Clint Eastwood Says These Are the Only 10 Westerns Worth Watching

Clint Eastwood is not only an actor who has played iconic characters in Westerns, but he is also one of the most prolific directors in Hollywood – he has more than four dozen directorial works under his belt.

As a person who grew up watching Westerns made by great directors, these works could not help but influence Eastwood's own work.

1. Red River, 1948

There are many classic Westerns, but this black-and-white masterpiece by Howard Hawks undoubtedly ranks among the genre's finest. The impoverished Tom and the orphaned Matt unite their herds of cattle. While moving the cattle to Missouri, the relentless Tom becomes increasingly tyrannical and tries to convince Matt to take the herds a different route.

Eastwood cites Howard Hawks as one of the three directors who most influenced his creative style, and his favorite of Hawks' films is Red River, an absolute classic of the genre.

2. High Noon, 1952

When Marshal Will learns that brutal killer Frank, obsessed with revenge for his prison sentence, will arrive in town, he plans to wait for the criminal and his gang to clash with the bandits to the death.

Gary Cooper, who starred in High Noon, is one of Eastwood's favorite actors, and Clint's High Plains Drifter is an obvious homage to Fred Zinnemann's film. Eastwood admitted that he wanted to explore the idea of High Noon more deeply, and in High Plains Drifter he imagined what would happen if the sheriff was killed and returned for revenge.

3. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, 1948

At the end of the 40s, John Huston received two Oscars at once – in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories for the movie The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. At the time, Huston's victory seemed inadequate to many because the film's star, Humphrey Bogart, did not receive the award he deserved. And yet, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre left its mark on modern cinema.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is one of Eastwood's most beloved films, as he has repeatedly admitted, and the influence of this work with its controversial characters is clearly visible in the director's work. Clint had nothing but praise for Bogart as Fred Dobbs, who was not a conventional protagonist or romantic hero.

4. My Darling Clementine, 1946

In My Darling Clementine, Henry Fonda’s character takes revenge for the death of his brother. In John Ford's films, the main features of the classic Western are clearly visible: simple morality, a clear division of characters into good and bad, and a kind of code of chivalry instead of laws.

Eastwood is often compared to John Ford, and the former takes it as a compliment, as he apparently has no greater respect for any other director. And although Ford's favorite Eastwood film is How Green Was My Valley, which demonstrates the director's talent beyond the Western genre, Eastwood's Cry Macho is clearly influenced by My Darling Clementine.

5. The Ox-Bow Incident, 1943

Two drifters, Gil Carter and Art Croft, enter the small town of Ox-Bow and become participants in the events unfolding in this seemingly quiet place. One of the local farmers has been killed, his herd stolen, and the townspeople are out for revenge. The criminals are quickly found, and the crowd decides to bypass the sheriff and stage a lynching.

Eastwood has named The Ox-Bow Incident one of his three favorite films of all time, citing it as a prime example of a film that receives harsh criticism upon release, but deservedly becomes a cult classic over time.

6. Run for Cover, 1955

Fifty-year-old Matt Dow and twenty-year-old Davey Bishop barely have time to get to know each other before the townspeople of Madison, victims of a recent train robbery, mistake them for bandits. The sheriff and his posse shoot Matt and Davey to prevent them from surrendering.

Eastwood's undisputed favorite actor is James Cagney, who played Matt Dow and perhaps showed off his acting talents more than anywhere else in Run for Cover.

7. McCabe & Mrs. Miller, 1971

McCabe is a vain man, so at every opportunity he pretends to be a cool and ruthless marksman, capable of killing a fly with a bullet. But in reality, he is just a petty swindler and gambler who is always looking for money. One day he comes up with the idea of opening a brothel in town.

McCabe & Mrs. Miller was a clear inspiration for Eastwood when he made his undoubtedly best Western, Unforgiven, buying the rights to the script long before filming began and waiting another 10 years to be mature enough to play Munny.

8. The Great Silence, 1968

One of the best Italian spaghetti westerns by Sergio Corbucci, considered by film critics to be a masterpiece of the genre, along with the westerns of Sergio Leone. The main characters are two bounty hunters. The first is nicknamed Silence, and the second, Loco, is ruthless and overly cruel. Loco hunts criminals who hide in mountains waiting for amnesty. The wife of one of the people killed by Loco turns to Silent and begs him to take revenge.

According to Eastwood, in the 60s, with Ford and other prominent directors no longer making films, American westerns were completely eclipsed by Italian ones, represented in particular by Corbucci. Eastwood even wanted to make a remake of The Great Silence, but it never happened.

9. Once Upon a Time in the West, 1968

Of the five brilliant Westerns directed by Sergio Leone, it is difficult to choose one as the best. But Once Upon a Time in the West is just a little ahead of the director's other works – this is a majestic and leisurely movie.

Eastwood has repeatedly expressed his gratitude to Leone, with whom he made the Dollars Trilogy. In particular, Eastwood respected the director for teaching him not to look back at the studio and to make movies in his own way and to promote his own vision.

10. Unforgiven, 1992

In the small town of Big Whiskey, two cowboys slashed a prostitute's face with a knife. Sheriff Bill forces them to pay a fine to the brothel owner. Outraged by the light punishment, the girls announce a reward for the killing of the cowboys. William Munny, a former bounty hunter who once turned from the criminal path and became a simple farmer, takes on the job.

This list would be incomplete without Eastwood's own film, especially since the director himself recognizes its importance to the genre. Unforgiven is one of Clint Eastwood's most critically acclaimed projects and is often considered one of the greatest Westerns of all time. In this dark tale of brutality and redemption, Eastwood makes a dramatic farewell to the genre that made him a movie star.