Clint Eastwood – Information

Cast: Clint Eastwood, George Kennedy, Vonetta McGee and Jack Cassidy

Director: Clint Eastwood

Writer: Rod Whitaker (novel) Hal Dresner (screenplay)

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A long retired government assassin Dr. Jonathan Hemlock is called upon to return to work for two more sanctions. He has amassed a small but impressive art collection. The collection is primarily made up of stolen pieces smuggled into the U.S. from Europe.

A friend of Dr. Hemlock another government agent is killed and Hemlock´s previous boss called the Dragon wants him to sanction two men responsible for the death of Hemlock´s friend. Hemlock is not ready to take the job, but Dragon will not be denied easily.

Since Hemlock´s art collection is stolen pieces Dragon use that fact to make Hemlock change his mind or the tax authorities will know how he acquired his art collection and will frame Hemlock for tax evasion. Dragon inform Hemlock about the target is a member of an international climbing team going to claim the north face of the Eiger in Switzerland.

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A scene from a car chase

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Trivia provided by The Internet Movie Database:

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• The shoot marked the last time that anyone was allowed to climb the “Totem Pole” in Monument Valley. In return for permission to film there, climbers with the production had to remove all of the pitons, which had accumulated from years of climbing, on their way down.
• In the car-chase scene, where Hemlock is being pursued along a cliff road by Miles Mellough and his bodyguard Dewayne, there was so much dust that Dan Howard, who played Dewayne, could not see where he was driving. To compensate, he drove looking up through the sunroof and followed the ridge line above. While effective, this driving method so unnerved actor Jack Cassidy that he demanded his stunt man take his place in the car.
• In the scene where Hemlock killed Dewayne, Miles Mellough’s bodyguard, the blood shown was actually chocolate syrup.
• Clint Eastwood went on a three-day climbing course in Yosemite National Park, then practiced at home for several months.
• The revolver which falls out of Hemlock’s pack when he kicks it over at the end is a Smith & Wesson Model 40 Centennial .38 Special.
• Originally intended as a vehicle for Paul Newman.
• Two custom 1975 Ford Broncos were specially built for this film, the one used in filming and a support vehicle, similar to the film truck but with a powerful winch and a much better sound system. The support truck is privately owned, while the film truck’s fate is a mystery.
• The shotgun used by Hemlock to kill Dewayne is an Ithaca Model 37.
• Clint Eastwood did all of his own stunts, including the scene where he cuts his safety line over a drop of at least one thousand feet. The only stunt he did not perform was a 2500-foot drop, for which a dummy was used.
• One climber; David Knowles was killed by a boulder on the second day of shooting. Clint Eastwood had been in the same position just minutes earlier.
• Many of the names of characters were originally inside jokes; for example, in the novel the full name of the character ‘Dragon’ is ‘Urassis Dragon’ (“Your Ass is dragging”). Also, Hemlock (the name of the assassin) is a poison.
• Filming began August 12, 1974.

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