American Masters (TV Series) Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows (2000) User Reviews

A wonderful toast to an amazing cinema great

[soonforget · 9/10 · 27 February 2005]

This film capped off my Clint Eastwood-a-thon. Expertly narrated by Morgan Freeman, this film is a great tribute to the icon that is Clint Eastwood. The interviews with his costars and himself shed an amazing light on the whole experience and what it is like to work for such an amazing director. He is truly a rare gem, a director who knows what he wants, and far more impressive, is able to capture it. Before I started watching many of his films, I always regarded him as an actor, simply because I never knew the breadth of his work. I have since corrected myself, and regard him simply as a cinematic genius. I do have one small problem with this documentary, however. They made no mention of his third directorial effort, Breezy, which I very much enjoyed. I think when reviewing his entire career, even his bit parts in the late 50s and early 60s, surely you could make mention of all of his directorial efforts, especially the first film he didn't take an acting part in. To every fan of director Eastwood, I highly recommend Breezy, a heartfelt film with some fine acting and directing.

Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 2 June 2020]

With the famous actor, director, producer, and politician celebrating his 90th birthday in 2020, it made perfect sense to watch a biopic documentary about the life and career of the great man, whom my Mum has a crush also (we call him "Clint Baby"). Clint Eastwood (or Clinton Eastwood Jr.) was born on 31st May 1930, at Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco, California. Clint held several jobs, including lifeguard, paper carrier, grocery clerk, forest firefighter, and golf caddy, before finding an interest in acting. Before being successful, Eastwood struggled with finding work, only getting minor roles, including classic horror Revenge of the Creature (1955), the sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon, and Tarantula (1955). Clint made a notable guest appearance on the TV series Maverick opposite James Garner. Eastwood's first major role came an ex-renegade of the Confederacy in western Ambush at Cimarron Pass (1958). Clint achieved success in the western TV series Rawhide, which ran for six years, before cancellation. In late 1963, after original choice James Coburn was too expensive to cast, Clint was cast as the lead for an Italian-made western called A Fistful of Dollars (1964), filmed in Spain, directed by the relatively unknown Sergio Leone. He rose to international fame with his role as the Man with No Name, and sequels For a Few Dollars More (1965), and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966) continued the success. During the 1960s, his fame continued to grow and he was offered many more roles, making movies such as: action thriller Coogan's Bluff (1968), his first time working with director Don Siegel; western Hang 'Em High (1968); action war movie Where Eagles Dare (1968), starring with Richard Burton; and western musical Paint Your Wagon (1969), starring with Lee Marvin. During the 60s, with the help of his advisor Irving Leonard, Eastwood also established his own production company, Malpaso Productions, named after Malpaso Creek on Eastwood's property in Monterey County, California. In the 1970s, movies included: western Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970), starring with Shirley MacLaine; war movie Kelly's Heroes (1970), starring with Donald Sutherland and Telly Savalas; and western drama The Beguiled (1971). Eastwood's career reached a turning point in 1971; psychological thriller Play Misty for Me gave Eastwood the artistic control he desired, and his debut as a director. The same year, Clint played his next most iconic character, playing hard-edged San Francisco police inspector Harry Callahan in action thriller Dirty Harry, with the memorable quote, "'Do I feel lucky?' Well do you, punk!" Clint was offered the role of James Bond, after Sean Connery quit, but he turned it down believing the character should be played by an English actor. Further 1970s films included: western Joe Kidd (1972); western High Plains Drifter (1973), directed and starred; romantic drama Breezy (1973), which he directed but did not star (apart from a cameo); Harry Callahan action thriller sequel Magnum Force (1973); crime drama Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974), starring with Jeff Bridges; spy thriller The Eiger Sanction (1975), directed and starred; western The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), directed and starred, the first of many films with to-be partner Sondra Locke, featuring the quote "Are you gonna pull those pistols or whistle Dixie?"; third Harry Callahan action thriller movie The Enforcer (1976); action thriller The Gauntlet (1977), directed and starred, with Sondra Locke; action comedy Every Which Way but Loose (1978), with Clyde the orangutan; and biographical prison thriller Escape from Alcatraz (1979). By the 1980s, Clint was one of the highest-earning movie stars in the world and had a mixture of many successes and some financial failures. His 80s movies included: action comedy Bronco Billy (1980), directed and starred; action thriller Firefox (1982) , directed and starred; musical drama Honkytonk Man (1982), directed and starred; Harry Callahan action thriller sequel Sudden Impact (1983), directed and starred, featuring the catchphrase "Go ahead, make my day!"; crime thriller Tightrope (1984), directed and starred; crime thriller comedy City Heat (1984), starring with Burt Reynolds; western Pale Rider (1985), directed and starred; war drama Heartbreak Ridge (1986), directed and starred; biographical drama Bird (1988), starring Forest Whitaker, he directed but did not star; the final Harry Callahan sequel, action thriller The Dead Pool (1988); and action comedy Pink Cadillac (1989). The 1990s started for Clint with: adventure drama White Hunter, Black Heart (1990), directed and starred; and crime action The Rookie (1990), directed and starred, with Charlie Sheen. Eastwood had planned western Unforgiven (1992) for years, but waited until he had aged, he directed and starred, opposite Morgan Freeman, Gene Hackman, and Richard Harris. It became a major commercial and critical success, and earned several accolades, including nominations and wins at the Academy Awards. Clint earned the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, and Hackman won for Best Supporting Actor. Further 90s movies for Clint included: In the Line of Fire (1993), starring with John Malkovich and Rene Russo; crime drama A Perfect World (1993), directed and starred, with Kevin Costner; romantic drama The Bridges of Madison County (1995), directed and starred, with Meryl Streep; a cameo appearance in family film Casper (1995); political action thriller Absolute Power (1997), directed and starred, with Gene Hackman, Ed Harris and Laura Linney; and mystery drama True Crime (1999), directed and starred. This film finishes at the point of his latest film, in 2000, adventure drama Space Cowboys, which he directed and starred, with Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner. Obviously, we know he has continued his successful career in the following years, with great films including: Mystic River, the Oscar winning Million Dollar Baby, Changeling, Gran Torino, American Sniper, The Mule, and Richard Jewell. Narrated by Morgan Freeman, with contributions from Clint Eastwood himself, James Garner, Gene Hackman, Curtis Hanson, Geoffrey Lewis, Bill McKinney, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Donald Sutherland, Rip Torn, Eli Wallach, Forest Whitaker, and Ruth Wood (Clint's mother). This is a most insightful and interesting film about one of the greats of cinema, perfect for any fan of Eastwood or films in general, a most worthwhile documentary. Very good!

Entertaining and informative documentary on Clint Eastwood

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 18 November 2015]

I've realised over the last few years that I am something of a big fan of Clint Eastwood. Of course, I had seen several of his films over a long period and liked them enough but it wasn't until quite recently that I realised just how many very good films he was associated with and how few below par ones did he ever make. I think the problem might have been that Eastwood is such a genuinely iconic actor, chiefly on account of his appearances in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy and the Dirty Harry series and because of this it sometimes makes it a little hard to see the wood for the trees. The truth is that Eastwood has forged one of the very best careers in cinema and not only as a movie star but also, and probably most impressively, as an extremely good director too. Again, it's quite easy to forget that he has been directing prolifically since 1971 when he made his debut behind the camera with the excellent psycho thriller Play Misty for Me. This film looks at his life in cinema from his early appearances in 50's b-movies and support role in the TV series 'Rawhide', via his excursion to Italy in the 60's to make three classic spaghetti westerns with Leone and his subsequent return to Hollywood where he forged a notable career as actor/director is a series of mainly very interesting films.

The documentary only goes as far as 1999; of course Eastwood still had some serious movie highlights beyond this point so the story isn't definitive. Nevertheless, it covers a lot of ground pretty well, with a decent amount of time spent on his key works, as well as strong focus on less well-known but very personal works like Bird (1988). There is no real focus on his personal life; the coverage just looks at his career in film and TV. But this is okay, as Eastwood is a private man away from the screen and it also allows for more focus on his cinematic output which really is the real objective in the first place. The film is made up of on-set footage, film clips and interviews with actors who worked alongside him including rare footage from the likes of Leone. There are always going to be favourite films you would wish more focus was made of but I though the balance was pretty good on the whole and it all adds up to a pretty informative piece that does its subject proud.

doesn't get too personal, just the facts on his long career, great clips

[Quinoa1984 · 10/10 · 28 May 2006]

This isn't a biography of one of the big icons, never mind movie stars, of the past forty or so years, Clint Eastwood. But it is a perfect (if maybe just slightly short) take on his career as a whole, how he practically fell into acting, and how he has crafted the kind of niche most actors only wish they could attain. He is also shown as a consummate professional as a director, and a lover of jazz. It's really just what it appears to be, a retrospective, but it is one that goes to just that right adulatory rate. The many interviews talk of Clint's star presence, his ambiguity and quiet-side, and how he probably makes for the most lean-moviemaker ever (not in the physical sense necessarily, just in how his films go). I also really enjoyed seeing them go into depth on the films Bird and Unforgiven, as well as giving both sides to the Dirty Harry issue. And Eastwood himself speaks without any pretense, he just speaks his mind on the facts of his career and of the films, no BS (especially when talking of the good and bad of the Sergio Leone films, plus the influence of Don Siegel). Fans should seek it out if they can, either on DVD or on TV by chance. It only goes to, obviously, 2000, and two of his best films have been made since then (with more time to come for others perhaps).