High Plains Drifter
A gunfighting stranger comes to the small settlement of Lago and is hired to bring the townsfolk together in an attempt to hold off three outlaws who are on their way.
- Director: Clint Eastwood
- Genre:Drama / Thriller / Western
- Runtime:101 minutes
Cast
Clint Eastwood : The Stranger
Verna Bloom : Sarah Belding
Marianna Hill : Callie Travers (as Mariana Hill)
Mitch Ryan : Dave Drake (as Mitchell Ryan)
Jack Ging : Morgan Allen
The story depicts the efforts of a small mining town to defend itself against a group of rogue gunfighters with the help of a mysterious outsider (Eastwood), referred to as the Stranger. The town reveals its timidity and corruption when they hire the Stranger to protect them.
As the film begins, the Stranger rides into the fictional mining town of Lago, in a setting similar to the Arizona territory. Three gun-toting men follow him into the saloon and then the barbershop, taunting and ridiculing him, but when one of them swivels him around in the barber’s chair, he shoots all three of them dead. Impressed with this performance, a dwarf named Mordecai (Curtis) befriends the Stranger. Then an attractive townswoman named Callie Travers (Hill) bumps into him in the street and insults and badgers him. When she slaps him, he drags her into the livery stable and rapes her. Next, he rents a room at the hotel. When he lies down to sleep, he remembers a scene in which a man is brutally whipped. It is revealed later in the film that Marshal Jim Duncan was whipped to death by gunfighters Stacey Bridges (Lewis), Dan Carlin (Vadis), and Cole Carlin (James) while the people of Lago looked on. Only Sarah Belding (Bloom), wife of hotelier Lewis Belding (Hartley), made any attempt to rescue Marshal Duncan. Various indications throughout the film suggest that the Stranger is some sort of reincarnation or embodiment of Duncan’s spirit.
The next day, Sheriff Shaw (Barnes) tells the stranger he will not be charged for killing the three men. Meanwhile, the townsmen discuss Bridges and the Carlin brothers, who are due to be released from prison that day. The town double-crossed the three gunfighters after they killed Duncan, who had discovered that the Lago Mining Company was operating on government land, and the men are expected to seek vengeance against the town. Since the men slain by the Stranger were the mining company’s new protectors, the townsmen decide to hire the Stranger as their replacement.
Presenting the job offer to the Stranger, Shaw explains that the three gunfighters were caught stealing gold from the mining company, although he admits the gold was poorly protected, suggesting that the company’s managers may have entrapped the men. The Stranger declines the job until Shaw tells him he can have anything he wants. Accepting these terms, the Stranger indulges in the town’s products and services, makes Mordecai both sheriff and mayor, has the entire town painted red, and paints the word “HELL” on the “LAGO” sign just outside of town. Read more
