Clint Eastwood: a retrospective

Clint Eastwood on the set of Unforgiven in 1992. This bleak, rain-swept, revisionist western won him his first best director Oscar Photograph: © Warner Bros Inc, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk Stepping in front of the camera on Unforgiven. Eastwood plays William Munny, a reformed outlaw who finds himself unable to outrun his past and, by implication, his nature too Photograph: © Warner Bros Inc, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk Eastwood directs Angelina Jolie on the set of Changeling. The Depression-era drama cast Jolie as a working mother on the trail of her missing son Photograph: © Imagine Entertainment/Universal, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk Before turning to directing, if you recall, Clint Eastwood was just another millionaire movie star, never dreaming that he would one day be shooting the things himself. Here he is, living it up with Richard Burton on the 1968 war romp Where Eagles Dare Photograph: © MGM, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: MGM/guardian.co.uk But all the while the directing bug was biting. He made his film-making debut in 1971 with Play Misty for Me, a dark psycho-thriller about a late-night DJ who's hounded by his No 1 fan Photograph: © Universal, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk Eastwood's best-loved films are tales of violent men, or peace-loving men who are driven to violence, or violent men who yearn for peace but are pulled towards violence. Here he is, holding a pair of guns in The Outlaw Josey Wales Photograph: © Warner Bros Inc, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk He made five outings as Dirty Harry Callahan, the San Francisco cop who is drawn to violence. This is him in The Dead Pool with his longstanding co-star, a .44 Magnum Photograph: © Warner Bros Inc, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk Eastwood gave what he claims will be his final acting performance in the acclaimed 2009 drama Gran Torino. He plays a cantankerous war vet, raging against the immigrant kids who have moved into his neighbourhood and waving a gun at anyone who strays on to his lawn Photograph: © Warner Bros Inc, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: Anthony Michael Rivetti/guardian.co.uk But Eastwood's films are not just about guns. They are also about America and love and the need to turn away from violence even when you are drawn towards violence. Here he is in more tender mood in Play Misty for Me Photograph: © Universal, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: guardian.co.uk Down the years Eastwood has worked with Richard Burton and a .44 Magnum, Angelina Jolie and a rifle. But was he ever happier, and less prone to violence, than he was here – locked in a passionate embrace with co-star Clyde in Every Which Way But Loose? Photograph: © Warner Bros Inc, reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling Photograph: © Warner Bros. Inc., reproduced from Clint: A Retrospective by Richard Schickel, published by Sterling.