Clint Eastwood names the greatest actor of Hollywood’s Golden Age: “Better than any of his contemporaries”
Clint Eastwood names the greatest actor of Hollywood’s Golden Age: “Better than any of his contemporaries”
Thu 27 March 2025 16:15, UK
Clint Eastwood started working just after the decline of Old Hollywood and the rise of New Hollywood. As directors like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, and William Friedkin replaced Billy Wilder, John Ford, and Stanley Donen, Eastwood replaced rugged leading men like John Wayne and Gary Cooper. As the Man with No Name in Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy, he had the look of a classic western star, but his cold stare and moral ambiguity made him a far cry from anyone Wayne or Cooper ever played.
Still, like many stars of his generation, Eastwood had a healthy amount of respect for the actors who came before him. He might have been making movies that horrified and outraged their Old Hollywood sensibilities, but that didn’t mean he looked down on their work. On the contrary, he was a fan. He even adored Cary Grant’s performances in romantic comedies.
If you were to guess which Golden Age actor was Eastwood’s favourite, however, you’d probably pick someone who was similar to him. Paul Newman was more of a contemporary than a predecessor, but he reached stardom when Old Hollywood was still hanging on. Robert Mitchum had great range as an actor and was able to play heroes, anti-heroes, and villains all the way into the 1990s. But neither of these actors made the cut.
In an interview with the American Film Institute in 2011, the Dirty Harry star sang the praises of James Stewart. Most people think of Stewart as the epitome of a decent American male. He practically cornered the market on gentle, honourable characters with movies like Mr Smith Goes to Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Harvey. However, Eastwood had a completely different take on his strengths as a star.
Stewart had, he asserted, “This great touch with his own anger when he did an anger scene… You felt that he could be capable of a tremendous meanness if necessary.” This is not the usual image people have of the actor. He was tall, affable, and emanated integrity. However, on the occasions when he did show darkness, he was able to go deep.
According to Eastwood, that capacity for anger was one of the reasons Stewart was so successful later in life when he began acting in Anthony Mann’s westerns. 1950’s Winchester ’73 helped redefine him as a star and was followed up by Bend of the River, The Naked Spur, and The Far Country.
“He was always the reticent protagonist who’d come along, and he’d all of a sudden… when crossed and when wronged, he would step forth and really let loose,” Eastwood said, adding, “I think he did that almost better than any of his contemporaries of that day – Wayne and Cooper and some of the others.”
Eastwood said he was even better at this than famous tough guys like Humphrey Bogart and James Cagney. Where Cagney especially had an air of volatility surrounding him in every scene, Stewart seemed serene and collected until the moment he exploded, a different kind of unpredictability that, in Eastwood’s estimation, made him the very best.
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