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Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan, Jack Ging ... see more see more... , Stefan Gierasch , Jane Aull , Walter Barnes , Paul Brinegar , Richard Bull , Reid Cruickshanks , Billy Curtis , Robert Donner , Ted Hartley , John Hillerman , Jack Kosslyn , Geoffrey Lewis , Russ McCubbin , Belle Mitchell , John Mitchum , Carl Pitti , John Quade , Dan Vadis , Scott Walker , Anthony James , Buddy Van Horn , Chuck Waters , Mitch Regan , L. William O'Connell , James Gosa

"Who are you?" the dwarf Mordecai (Billy Curtis) asks Clint Eastwood's Stranger at the end of Eastwood's 1973 western High Plains Drifter. "You know," he replies, before vanishing into the desert heat... read more read more... waves near California's Mono Lake. Adapting the amorally enigmatic and violent Man With No Name persona from his films with Sergio Leone, Eastwood's second film as director begins as his drifter emerges from that heat haze and rides into the odd lakefront settlement of Lago. Lago's residents are not particularly friendly, but once the Stranger shows his skills as a gunfighter, they beg him to defend them against a group of outlaws (led by Eastwood regular Geoffrey Lewis) who have a score to settle with the town. He agrees to train them in self-defense, but Mordecai and innkeeper's wife Sarah Belding (Verna Bloom) soon suspect that the Stranger has another, more personal agenda. By the time the Stranger makes the corrupt community paint their town red and re-name it "Hell," it is clear that he is not just another gunslinger. With its fragmented flashbacks and bizarre, austere locations, High Plains Drifter's stylistic eccentricity lends an air of unsettling eeriness to its revenge story, adding an uncanny slant to Eastwood's antiheroic westerner. Seminal western hero John Wayne was so offended by Eastwood's harshly revisionist view of a frontier town that he wrote to Eastwood, objecting that this was not what the spirit of the West was all about. Eastwood's audience, however, was not so put off, and an exhibitors' poll named Eastwood a top box-office draw for 1973. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

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83% liked it

33,672 ratings

Critics

96% liked it

23 critics

R, 1 hr. 45 min.

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Release Date: August 22, 1973

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DVD Release Date: February 24, 1998

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High Plains Drifter John Quade as Jake Ross High Plains Drifter
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Flixster Reviews (1,303)

  • SajinPA
    May 10, 2011
    SajinPA
    The Stranger fails to match up to The Man With No Name.
    But still it's a solid enough western flick. With a pinch of super-natural tone, High Plains Drifter is a gruesome blood-bathed ride, quite eery at times.
  • moonrivers
    March 15, 2011
    moonrivers
    There's not many western/ghost stories in the movies despite the rich american tradition of the same ... and this tale of ominous revenge (a precursor to "pale rider") never fails to chill, time after time.
  • fb100001493964409
    March 1, 2011
    fb100001493964409
    This isn't your standard western in the slightest, which is why it works so well. I can't say too much beyond that without spoiling one of the coolest western plots ever written. Highly re-watchable thanks to a very clever script (without saying too much, when the Stranger speaks... read more, take his words seriously). This is probably my favorite western film, so give it a shot.
  • axadntpron
    February 21, 2011
    axadntpron
    A stranger rides into town. With no name and seemingly no agenda but pure barbarism, he is given carte blanche to fight off a band of invaders who have their sights set on the town. He steals, rapes, and upsets the social hierarchy for his own pleasure. Yet, the town accepts this... read more type of upheaval for their safety from the foreign invaders. While I will not bore you with the obvious parallels that can be made between this film and modern America, I will implore you to watch this film. Eastwood's sophomore directorial effort is one of his finest. Armed with the knowledge he garnered on the sets of Leone's spaghetti westerns, he weaves together a western that touches on the high price of security, social responsibility, and dare I say reincarnation.
  • ythelastman89
    December 5, 2010
    ythelastman89
    Stylistically, this is Clint Eastwood's greatest directorial effort. It just spares no expense at looking and acting cool, much like it's protagonist. Anyone who's a fan of The Man With No Name will find themselves in familiar territory, but in no way does this have the same mess... read moreage as Sergio Leone's westerns. This is extremely dark and ultraviolent, being a morality tale above all. Some of the sequences in this are almost unbelievable, especially The Drifter's entrance into the town. This has an intensity than not many movies share. To say it's a classic is unfair because it tries so hard to be a different kind of western. However, I can say that it's my favorite Western that Clint Eastwood directed.
  • matertenebraum
    April 25, 2009
    matertenebraum
    A small frontier town is worried and scared for it's future. Three men who murdered the sheriff in front of the whole town have been released from jail and are heading back to take revenge on the town. When a stranger comes into town, he is offered anything he wants if he will he... read morelp defend them against the men. The stranger accepts but both he and the townsfolk have hidden agendas.

    High Plains Drifter stands out from Eastwood's many good westerns simply because it is a lack darker than many others I've seen and also possesses a weird supernatural quality to it. The plot is immediately dark, although it starts with Eastwood being who we expect him to be, an early rape sets him out with a more morally complex character than I had expected. This darker, cruel strand continues as it is clear that, although hired to protect them, the stranger also seems to be taking pleasure from harming the town itself.

    Those who have seen it will know the ending, although it is evident from the first flashback what the film's twist is. Knowing it doesn't make the film less enjoyable but it is probably better to figure it out yourself. The film also has a good streak of humour going through it and is enjoyable ? the twist of the stranger punishing the townsfolk easily filling the time.

    Eastwood is as good as always but the support cast is also full of well known faces. The direction is good and adds to the weird feel to it, the music makes it feel other worldly and the flashbacks to the whipping stop it all getting too light. By the time the town literally becomes hell, the film has always won me over.

    Overall this is maybe not the best western Eastwood has ever done but it is certainly one of the most different! The supernatural twist and the streak of cruelty running through the film make it very interesting to watch.
  • FilmFanatik
    August 21, 2008
    FilmFanatik
    Fantastic film from Eastwood. Brutal, honest and entertaining.
  • garyX
    April 10, 2008
    garyX
    Clint Eastwood stars in and directs this obvious homage to Sergio Leone as he resurrects the man with no name character, as an enigmatic gunslinger rides into the town of Lago and promptly kills the gunmen hired by the townsfolk to protect them against a trio of vengeful outlaws.... read more They offer him the run of the town to replace them, but it soon emerges that he has a hidden agenda of his own. Another fine western from Clint, and laced with a healthy dose of the supernatural, this film is unusual in it's complete absence of a "good guy". The morality is not even grey; virtually every character is a self centred immoral hypocrite! Clint himself hasn't the slightest interest in justice, just bloody retribution which he gets in a great climax which sees him shooting it out in the blood red painted, flaming wreckage of the town. Stylish, gritty and an obvious inspiration for fantasy revenge flicks such as The Crow and Eastwood's own Pale Rider.
  • sanjurosamurai
    November 18, 2007
    sanjurosamurai
    many consider this to be eastwoods fourth film as the infamous "man with no name". this is the first film that he did with this sort of character that was not directed by sergio leone, and there are enough differences between the man with no name from leones trilogy and eastwood... read mores character in this film to believe that the character is similar, but not the same. eastwood directed this film, and in it a few of the "man with no name's" trademarks are missing and the explination for this character is probably ore supernatural. pay attention to the final 2 minutes of the film, and you will see that eastwood is actually probably playing a ghost in this film. it was a decent film but there really was no character that you could root for. even as the hero, eastwood was more of an antihero with some terrible characterisitics, like a scene when he rapes a woman. this was a decent flick and worth a watch, but doesnt stand up to the man with no name trilogy that it is often compared to.
  • Deano78
    June 10, 2007
    Deano78
    A great western with a theme of revenge....as a mysterious man comes through town to help fight off the local gang making their lives hell. Has some quality scenes and good shoot-outs!

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Critic Reviews

Richard Schickel
October 26, 2008
Richard Schickel, TIME Magazine

As a director, Eastwood is not as good as he seems to think he is. As an actor, he is probably better than he allows himself to be. Full Review

Variety Staff
May 21, 2008
Variety Staff, Variety

Eastwood's second directorial effort is mechanically stylish. Full Review

Vincent Canby
May 10, 2005
Vincent Canby, New York Times

Part ghost story, part revenge Western, more than a little silly, and often quite entertaining in a way that may make you wonder if you have lost your good sense. Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
July 3, 2009
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

Clint Eastwood's first Western as director is rather fascinating due to its quasi-supernatural component. Full Review

October 26, 2008
TV Guide's Movie Guide

One of the best Westerns of the 1970s. Full Review

October 26, 2008
Film4

Whatever the reasoning, it is a gripping work, harsh and ahead of its time. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 13, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Eastwood registers strongly as actor and director of this revenge Western (yet another critique of High Noon), with a style that's influenced by his mentors, the economic efficiency of Don Siegel with... Full Review

Derek Adams
February 9, 2006
Derek Adams, Time Out

This was supposed to be Eastwood's fond adieu to the worlds of Sergio Leone and Don Siegel; and indeed he cuts the operatic excess of the former with the punchy economy of the latter. Full Review

Brad Laidman
December 6, 2005
Brad Laidman, Film Threat

Clint Eastwood is the ultimate thinking man's cinematic killing machine. Full Review

Cole Smithey
November 14, 2005
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Savory Eastwood western.

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High Plains Drifter Trivia

  • Clint Eastwood wrote John Wayne a personal letter asking if he wanted to star in a western together. John Wayne refused, saying that he would never star in a movie with Eastwood after seeing his latest western called what?  Answer »
  • ***Name The Movie The Following Casting Belongs*** ***Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Mitchell Ryan, Jack Ging, Stefan Gierasch***   Answer »
  • In the finale of the movie 'High Plains Drifter', there was a sign that said "...Welcome to ________________..."  Answer »
  • In the finale of the movie 'High Plains Drifter', what weapon other than a gun did Clint Eastwood utilize?  Answer »
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