Daniel O'Brien traces Eastwood's growth from the early years as a bit-player in Hollywood, the Rawhide years, international success in Sergio Leone's Dollars films, the key trio of movies with Don Siegel (Coogan's Bluff, The Beguiled, Dirty Harry), the first star/director productions (Play Misty for Me, High Plains Drifter) and the outstanding The Outlaw Josey Wales.Since achieving unchallenged superstar/director/producer status, Eastwood has shrewdly alternated popular vehicles such as Every Which Way but Loose or the Dirty Harry sequels with more personal projects (Escape from Alcatraz, Tightrope, Bird), culminating in the Oscar-winning success of The Unforgiven. O'Brien carries the story right up to The Bridges of Madison County, maintaining throughout his probing and stereotype-breaking view of Eastwood's film-making career.
