Clint Eastwood Got His Film Start In Horror Movies Before Becoming A Hit In Westerns

Summary

• Despite his famed Western roles, Clint Eastwood started his film career in a horror movie that almost didn't make the final cut.
• Eastwood's big break into the Western genre was with "Rawhide," leading to his iconic role in "A Fistful of Dollars," kickstarting his legendary career.
• Eastwood's favorite films lie within the classic Western genre, attributing his success to the Golden Age of movies that shaped the actor we know today.

When it comes to Western movies, there is a very short list of actors who have done the genre justice. John Wayne and Gene Autry were the kings of the silver screen decades ago. In years since, Kevin Costner and Sam Elliott have made memorable Westerns. Costner has even surpassed legends to become the modern king of Westerns. However, there is one whose name is synonymous with films that take place in the Old West both years ago and today, and that is Clint Eastwood.

Eastwood has had quite an accomplished careerm which Eastwood refuses to give up, even in his 90s. As a result of his success as an actor, director, and producer, Eastwood has taken home five Academy Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, and five People's Choice Awards. Eastwood even received awards for films that would not fly in today's climate. However, fans are not nearly as aware of the hardware that Eastwood has accumulated over the years as they are of his iconic roles that have brought in hundreds of millions at the box office.

One role of Eastwood's that fans may have a hard time naming is the one that got Eastwood's feet in the door in Hollywood. This is because, despite Clint Eastwood finding fame in Westerns, his first film was a horror flick that couldn't compare to his films about the Old West or any of Eastwood's favorites, but it was enough to launch Eastwood's career to become what it has today. Here's what we know about Clint Eastwood's first horror film, how he broke into Westerns, and which films Eastwood says are his favorite.

Clint Eastwood's First Film Was 'Revenge Of The Creature'

Clint Eastwood was not credited in his first film

The first film that Eastwood was in was a horror film, Revenge of the Creature. The film was part of a trilogy that included Creature From the Black Lagoon and The Creature Walks Among Us.

As a result of the stunts, the fact the film was shown in 3D in theaters, and had a storyline that was sympathetic to the Creature, Revenge of the Creature would go on to become the most successful of the three films.

Despite Eastwood being in the film, he was not cast in a lead role. The role that Eastwood played was barely a supporting role. This is because, in the role of lab technician, Eastwood was not even credited in Revenge of the Creature.

In fact, Eastwood's scene was supposed to be cut from Revenge of the Creature because director, Jack Arnold did not like the scene, something that he made clear on the set.

"I told you I don’t want to do that goddamn scene," Arnold told the producer.

As a result, Eastwood was aware that his presence on the set was an unwelcome one.

"It was a hell of a way to start your acting career: walk on a set and you know that the director hates the scene," Eastwood explained. "Therefore you know he hates you."

Given his quick scene and the fact that Eastwood is uncredited in not only Revenge but in several other films early in his career, it is no wonder that so many fans associate Eastwood with his Westerns over anything else, a genre that was successful for Eastwood both decades ago and today as well.

Clint Eastwood Rose To Fame With His Foray Into Spaghetti Westerns

Clint Eastwood's big break in the Western genre was with 'Rawhide'

From the time of Eastwood's screen debut to his first foray into spaghetti Westerns was about one year. However, unlike Revenge, Eastwood received credit for his Western debut as John Lucas in Death Valley Days. That step propelled Eastwood into his biggest role yet: that of Rowdy Yates in Rawhide.

Eastwood would star in Rawhide from 1959 to 1965. It was during this time that audiences saw the talent that Eastwood had and that he could command presence on the small screen. Wanting to capitalize on his popularity in the Western genre, studio executives were interested in signing Eastwood for the lead in A Fistful of Dollars.

This was because not only could they get Eastwood for a steal over other actors considered for the role, but because he had been a proven entity in Westerns. However, Eastwood was not overly enthusiastic about taking on the role originally and nearly turned the film down.

"I was doing Rawhide, and I was coming to a hiatus," Eastwood explained. "I took three months off, usually around February, March, and April every year, and my agent in Los Angeles called me up and asked me if I’d like to go to Europe and make an Italian, German, Spanish co-production of a remake of a Japanese film [Yojimbo] in the plains of Spain."

In true Eastwood style, the actor replied with a slight smile, "I said, 'Not particularly.'"

But after reading the script that Eastwood called, "an Italian concert of what a western slang would be," he agreed to be the lead in the film.

As a result of A Fistful of Dollars becoming a box office success in Europe first and then in the US, Eastwood would come back to star in the two other films that made up the trilogy, For a Few More Dollars and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, solidifying Eastwood as a prominent figure in the genre and, some would argue, as the actor who saved the genre.

All in all, Eastwood has 15 acting credits to his name in the Western genre. Some of Eastwood's most successful films in the genre include:

The number of credits and success that Eastwood achieved in the genre is something that a young Eastwood likely never imagined would happen watching some of his favorite films growing up. Those films which happened to be Westerns.

Clint Eastwood's Favorite Films Are Westerns From "The Golden Age Of Movies"

Clint Eastwood's favorite films include 'How Green Was My Valley', 'The Ox-Bow Incident', and 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

Growing up, Eastwood was an avid movie watcher. He would go to the movies to watch his favorite actors take to the big screen and entertain audiences with the stories being told. Some of those stories that influenced Eastwood's career direction, are, not surprisingly, from the Western genre and remain some of Eastwood's favorite films today as well.

"I was raised, of course, in what they call the Golden Age of movies, and a lot of the early films," Eastwood said, "John Ford’s How Green Was My Valley, William A. Wellman’s The Ox-Bow Incident, and John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre – all of those would fit in there."

Those films are in a category of their own within the classic Western genre. This is because they are films that actors and directors, including Eastwood, study to make and star in Westerns of their own.

Much of Eastwood's work now falls into the category, given the success and cinematic beauty of the Westerns Eastwood starred in at the beginning of his career and returned to with the 2021 hit, Cry Macho. Something that Eastwood would never admit to but is true, nonetheless.