Clint Eastwood’s Rise to Stardom: How This Hit Redefined Westerns in the US!

Jed Cooper is wrongfully accused of shooting a local cattle owner in Red Creek. The townspeople capture him and hang him, but Marshal Dave Bliss rescues him just in time. After a trial proving his innocence, Cooper is appointed as a marshal with the task of tracking down and bringing to justice those who tried to lynch him.

Are You a Fan of Spaghetti Westerns? You’ll Feel Right at Home

In 1967, Clint Eastwood returned to the United States after filming “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” He reconnected with director Ted Post, whom he had previously worked with on 24 episodes of the cowboy TV series “Rawhide.” Together, they created a film that stylistically and musically mirrors Italian Westerns: “Hang ‘Em High,” now available on Prime Video.

The film features stark, raw violence and explores the concept of justice and vigilante justice in the American West, paving the way for the ‘vigilante movies’ of the 1970s like “Death Wish.” Eastwood’s character thus finds himself exacting revenge within the confines of the law. Will he manage to do it?

Finally a Star in His Own Country

“Hang ‘Em High” is the first American Western in which Clint Eastwood starred in a leading role. Although he had appeared in several B-movie Westerns before, it was his films made in Italy with Sergio Leone that finally catapulted him to stardom in the United States, 13 years after his career began.

“Hang ‘Em High” was a test to see if the American public was ready to embrace Eastwood for more than his Spaghetti Westerns. According to The Numbers, the film grossed $6.8 million in the U.S. and $10.8 million worldwide, against a budget of just $1.6 million—a huge success that launched Eastwood’s cinematic career in the States.

Five years later, Ted Post and Eastwood would team up again for “Magnum Force,” the second adventure of Inspector Harry.

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