On the basis of deeply probing conversations with the actor-director,
conducted over a three-year period, and interviews with friends,
colleagues and family members, Schickel gives us the most candid and
close-up portrait of Eastwood we have ever had. We see the boy, Clint,
regularly changing homes and schools as his family struggles to overcome
the hardships of the Depression. We watch a restless West Coast
adolescent obsessed with cars and jazz turn into an angry young man
going through years of frustration and rejection as he tries to
establish himself as an actor. After Eastwood achieves star status in
the television series Rawhide, we witness him making the daring choices
that propel him first to international stardom - the decision to make a
spaghetti western (Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars) - and then to
superstardom as the controversial Dirty Harry. We trace, too, the
emergence of Eastwood the director, from modest beginnings (Play Misty
for Me) through increasingly complex and ambitious films such as The
Outlaw Josey Wales and Bronco Billy to the Oscar-winning success of
Unforgiven. And finally Eastwood becomes not only one of the most
admired figures in his profession, but an American icon. Here is the
essential Eastwood, caught in action as he directs and stars in some of
his most important movies, reflecting on what is unquestionably a
remarkable career. Here is Eastwood describing his feelings about his
own work, about his unwillingness to settle for the roles he knows he
can play and his desire to challenge himself; about films and
filmmakers, directors, actors and actresses; about his family; about
what he has accomplished and what he hopes to accomplish.
