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He’s enjoyed a multifaceted and fruitful journey in the world of acting and directing since the 60s, even taking on the role of director shortly after gaining prominence.

52 years after my directorial debut with “Play Misty for Me” in 1971, I starred in and directed my first Western, “High Plains Drifter,” which premiered in 1973. In this film, I played the enigmatic character The Stranger. Interestingly, this movie also sparked criticism from John Wayne, further widening our ideological divide, as the legendary Western actor disapproved of my interpretation of the American West. Recently, “High Plains Drifter” has found renewed success, climbing to the top of Netflix’s global charts between May 12 and 18, according to reports.

The Western movie isn’t streamable on Netflix U.S., but it has been successfully launched on streaming services worldwide, garnering significant popularity. It amassed approximately 2.3 million views globally and was watched for a total of 4.1 million hours, making it a top 10 contender in 17 different countries.

The movie titled “High Plains Drifter” features a mysterious stranger who is both a drifter and a gunfighter, dispensing justice in a corrupt town. Clint Eastwood directed the film from a script by Ernest Tidyman and featured performances by Verna Bloom, Mariana Hill, Mitchell Ryan, Jack Ging, and Stefan Gierasch.

For more than seven decades, I’ve been fortunate to be part of this incredible industry, both in front of and behind the camera. My journey began with my directorial debut in 1971, where I not only took on the director’s role but also starred as the leading man. Interestingly, that Western was the first genre I directed, and it became a defining characteristic of my career as I often found myself playing the principal character in the films I directed.

High Plains Drifter remains a significant and iconic movie within its genre, consistently earning high praise. At present, it boasts an impressive 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, a testament to the film’s quality. The audience reaction has been equally enthusiastic, awarding the Western an 86% approval score on the Popcornmeter. Commercially, the movie was successful too, raking in $15.7 million at the domestic box office against a production budget of $5.5 million (as reported by ).

Why Did John Wayne Criticize High Plains Drifter?

Some well-known figures hail from the Western genre, leaving significant imprints in various ways. Nevertheless, these two acting titans had strained relationships and never appeared together on the silver screen. Tensions escalated when Clint Eastwood unveiled High Plains Drifter, as John Wayne felt that Eastwood tarnished the genre by portraying morally ambiguous characters rather than delineating them in traditional black-and-white terms, where good and evil were clearly defined.

Because the Duke, or the man famously known by that title, was traditionalist at heart, he found Eastwood’s character to be quite different from the usual charming and good characters associated with Western genre. This character, dark and villainous, didn’t align with his expectations. Consequently, Wayne felt strongly that this character didn’t fit within the genre, and penned a heated letter to Eastwood expressing his disapproval, emphasizing that “[High Plains Drifter] was not representative of the spirit of the West pioneers” as it primarily focused on other aspects rather than those who settled the Wild West. The letter was written in response to Eastwood’s invitation for collaboration on a project.

High Plains Drifter is available to own digitally or physically.

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2025-05-21 17:58

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