Clint paints the Western town red, like Gehenna
A mysterious Stranger (Eastwood) trots into a remote town in west-central California, a dozen miles from the Nevada border. The townspeople desperately need his help to prepare for the release of three vengeful men from the territorial prison.
"High Plains Drifter" (1973) was Clint’s third directorial effort (although he also did some uncredited work on “Dirty Harry”). It parallels his “Pale Rider” from a dozen years later with the difference that Preacher from “Pale Rider” is essentially righteous and therefore protects worthy people whereas Stranger in this flick is vengeful, focusing on dishing out retribution to those who are bad. The fact that there are few ‘good’ people in Lago makes you root for the Stranger, to a degree, but it also prevents the viewer from having compassion for the townsfolk.
There’s also an emptiness and tediousness to the proceedings that works against the movie. Still, this is an iconic Eastwood Western and holds up in its unique, nigh satirical way.
The beautiful Marianna Hill plays the blonde, Callie. She was 30 years-old during shooting. You might remember her from the Star Trek episode “Dagger of the Mind” from seven years prior. She was one of the most winsome women to appear on Star Trek and had gigs in numerous television shows throughout the 60s and 70s, as well as quite a few films like Elvis' "Paradise, Hawaiian Style,” this one, and even starred in the atmospheric horror flick "Messiah of Evil” (aka “Dead People”), which came out the year after this. It was the pinnacle of her career and she faded out of acting after 1977.
The film runs 1 hours, 44 minutes, and was shot at Mono Lake, California (the town of Lago), which is northeast of Yosemite National Park (with the west side of the lake being in the park), as well as Winnemucca Lake, Nevada, which is about 170 miles due north of Mono Lake.
GRADE: B/B-