The Gauntlet (1977) * * *

Directed by:  Clint Eastwood

Starring:  Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke, Pat Hingle, William Prince

Clint Eastwood's The Gauntlet is an action film full of bullets, chases, and even some depth.    Eastwood plays a cop who is assigned to escort a witness from Nevada to Phoenix to testify at a mob trial.    The mob wants her dead, as do other people whose motives are made clear later.    Unlike Eastwood's other cop roles, his Ben Shockley is a drunken underachiever who pulls it together to try and get the job done.    The witness is a hooker named Gus Malley (Locke), who we learn graduated college and possesses a fierce intelligence.    She is more than a match not only for Shockley, but any other male who dare underestimates her.    It is refreshing to see that in a female role which could have been typical, but is made special.

Shockley is under the gun right from the beginning.    Upon picking up Gus from jail, he learns Vegas has placed odds on her getting to Phoenix alive.    Determined, Shockley survives a hail of bullets, explosions, and traps.    He is slow to catch on that he is being set up.    Shockley and Gus survive the onslaught and manage to get to Phoenix in a bus which is shot at by most of the Phoenix police force.    It is not made clear why Shockley informs anyone what his route will be.    It is also not made clear why the police stop firing at him when he runs the bus up the city hall steps.    While we're at it:   Why did the police idly stand by as the ending played out like it did?

Up until the final 15 minutes, which despite being considerably tense is the tipping point where the film flies off the rails, The Gauntlet is a well-paced, well-constructed action film.     It also shows Eastwood playing a somewhat vulnerable character which is a derivative of his usual macho characters played until that point.     Eastwood doesn't even shoot the bad guy at the end, although he does punch a biker woman in the face.    She was attempting to kill him and rape Gus, so he isn't totally unjustified in punching her.     I enjoyed Locke as well, who takes what seems to be a simple character and adds complexity.   

The Gauntlet wouldn't break records for originality even back in 1977, but it is one more example of Eastwood's evolution as an actor and director.    If they just did something different with the finale, we would've had close to a classic here.