A man with one of the most easily recognizable names, looks, and demeanors in movie history, actor and director Clint Eastwood was 25 years old when he played a small part in The First Traveling Saleslady (1956) - his first Western.
After becoming known for the television series Rawhide, Eastwood became an international movie star thanks to his role in Sergio Leone's Dollars Western trilogy. When Eastwood won his first Academy Award, it was to Leone whom he dedicated his winning movie to. Over a career of 65 years with over 20 Western movies and shows, Eastwood's name has practically become synonymous with the genre, and according to IMDb, these 10 Westerns are his best!
Honkytonk Man (1982) - 6.6
A Western featuring music and an atypical location and time period, Honkytonk Man follows a country and western singer named Red (Eastwood), who's dying of tuberculosis during the Great Depression.
When the aging Red gets one final opportunity to become a hit with a performance at a famous concert in Nashville, he sets off on a long road trip to the venue. Accompanying Red is his young nephew - Whit (Kyle Eastwood) - an aspiring musician who idolizes his uncle along their humorously heartwarming coming-of-age journey together.
Two Mules For Sister Sara (1970) - 7
En route to help a camp of Mexican revolutionaries battle the French army, a gunslinger named Hogan (Eastwood) rescues a nun (Shirley MacLaine) from being raped by a group of men.
As the interesting friendship blossoms between the two, Hogan begins to suspect that the nun is not all that she appears to be. Two Mules for Sister Sara marked the second of five collaborations between Eastwood and Dirty Harry (1971) director Don Siegel - the other filmmaker Eastwood dedicated his first Oscar-winning movie to.
Hang 'Em High (1968) - 7
The first movie produced by Eastwood, Hang 'Em High focuses on one of the most common, powerful, and pure themes in Westerns - revenge. When Jed Cooper (Eastwood) is wrongfully accused of cattle rustling by a nine-man posse, he's hanged and nearly killed before a marshal (Ben Johnson) saves him just in time.
After proving his innocence to a judge (Pat Hingle), Cooper is granted his freedom and is offered a job as a marshal, with the provision that he doesn't seek revenge on the men who tried to kill him. Spoilers: he seeks revenge.
Pale Rider (1985) - 7.3
A character shrouded in mystery, Eastwood plays a nameless preacher who comes to the aid of a small prospecting town being bullied by Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) - the greedy head of a large mining company trying to obtain the town's land.
After the preacher refuses to be intimidated by LaHood's goons, a couple of which are played by Chris Penn (Reservoir Dogs) and Richard Kiel (Moonraker, Happy Gilmore), the town refuses to accept LaHood's negotiating terms, leading to an exciting climactic showdown.
High Plains Drifter (1973) - 7.5
The first Western directed by Eastwood, the dark story in High Plains Drifter once again sees Eastwood star as a nameless stranger who drifts into a small mining town in need of protection from violent goons.
The people of the fictional California town of Lago initially disapprove of The Stranger after he kills three of their protectors, but when he demonstrates his skills as a gunslinger, they hire him to protect them from three vindictive outlaws. The Stranger accepts with ulterior motives, as the townspeople unknowingly have a connection to his past.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) - 7.9
In Civil War era movies, Union soldiers are typically protagonists and Confederates typically antagonists, but this isn't the case in The Outlaw Josey Wales, which sees the peaceful farmer Josey Wales (Eastwood) seeking revenge on the vicious Union soldiers who murdered his wife and young son in Missouri.
Wales joins a Confederate guerilla unit to pursue his revenge, resulting in one of his highest kill counts of any movie. Wales winds up falling for a woman played by Sondra Locke, marking the first of six movies the real-life couple would collaborate on.
A Fistful Of Dollars (1964) - 8
Eastwood's first of three movies with legendary spaghetti Western director Sergio Leone, A Fistful of Dollars provided Eastwood with his first starring role in a feature as Joe (AKA The Man With No Name).
When Joe arrives in the Mexican village of San Miguel, he quickly gets caught in the middle of a longstanding feud between the Rojos and the Baxters - two powerful smuggler families fighting for control of the town. It's not long before Joe plays the rivals against each other for his own benefit.
Unforgiven (1992) - 8.2
The movie that earned Eastwood his first two Academy Awards (Best Picture and Best Director) Unforgiven stars Eastwood as Will Munny, a farmer long-since retired from his gunslinging days to raise his children after their mother's passing.
When Munny's old partner (Morgan Freeman) convinces him to help with one last job, they set out to claim the reward offered by a group of prostitutes who want revenge on the men who violently disfigured her, but in an Oscar-winning role for Gene Hackman, the town's sheriff has vowed to kill vigilantes carrying out justice.
For A Few Dollars More (1965) - 8.3
The second installment in Leone's Dollars trilogy stars Eastwood as a bounty hunter nicknamed Monco (another variation on The Man With No Name), this time alongside fellow bounty hunter Col. Douglas Mortimer, played by another spaghetti Western great in Lee Van Cleef (Escape From New York).
When a ruthless outlaw named El Indio (Gian Maria Volontè) breaks out of prison and leads his murderous gang on a bank-robbing spree across the West, Monco and Mortimer must set their rivalry aside and join forces to bring the man to justice.
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (1966) - 8.8
Regarded by many as the greatest Western ever made, Leone's epic war commentary masterpiece fittingly concludes his Dollars trilogy. With the Civil War waning in the backdrop, three different gunslingers all race to find a massive buried fortune in The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly.
Eli Wallach plays Tuco - The Ugly; Lee Van Cleef plays Angel Eyes - The Bad; and Eastwood plays Blondie - The Good. Over about three hours, the three men all make and break alliances with each other and with the Union and Confederate armies, resulting in an unforgettable final standoff between the three.