Clint Eastwood’s favorite movie is not a western, and it is one of the greatest monuments in the history of cinema!

It’s always interesting to read or hear how talented people share their favorite movies or series. This sometimes leads to amazing things. Like Vin Diesel for example. He can flex his muscles and be a tuning freak in the indestructible Fast & Furious saga, when he’s not playing the anti-hero Riddick of Nyctolop, he’s ultimately a big tough guy with a very soft heart. His favorite movie is Gone with the Wind. In 2016, Emma Stone trusted Entertainment Weekly How deeply he was affected by Chaplin’s discovery of the city’s enlightenment.

That same year, the formidable Clint Eastwood delivered his verdict, without warning, during a cross-examination. Esquire. 20 years ago, the actor-director, who needs no introduction, already talked about his favorite western; And it really is a pure masterpiece: a strange incident.

In a lengthy interview published by Esquire, Eastwood says his all-time favorite movie is Billy Wilder’s Twilight Boulevard. “For what reason?” asks the journalist. “Two different styles: the silent film actor, then the character William Holdenmore modern. These two styles work well together. And I’ve always loved Billy Wilder.” Clint answers.

Hollywood killed me!

Fraudulent producers, illegal actors and actresses, screenwriters who devour ambitions, broken careers, Hollywood and its falsified Star System, all its frauds… American cinema regularly looks at the cradle of the Hollywood industry and its cruel predatory nature that consumes. His talents only to spit them out later, destroying the entire system that caters to royal dollars and the studios that mold them as they please.

Undoubtedly, it is the most famous film in this topic Twilight Boulevard By Billy Wilder. An absolute masterpiece that fully deserves its huge reputation, confirmed by AlloCiné viewers with an average of 4.3 out of 5.

When Erich von Stroheim returned to Europe after his painful experience as a director in the United States, where his films were routinely mutilated by a quarter, a half, or even three quarters, he bitterly stated: “Hollywood killed me.”

It is therefore not without cruel irony to see him in his final starring role in Twilight Boulevard, for which he received his only career Oscar nomination (Best Supporting Actor). He plays a former director turned servant to Norm Desmond, of former silent film fame, convinced that Hollywood still wants him. Although it has long been relegated to the antiques aisle.

The observation is all the more cruel since Billy Wilder actually invited former silent film greats like Buster Keaton or Hollywood Golden Age stars like Gloria Swanson, who portrays the fabulous Norma Desmond, whose mind-boggling last series, in his film. The film has largely gone down in history.

But it’s also a work of extraordinary clarity: it really evokes the collapse of an empire, of Hollywood, of what was once New Babylon, even though the 1950s are considered a new golden age for the majors, which go into recession again in the 60s and 70s with the rise of New Hollywood.

Want to discover this gem recommended by the great Clint? It is available on Paramount+.