Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Legend of the Western genre Clint Eastwood has played several deadly gunslingers across his acclaimed career. From Spaghetti Westerns to Hollywood blockbusters, Eastwood perfected the archetype of the witty, fast-shooting, lone anti-hero who was consistently embroiled in shootouts, standoffs, and vicious bar fights.
Thomas P. Cullinan’s A Painted Devil received a second theatrical adaptation in 2017 following the release of Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled starring Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning. 7 Joe Kidd Joe Kidd Close The intensity of deadly gunslingers portrayed by Clint Eastwood really kicked into gear with his role as the titular outlaw in Joe Kidd. A troublesome former bounty hunter with a reputation that preceded him, Joe Kidd was drawn back into his violent ways after being hired by the wealthy landlord Frank Harlan to track down a Mexican leader named Luis Chama.
5 Jed Cooper Hang ‘Em High Close As Clint Eastwood’s forgotten first lead Hollywood role, Jed Cooper in Hang ‘Em High was a dark character with an even more harrowing backstory. As an innocent man unjustly hung to the point of near death, Cooper miraculously survived and returned as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes who tried to lynch him to justice.
The gunslinger gradually grew from a vengeful man, seeking justice for the murder of his family, into a reluctant hero of real complexity.