Clint Eastwood - Böcker

As a star, Clint Eastwood is recalled primarily for two early roles--the ""Man With No Name"" of three European-made Westerns and ""Dirty"" Harry Callahan, the uncompromising cop who spoke softly and carried a big gun in five movies. But like few other stars, Eastwood has shaped his own career by appearing almost exclusively in films he produced or co-produced, frequently under his own direction. No other contemporary dramatic star has directed himself so often. His acclaim as a director began in the late '70s and reached a peak with the 1992 release of his Oscar-winning Unforgiven. Eastwood has steered a remarkable course as an independent filmmaker. He is a film industry insider who works through the established Hollywood system, yet he remains an outsider by steadfastly refusing to heed cultural and aesthetic trends in film production and film style. Films he has directed have examined artists' lives (Honkytonk Man, 1982; Bird, 1988; White Hunter, Black Heart, 1990) and called into question his own star image (The Gauntlet, 1977; Bronco Billy, 1980; Unforgiven, 1992) while remaining accessible to a popular audience. The interviews collected here range over the nearly three decades of Eastwood's directorial career. Their emphasis is on practical filmmaking issues and on his philosophy of filmmaking. Nearly half are from British and European sources. The latter, appearing in English for the first time, show how Europeans were praising him as a director while many American critics had not yet acknowledged him as an actor of merit. Robert E. Kapsis, author of Hitchcock: The Making of a Reputation, is a professor of sociology and film studies at Queens College, CUNY. Since 1995 he has been executive producer of American Film Masters. Kathie Coblentz is a special collections cataloger at The New York Public Library. She also works on the American Film Masters series.

Clint Eastwood (b. 1930) is the only popular American dramatic star to have shaped his own career almost entirely through films of his own producing, frequently under his own direction; no other dramatic star has directed himself so often. He is also one of the most prolific active directors, with thirty-three features to his credit since 1971.As a star, he is often recalled primarily for two early roles--the ""Man with No Name"" of three European-made Westerns, and the uncompromising cop ""Dirty"" Harry Callahan. But on his own as a director, Eastwood has steered a remarkable course. A film industry insider who works through the established Hollywood system and respects its traditions, he remains an outsider by steadfastly refusing to heed cultural and aesthetic trends in film production and film style. His films as director have examined an eclectic variety of themes, ranging from the artist's life to the nature of heroism, while frequently calling into question the ethos of masculinity and his own star image. Yet they have remained accessible to a popular audience worldwide. With two Best Director and two Best Picture Oscars to his credit, Eastwood now ranks among the most highly honored living filmmakers.These interviews range over the more than four decades of Eastwood's directorial career, with an emphasis on practical filmmaking issues and his philosophy as a filmmaker. Nearly a third are from European sources--several appearing here in English for the first time.