Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso

It almost goes without saying that Clint Eastwood is a bit of a cinematic legend. He's pretty unique in that he is as famous for being a great director as he is a charismatic movie star. His roster of films is a pretty impressive one, with not very many mis-steps along the way. This made-for-TV documentary doesn't necessarily tell us much that other similar biopics have already but it still offers the occasional interesting titbit and it does feature some focus on some lesser known films such as White Hunter Black Heart (1990). It's made up of interviews with Clint himself as well as the views of many who have worked with him.

It features the period from the series Rawhide up until his Oscar winner Unforgiven (1992). Not all his films in between are covered and there is only praise to be found here with nothing critical being offered by way of contrast. This is standard practice for this kind of thing of course but it does make the film definitely less balanced and not as interesting as it could be. Still, Eastwood's career is such that there still remains much to appreciate here and so for any fan of the man's work I would say this makes for a good watch but it probably would work best for someone less familiar with his filmography.

Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso (1994)

This episode of the Biography show takes a look at the career of Clint Eastwood, which has had many high peaks. We start off taking a look at his early days in Hollywood and how he shot off to Italy, which would end up making him a star. From here we cover several of his films including PLAY MISTY FOR ME, DIRTY HARRY, HEARTBREAK RIDGE, WHITE HUNTER BLACK HEART, HONKEYTONK MAN, PALE RIDER and UNFORGIVEN.

Throughout the documentary we get comments from Eastwood who talks about working as an actor as well as a director. Also interviewed are Ted Post, Jessica Walker, Gene Hackman, Forest Whitaker and Frances Fisher among many others. If you're a fan of Eastwood then I doubt you're going to learn anything new here. At the same time if you're unfamliar with his work then you'll get a good understanding of what he's like as well as get several good recommendations. The interviews are certainly a major plus as well.

What's really amazing about Eastwood is that this documentary ends with UNFORGIVEN and it's crazy to think what he has done since then.

Episode: A-