High Plains Drifter (1973) * * *

Directed by:  Clint Eastwood

Starring:  Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Geoffrey Lewis

A no-name drifter passes through a small Old West mining town.    Seemingly not looking for trouble, he is accosted by three men and shoots them all dead.    Townsfolk (there's a word seldom used anymore) think he will be able to help them fight off attacks by the Stacey Bridges gang, which creates havoc every time it shows up in town.     The no-name drifter agrees to help with the stipulation that he gets whatever he wants and calls the shots without any objection from anyone.    The town sheriff agrees and is quickly stripped of his badge by the drifter.     He, in fact, becomes the dictator of the town, but all the better if he is able to kill off the violent gang.

What you're likely to expect from High Plains Drifter is that the drifter (played by Eastwood) will protect the innocent townspeople from the evil gang and will be celebrated as a hero by its grateful citizens.     What you wouldn't expect is that this is all part of the drifter's plan for vengeance against the gang and the town.     The drifter is actually the town's former marshal Jim Duncan,  who was whipped to death (or so everyone thought) by the Bridges gang while most of the town's citizens looked on.     It is later revealed Duncan was going to close the mine (due to shady business dealings)which accounts for much of the town revenue and the gang was hired to kill him.     No one recognizes Duncan outright, although some nurture well-hidden suspicions about his identity.    After all, everyone swore that Duncan was dead and buried in an unmarked grave.

Eastwood plays Duncan with ruthless, cruel efficiency.    His answers to town member's questions about him are terse and curtly stated.     He has no wish to reveal himself or his motives, even when the leader of the gang (Lewis) screams, "Who are you?" after being shot by him.    A lesser Western would've had Duncan explain himself in a grandiose speech.    High Plains Drifter has its hero explain himself with action.     The film was written by Ernest Tidyman, who won the 1971 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for The French Connection, which also had its characters defined by actions instead of words.  

High Plains Drifter is one of the early Clint Eastwood directorial efforts.    It is the genesis for his reputation for efficiency and lean filmmaking.    Eastwood the director, much like Eastwood the actor, does little for show and much more for effect.     He would go on to win two Best Director Oscars for Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, two films with plenty to say and presented intelligently and with all of the fat trimmed.