me” in 1971, in which he also starred. Eastwood would direct 12 additional features in which he also played the lead prior to “Bird” in 1988, his first film as a director in which he did not appear. “Bird,” as this writer recalls, represented a shift in Eastwood’s career. He was no longer the star and director of “tough guy” thrillers and Westerns, but a more thoughtful, soulful director. At age 58, Eastwood seemed to have entered a “mellowing out” phase, more interested in deconstructing his prior career as a tough guy. When he wasn’t tearing down his image in films like “White Hunter, Black Heart” and “Unforgiven,” he was leaning into calmer, sometimes downright gentle films like “The Bridges of Madison County” or “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.”
 
Now in his early 90s, Eastwood has directed 40 feature films, an output so prolific he would be a notable presence in Hollywood even if he had never acted.
As a director, Eastwood is on record with how quiet and relaxed he likes to keep his sets. He does not advocate shouting, and as he explained in a 2006 interview with DGA Quarterly, he loathes background chatter. 2006, incidentally, was the year Eastwood released two interconnected films called “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters from Iwo Jima.” Both films tell the story of the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima, with the first from the perspective of the American soldiers, and the second from the perspective of the Japanese.
To keep things quiet on the set, as Eastwood learned many years prior, conversations needed to be kept quiet. Luckily, a contact in the U.S. Secret Service provided him with a solution: Secret Service headsets.
‘I like to have fun’

Warner Bros.Although Eastwood often plays stern or stoic figures — or even sad, tragic ones — he likes to keep the mood on his sets light and relaxed. Tension, he seems to feel, is antithetical to directing; you will hear no William Friedkin-like stories of Eastwood playing loud music and firing guns on set just to keep people on edge. More than anything, Eastwood has a pet peeve of crew members having to shush one another just as cameras are rolling. In the DGA interview, Eastwood explained it like he was an elementary schoolteacher:
“I like to have fun. I like everyone to be in good humor. And I try to keep it quiet. I like an atmosphere that isn’t loaded with tension. I don’t like sets where people are yelling at each other. The thing I dislike the most is people going ‘Sssh sssh sssh,’ because they end up making more noise than the people they’re trying to shush. I remember after I started directing I was on a picture over at MGM, I walked out on the soundstage and all of a sudden I hear this huge bell ringing, which meant they were going to start the scene, and I thought, ‘What is this s***?’”Buzzers and bells are common on certain film sets, but for actors and crew people who require a certain amount of concentration, they can be antithetical to filmmaking. Eastwood, it seems, likes to keep his film sets feeling akin to live theater. A quiet set, actors on a stage, the crew keeping quiet so a live audience doesn’t hear. He’s a very natural, instinctual director who simply puts the camera down, gets everyone quiet, and shoots. He is not one to rely on technical fineries.
Party in the CIA
Warner Bros.Eastwood explained that his quiet sets are good for actors. He claimed that a quiet set meant his actors had the ability to start and stop a scene without making a big production of it, saying that Tim Robbins and Sean Penn — the stars of his 2003 film “Mystic River” — appreciated it. Robbins and Penn are veterans of their craft and liked that they could approach a scene from a laidback standpoint. But Eastwood believes that this approach takes the edge off for neophyte actors as well, as the spotlight is now (metaphorically) off them.
Eastwood struck upon a solution many years prior when he was visiting Gerald Ford at the White House(!). When he saw Secret Service agents having quiet conversations off in shadowy corners, all to ensure that the President and his retinue could more cleanly converse, Eastwood made the connection to filmmaking. He said:
“I went to the White House for a dinner … and I noticed that there were these Secret Service guys all around and they were all talking very quietly into these tiny headsets, carrying on entire conversations without disturbing anyone. So I came back here and I said, ‘Why the hell do you go on a movie set and people have open radios squawking and people yelling, ‘Hey, Al, put the light over here!’ We’ve got all this technology; certainly we can be as technologically sound as the Secret Service.’”Headsets seem like such a simple solution, it’s astonishing they weren’t already a Hollywood common practice. Eastwood began using the headsets, and found concurrent work could be done, everything was smooth, and, most importantly, everything was quiet.
Silence!
Warner Bros.
Eastwood didn’t want just any old headsets. He wanted the exact kind that was being used in the Ford White House. He brought them to his next movie — by the timeline of events, it was most likely “The Outlaw Josey Wales” from 1975 — and everything began to work the way he wanted. He knew immediately this was the way going forward, for veterans and for the times he had to work with kids.
Eastwood has worked with child actors in “A Perfect World” and “Cry Macho” and several other pictures in between. He spoke about how he hired someone to, perhaps poetically, gather intel on the Secret Service.
“So a guy who was working for me researched it, got the same headsets and then all of those conversations could take place without disturbing the whole set. You can be rehearsing the actors and the crew can be talking, but nobody’s hearing it. Sometimes you’re working with kids or people you don’t want to be conscious of the camera. This way you can roll the camera without them even knowing it, and you can get natural moments you wouldn’t get when someone’s screaming, ‘Silence! Rolling! Action!’”Eastwood is more prolific at 92 than filmmakers half his age, and his films tend to be moody and thoughtful. Fans can take note that a simple thing like a headset can go a long way to improving a director’s job and the films they make.

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Clint Eastwood

Caped Clint Eastwood? Raquel Welsh? These famous actors were almost Superman and Lois Lane

It’s a bird . . . It’s a plane . . . It’s Dirty Harry?
Forty-five years after dashing newcomer Christopher Reeve’s caped flight to stardom in 1978’s “Superman” movie, a NYC auction house is listing rare documents revealing the other leading men the studio cleared to be cast in the iconic role, including Clint Eastwood, Jack Nicholson, Robert Wagner and then-closeted Richard Chamberlain.
Auction house Metropolis Collectibles revealed the names of 24 leading men and 23 actresses DC Comics officially approved to be Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, characters ultimately played by the relatively unknown 26-year-old Juilliard alum Reeve, and established 30-year-old Margot Kidder.
“This has been a well-loved topic over the years and for the first time we have confirmation” about the approved list of actors “DC was comfortable with, as far as their public image,” said J.R. Taylor, a researcher for Metropolis. “The casting has always been the most talked about thing and this list has names no one ever knew before.”

Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve, seen here in costume as Superman flies the reporter through the air, ultimately won the roles of Lois Lane and Superman.

10Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve ultimately won the roles of Lois Lane and Superman.©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
The celebs who coulda been contenders were:
CLINT EASTWOOD:

Clint Eastwood in the 1966 film "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly."10Clint Eastwood in the 1966 film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”Courtesy Everett Collection
The caped crusader with a deadly squint?
“A lot of actors probably weren’t thrilled at the idea of playing Superman. This was a time when starring in a comic book movie certainly sounded like a risky proposition,” said Taylor.
ROBERT WAGNER:

Robert Wagner headshot10Robert Wagner was known more for his roles in television.Courtesy Everett Collection
The veteran actor and husband of Natalie Wood (whose name was on the list for Lois Lane) would have been 48 when the movie premiered on Dec. 15,1978.
“At that point he was a television actor,” said Taylor.
JACK NICHOLSON:

Jack Nicholson in "Chinatown."10Jack Nicholson as Jake Gittes in the 1974 film “Chinatown.”Courtesy Everett Collection
The “Chinatown” actor and “Cuckoo’s Nest” Oscar winner with the unnerving grin would ultimately go on to play the Joker in 1989’s “Batman.”
But he was no obvious Superman, said Taylor.
“You can see DC probably was considering nothing more than people who they considered to be bankable” stars, but he would have brought “baggage” from his previous eccentric roles.
MARLON BRANDO:

Marlon Brando in "The Godfather."10Marlon Brando in “The Godfather.”Courtesy Everett Collection
The brooding bad boy ended up playing Superman’s father Jor-El, despite Brando famously trying to convince producers that the role should be portrayed by a green suitcase.
“His logic being that if they were aliens, there’s no way of knowing what Superman’s father really looked like, perhaps hoping to be paid for voiceover work,” said Taylor.
RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN:

Richard Chamberlain in 1974's "The Towering Inferno."10Richard Chamberlain in 1974’s “The Towering Inferno.”©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
“He’s the only actor on the list, besides Rock Hudson, who’d have been a closeted gay actor in the part,” said Taylor.
RAQUEL WELCH:

raquel welch in a orange bra and underwear in 196710Sex symbol Raquel Welch wouldn’t have been believable as Lois Lane.©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
Not in “one million years” could people see the international sex symbol as the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Daily Planet” reporter.
Though the sexy starlet went on to star as vampy villain Diana Pride in the TV series “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” in 1995.
SUE LYON:

Sue Lyon in 1962's "Lolita."10Sue Lyon in 1962’s “Lolita.”Courtesy Everett Collection
“This is probably the biggest surprise here,” said Taylor of the starlet who found overnight fame in the title role of 1962’s “Lolita,” but who “relied on drive-in movies and small TV turns by the time of Superman’s production.”
JANE SEYMOUR:

Jane Seymour in 2005's "Wedding Crashers."10Jane Seymour in 2005’s “Wedding Crashers.”©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
The former “Live and Let Die” Bond girl later turned up in the Superman series “Smallville” on The CW and named one of her children after her close friend Christopher Reeve, said Taylor.

NATALIE WOOD AND SISTER LANA WOOD:

Natalie Wood, left, and her sister, Lana Wood, in the 1960s.10Natalie Wood, left, and her sister, Lana Wood, in the 1960s.Courtesy Everett Collection

“Natalie’s name has come up, but no one’s ever mentioned her sister Lana, primarily known as a ‘Bond girl,’ being approved for the role,” said Taylor.

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Clint Eastwood

“Bobby suffers, Clint yawns”: Clint Eastwood Was Decimated After Being Called Inferior To Robert De Niro

Clint Eastwood was once a veteran actor who later entered the field of directing. Starring alongside other notable actors, Eastwood has had his fair share of enemies and jealousies with other actors and directors throughout the years.
Working alongside director Sergio Leone in the 1966 film The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Clint Eastwood had grown to resent the director by the end of the filming. In his later years, Leone would go on to compare Eastwood with a block of marble while hailing Robert De Niro as an actor!
Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Clint Eastwood in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
When Sergio Leone Compared Clint Eastwood To A Block of Marble!
Arguably becoming famous for starring in Western spaghetti movies, Clint Eastwood essentially became famous for portraying the role of Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy. The actor, however, was fed up with working with Leone by the end of the 1966 film.
robert de niro in the irishmanRobert De Niro in The Irishman
Being very tight around his films, Eastwood learned his sense of perfectionism from Leone himself. However, the trait became heavy for the actor when the director behaved very strictly in his movies. After starring in 1966’s The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, Clint Eastwood never worked with Sergio Leone again. In a 1984 interview with American Film, Leone went on to compare Eastwood to a block of marble!
“Robert De Niro throws him­self into this or that role, putting on a personality the way someone else might put on his coat, naturally and with ele­gance, while Clint Eastwood throws himself into a suit of armor and lowers the visor with a rusty clang.”
The director further continued,
“East­wood moves like a sleepwalker between explosions and hails of bullets, and he is always the same — a block of marble. Bobby, first of all, is an actor. Clint, first of all, is a star. Bobby suffers, Clint yawns.”
Although his character of Man with No Name became iconically famous, the mysterious persona around the character wasn’t always so. It was actually Clint Eastwood who came up with that idea but had to argue with Sergio Leone in the process!
Clint Eastwood Had To Argue With Sergio Leone
Clint Eastwood in Cry Macho'Clint Eastwood in Cry Macho
Before the iconic character of Man with No Name was created, Italian director Sergio Leone had a different idea in mind. Giving the character dialogues and a backstory to explain his motives, it was Eastwood who advised the director to go the other way. Eastwood revealed in an interview with Ric Gentry (via Slash Film) how the iconic character finally came to be.
“Sergio argued with me, though he did agree in a way, but it was just much harder for the Italian mentality to accept. They’re just used to so much more exposition and I was throwing that out.”
Well, it seems that Eastwood eventually won over and the Man with No Name came to be. As for the strained relationship between the actor and Sergio Leone, the duo never worked together after 1966.

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Clint Eastwood

‘High Plains Drifter’: The movie that began the feud between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood

It’s well-known that John Wayne seemed to hate almost every actor other than himself, but there were a few figures within the film industry with whom The Duke had serious and bitter feuds. Most notably, Wayne held a particular distaste for Clint Eastwood, the western movie icon who looked to take Wayne’s position as the most prominent performer to spread their wings in the genre.
While Wayne could seemingly find a bone to pick with any of his contemporaries or successors, the feud with Eastwood arose from his second movie as a director, the 1973 western High Plains Drift, written by Ernest Tidyman. Following on from his debut feature in the boss’ chair, Eastwood’s second effort saw him play a mysterious stranger who looks to deliver justice when he arrives in a frontier mining town rife with corruption.
The film arrived not too long after Eastwood had completed his work with Sergio Leone and his Dollars Trilogy movies and was greatly inspired by the legendary Italian director, as well as by Don Siegel. The likes of Verna Bloom, Mariana Hill, Jack Ging, Stefan Gierasch and Mitchell Ryan are all featured in the movie, which was shot on location at Mono Lake in California.
Eastwood once noted the issues that Wayne had with the movie, writing in the book John Wayne: The Life and Legend, “John Wayne once wrote me a letter saying he didn’t like High Plains Drifter. He said it wasn’t really about the people who pioneered the West. I realised that there’s two different generations, and he wouldn’t understand what I was doing.”
The actor went on to add his justification for his movie and provided an explanation of how Wayne had got his intentions all wrong. “High Plains Drifter was meant to be a fable,” Eastwood added, “It wasn’t meant to show the hours of pioneering drudgery. It wasn’t supposed to be anything about settling the West.”
High Plains Drifter was well-received by critics upon its release. It sees Eastwood’s character come to a small town’s rescue when he is persuaded to protect them from a deadly gang of outlaws. The unnamed stranger is a golden-gilded gun-slinger, so his arrival is initially met with fear by the townsfolk, but when they witness his skill with a pistol, it’s not long before they turn to him for help.
The screenplay by Ernest Tidyman was loosely inspired by a real-life murder in Queens in 1964, during which several eyewitnesses were said to have stood by without action. There’s an element of black humour within the movie, too, which comes primarily from the way that Sergio Leone used the device to fill in plot holes in his own works.
Eastwood’s second effort as a director (and the first in which he both starred and directed) remains a classic of the western genre, although it was not well-met by John Wayne. After all, Wayne’s films tended to rely on a well-trodden trope of good vs. evil, whereas Eastwood’s were more ambiguous in their morality. Throw in the kind of violence that Wayne was not welcoming of, and it’s easy to see why The Duke found a distaste for Eastwood and his cementing of his position as the new outlaw in town.
Check out the trailer for High Plains Drifter below.

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