Director Clint Eastwood spoke about a 1943 western that he believes is the best of the genre. Today, many genre fans would see his film “Unforgiven” in this spot.
The almost 94-year-old director Clint Eastwood is known for many really good films. And even if you hardly know the Western film genre, you immediately have some of his works in mind when you think of Eastwood.
In 1992 he made a western film called “Unforgiven” in which he not only delivered an outstanding acting performance, but which is still considered by many viewers to be the best film of the genre. However, he himself raves about a western from his childhood and describes it as the best western film.
Clint Eastwood created a great Western with “Unforgiven”
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What movie is he talking about? “Ride to Ox-Bow” is a western from 1943 that Clint Eastwood himself saw in his childhood. A film with Henry Fonda that not many people know and that was written off by the then 20th Century Fox boss Darryl F. Zanuck.
In the film, an angry group sets out to hunt down a murder in a small Nevada town. At first they believe two hikers are the culprits, but after these misunderstandings are cleared up, the hikers join the group to search for the real killers.
By the way, the black and white film is not currently offered by any streaming service. However, you can watch the original version for free on YouTube.
What does Eastwood say about the film? In 2003, on the 60th anniversary of its release, Eastwood gave a short eulogy for Ride to Ox-Bow. Eastwood himself saw the film as a child and although there were other westerns that impressed him, none did as much as this film.
“It was the first Western film that surprised me,” Eastwood said in his speech, before going on to talk about how people expected a certain level of action and entertainment when watching a Western. Ride to Ox-Bow was special in the way it was made, he said. It was “not the usual fights you see in Westerns,” Eastwood explained.
I thought there was going to be another gunfight. I had the image of Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews in cowboy hats in my mind and I wanted to go in that direction. It was from the early ’40s and I thought it was going to be great. I watched it and it’s a pretty depressing story that had a big impact on me. It reflected certain moral values about the violence of lynchings and had a bit of everything from racism to pseudo-macho to the father-son relationship. There were so many well thought out things that I really appreciated it even as a kid. It stuck in my mind and I’ve rewatched it two or three times over the years.
Clint Eastwood via YouTube
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