By Jason Apuzzo. We hope everyone is enjoying this Memorial Day Weekend, and that we’re all remembering the reason for this extended summer holiday: the bravery and sacrifice of the countless men and women who have fought and died for America’s freedom.
It’s a pleasant coincidence that this Memorial Day, May 31st 2010, also happens to be the 80th birthday of Clint Eastwood – a coincidence that puts a cheerful cast over what should otherwise be a sober day.
As the most popular and enduring movie star since John Wayne, Clint needs little introduction – particularly to longtime Libertas readers. If for some reason, however, you happen to not be familiar with Clint’s incredible body of work, Turner Classic Movies has been showing his films all day long during its 24 hour tribute. They’ve certainly chosen well, as Clint’s extraordinary ‘Man With No Name’ trilogy of films (A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly) directed by Sergio Leone is on the list, as well as Where Eagles Dare (a personal favorite of mine), Kelly’s Heroes, and the first two ‘Dirty Harry’ films (Dirty Harry, Magnum Force). If you miss any of the screenings, you can pick up copies of all these films in our store below.
I will confess to having mixed feelings about the type of films Clint has been making over the past 15 or so years – essentially since he left the Western genre after the masterful Unforgiven. This isn’t the day for such quibbling, though. Clint’s had an extraordinary and iconic career, and with a handful of exceptions like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman, no male star of his generation has approached his popularity. Our congratulations to Clint on this milestone birthday.
When I was a young kid first exploring movie history on home video, the stars who made a big impression on me were Eastwood, Humphrey Bogart, and Errol Flynn. Is it a coincidence that they were all Warner Brothers men? Perhaps not. Richard Schickel explores Eastwood’s career at Warner Brothers (Eastwood’s home from the 1970’s forward) in his new documentary, The Eastwood Factor, which is also showing on Turner Classic Movies during the 24 hour tribute – and the documentary is also available in the LFM Store above.
It was a pleasure having Richard Schickel at the Liberty Film Festival a few years ago – and we congratulate him on this latest collaboration with Clint. Richard also wrote what is the essential biography of Clint, Clint Eastwood: A Biography – which is also available in the LFM Store above, along with Richard’s new book, Clint Eastwood: A Retrospective.
Happy 80th, Clint.