Great Actor-Director Collaborations: Clint Eastwood and Don Siegel
While not in the same league as Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro or Elia Kazan and Marlon Brando, the collaboration between Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood produced several good movies, and one that became a cultural touchstone.
Over the course of two decades and five films, Siegel and Eastwood courted controversy with exceedingly violent films centered around go-it-alone antiheroes unwilling to follow society's rules. Most of their films were box office hits, while one became iconic while spawning four sequels. Here are four of the five movies made between director Don Siegel and actor Clint Eastwood.
With Eastwood on the rise following his appearance in Serio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, the actor was introduced to Don Siegel after signing on to appear in his second major American film. Eastwood was unfamiliar with Siegel's work, but the two became fast friends. A violent action thriller, Coogan's Bluff starred Eastwood as Walt Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff who goes to New York City in order to extradite a killer (Don Stroud). But the killer's girlfriend (Tisha Sterling) helps spring him from custody, leading to a chase across the city. Controversial at the time for its violence, Coogan's Bluff presaged their more iconic collaboration, Dirty Harry, just a few years later.
A comedic Western that played on Eastwood's antihero persona from his work with Leone, Two Mules for Sister Sara paired the actor with an unlikely costar in Shirley MacLaine. Reportedly both Eastwood and Siegel were intimidated by MacLaine, with Siegel even going as far as describing her as "unfeminine." On screen, MacLaine dominated the film and was a mismatch for Eastwood right from the start in playing a prostitute masquerading as a nun who's saved from being raped by a taciturn drifter named Hogan (Eastwood). Hogan brings her to a camp housing anti-French revolutionaries and is surprised to learn that she's not a sister of the cloth. Together they go off to fight the French on behalf of the Mexican revolutionary forces and win the day, before going off on new adventures. Two Mules for Sister Sara was a modest hit and the last time Eastwood received second billing.
The seminal film made between Siegel and Eastwood could very well have not involved either talent had the elements involved gone another way. In the development of the script, a number of actors were seriously approached or even attached to play Harry Callahan, a San Francisco detective who solves crimes with his .44 magnum. Everyone from Robert Mitchum and John Wayne to Paul Newman and Steve McQueen passed on playing the role, with some objecting over the right-wing worldview. Frank Sinatra was attached at one point, but eventually bailed. The project soon fell into Eastwood's lap and the actor brought Siegel along to direct, marking their fourth and most important collaboration. Loosely based on the Zodiac serial killings, Dirty Harry followed Callahan as he tracks down a psychotic serial killer calling himself Scorpio (Andrew Robinson). Callahan also battles the mayor (John Vernon) and his superior officer (Harry Guardino) over his violent tactics. In the end, Callahan gets his man despite a brief moment where it looks as though Scorpio will get off on a technicality, leading to the film's most famous scene.
The fifth and last movie in the Siegel-Eastwood collaboration, Escape from Alcatraz may well be their very best. The film starred Eastwood as real life criminal Frank Morris, a hardened convict sent to the inescapable island prison for his ability to break out of other institutions. While inside, Frank makes friends with two bank robber brothers (Jack Thibeau and Fred Ward) and sees firsthand the cruelties committed by the prison's warden (Patrick McGoohan). After discovering the concrete around his cell's air vent chipping away, Frank hatches a sophisticated plan to escape that ends, as it did in real life, under ambiguous circumstances. Prior to making the film, Siegel and Eastwood sparred about which of their production companies should make the film. Eastwood outmaneuvered Siegel by purchasing the rights to the script, though the two eventually settled on a joint production. Meanwhile, Siegel set the film up at a rival studio and deepened the rift between the two. Siegel left filmmaking altogether just three years later, while Eastwood established himself as an Oscar-winning director with 1992's Unforgiven, a film he dedicated in part to his mentor.
Over the course of two decades and five films, Siegel and Eastwood courted controversy with exceedingly violent films centered around go-it-alone antiheroes unwilling to follow society's rules. Most of their films were box office hits, while one became iconic while spawning four sequels. Here are four of the five movies made between director Don Siegel and actor Clint Eastwood.
1. 'Coogan's Bluff' – 1968
With Eastwood on the rise following his appearance in Serio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, the actor was introduced to Don Siegel after signing on to appear in his second major American film. Eastwood was unfamiliar with Siegel's work, but the two became fast friends. A violent action thriller, Coogan's Bluff starred Eastwood as Walt Coogan, an Arizona deputy sheriff who goes to New York City in order to extradite a killer (Don Stroud). But the killer's girlfriend (Tisha Sterling) helps spring him from custody, leading to a chase across the city. Controversial at the time for its violence, Coogan's Bluff presaged their more iconic collaboration, Dirty Harry, just a few years later.
2. 'Two Mules for Sister Sara' – 1970
A comedic Western that played on Eastwood's antihero persona from his work with Leone, Two Mules for Sister Sara paired the actor with an unlikely costar in Shirley MacLaine. Reportedly both Eastwood and Siegel were intimidated by MacLaine, with Siegel even going as far as describing her as "unfeminine." On screen, MacLaine dominated the film and was a mismatch for Eastwood right from the start in playing a prostitute masquerading as a nun who's saved from being raped by a taciturn drifter named Hogan (Eastwood). Hogan brings her to a camp housing anti-French revolutionaries and is surprised to learn that she's not a sister of the cloth. Together they go off to fight the French on behalf of the Mexican revolutionary forces and win the day, before going off on new adventures. Two Mules for Sister Sara was a modest hit and the last time Eastwood received second billing.
3. 'Dirty Harry' – 1971
The seminal film made between Siegel and Eastwood could very well have not involved either talent had the elements involved gone another way. In the development of the script, a number of actors were seriously approached or even attached to play Harry Callahan, a San Francisco detective who solves crimes with his .44 magnum. Everyone from Robert Mitchum and John Wayne to Paul Newman and Steve McQueen passed on playing the role, with some objecting over the right-wing worldview. Frank Sinatra was attached at one point, but eventually bailed. The project soon fell into Eastwood's lap and the actor brought Siegel along to direct, marking their fourth and most important collaboration. Loosely based on the Zodiac serial killings, Dirty Harry followed Callahan as he tracks down a psychotic serial killer calling himself Scorpio (Andrew Robinson). Callahan also battles the mayor (John Vernon) and his superior officer (Harry Guardino) over his violent tactics. In the end, Callahan gets his man despite a brief moment where it looks as though Scorpio will get off on a technicality, leading to the film's most famous scene.
4. 'Escape from Alcatraz' – 1979
The fifth and last movie in the Siegel-Eastwood collaboration, Escape from Alcatraz may well be their very best. The film starred Eastwood as real life criminal Frank Morris, a hardened convict sent to the inescapable island prison for his ability to break out of other institutions. While inside, Frank makes friends with two bank robber brothers (Jack Thibeau and Fred Ward) and sees firsthand the cruelties committed by the prison's warden (Patrick McGoohan). After discovering the concrete around his cell's air vent chipping away, Frank hatches a sophisticated plan to escape that ends, as it did in real life, under ambiguous circumstances. Prior to making the film, Siegel and Eastwood sparred about which of their production companies should make the film. Eastwood outmaneuvered Siegel by purchasing the rights to the script, though the two eventually settled on a joint production. Meanwhile, Siegel set the film up at a rival studio and deepened the rift between the two. Siegel left filmmaking altogether just three years later, while Eastwood established himself as an Oscar-winning director with 1992's Unforgiven, a film he dedicated in part to his mentor.