Clint Eastwoodfirst gained stardom with the role of Rowdy Yates, a former Confederate States Army corporal and veteran of the American Civil War, on the Western television seriesRawhide, which aired on CBS between 1959 and 1965, over eight seasons. Eastwood’s contract forRawhiderestricted Eastwood, who stayed with the show throughout its run, from appearing in feature films that were produced in the United States. However, Eastwood’s contract did permit Eastwood to accept film roles in Europe, where he gained film stardom as the Man with no Name in Sergio Leone’sDollars Trilogyfilm series, beginning withA Fistful of Dollars, which was released overseas in 1964 but went unreleased in North America until 1967.
While major Hollywood stardom came to Eastwood through the contemporary action genre, beginning with Eastwood’s iconic titular performance in the 1971 action-thriller filmDirty Harry, Eastwood remained attached to theWesterngenre with the filmsThe Beguiled,High Plains Drifter,Joe Kidd, andThe Outlaw Josey Wales, which were released between 1971 and 1976. However, following the release of the 1976 revisionist WesternThe Outlaw Josey Wales, Eastwood didn’t direct or star in another traditional Western film for nearly a decade, until the 1985 Western filmPale Rider, which also marked Eastwood’s first foray, as director and star, into the supernatural.
Indeed, while several of Eastwood’s previous Western films, most notablyHigh Plains Drifter, explore allegorical and mystical themes, Eastwood’s titular character inPale Riderappears as a manifestation of Death.
Clint Eastwood Is an Avenging Spirit
Like the 1973 Western filmHigh Plains Drifter, in which Clint Eastwood’s titular character emerges seemingly out of thin air, Eastwood’s character inPale Riderhas a murky history, in which the character, who is referred to as Preacher after being spotted wearing a clerical collar, was seemingly killed, as evidenced by the six bullet wounds in his back. Eastwood’s otherworldly presence inPale Rideris contained within an otherwise extremely familiar plot structure.
Pale Rideris set in and around anOld West Californian mining town, where independent miners have staked a claim to a promising gold deposit while being continually intimidated by a ruthless mining baron, LaHood, who is determined to drive the miners away from the fertile territory, even if it means killing them. After an attack by a gang of LaHood’s men results in the murder of a teenage girl’s beloved dog, the girl, Megan, prays for salvation. Almost immediately afterward, a man, Preacher, rides into the town, Carbon Canyon, on a pale horse and proceeds to help the miners defend their land against LaHood through a series of violent confrontations.
The basic plot ofPale Rideris very similar to that ofHigh Plains Drifterand the 1953 Western filmShane. But the most interesting aspect ofPale Rideris how Eastwood, as director and star, develops Preacher as an avenging spirit who has returned from the dead not only to answer a prayer but also to exact revenge against his murderer.Pale Riderexplores the possibility that Preacher is a ghost. Indeed, while Preacher enters Carbon Canyon as a complete stranger to the miners, Preacher is eventually recognized by LaHood’s top deputy, a corrupt marshal named Stockburn, who recalls having killed a man of Preacher’s description several years earlier.
Pale Rider Was One of the Highest-Grossing 1980s Western Films
Pale Riderwasthe first Western film to be released by a major studio since the disastrous 1980 epic Western,Heaven’s Gate. Moreover, given Eastwood’s strong identification with the genre and the publicity that accompanied his return to the genre after nearly a decade,Pale Riderwas, at the time of its release, heralded as the film that could revitalize interest in the Western genre. It was released approximately two weekends before Lawrence Kasdan’s Western action filmSilverado, which grossed $32 million at the domestic box office amid generally positive reviews.
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Pale Riderfinished first at the domestic box office in its opening weekend of release with a gross of approximately $9.1 million and finished with a domestic total gross of approximately $41.4 million. Moreover,Pale Riderwas, at the time of its release, praised for transcending Eastwood’s Western persona by attaching biblical and supernatural subtext to the film’s core themes of forgiveness and redemption. This unconventional approach has enabledPale Rider, over the ensuing decades, to gain a reputation among audiences and critics for being one of Eastwood’s most mysterious and stylish films.
Pale Rider Is Classic Eastwood With a Twist
Pale Riderrepresents a definitive example of theessential Clint Eastwoodscreen persona, in which Eastwood’s mere presence makes Eastwood’s man-of-few-words Preacher character seem more fascinating and mysterious than any amount of dialogue could have.Pale Ridershowcases, as much as any other Eastwood film, Eastwood as a star who has long possessed the uncanny ability to dominate a film even when he’s invisible or silent.
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Indeed, while Eastwood’s presence dominatesPale Rider, Eastwood, as Preacher, is rarely completely visible throughout the film. Eastwood, as actor and director, makes it seem as if Preacher is present even when he’s gone, through lighting and shadow and the psychic specter of fear. We see his face, his mouth, his shadow. This reflects the subtlety of Eastwood’s direction, in which Eastwood portrays Preacher as being an otherworldly vessel upon which the film’s characters project their emotions.
However, besides the fact thatPale Ridermarks Eastwood’s only foray, as director and star, into the supernatural,Pale Rideris also worth seeing in the context of being an exciting, stylish Western film, which serves as an interesting precursor to Eastwood’s similarly-themed Academy Award-winning1992 Western film Unforgiven. WhilePale Riderdidn’t win any Academy Awards,Pale Rideris an interesting companion piece toUnforgivenand represents a singular achievement in Eastwood’s career.RentPale Rideron Apple TV
If you’re interested in seeing what else the Western genre has to offer, check out our collection of Western movies with an elusive 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes in the video below:
