Clint Eastwood’s Famous Grimace: We Know Its Origin, And It’s Pure Cinematic Coincidence!

A Fistful of Dollars made Clint Eastwood a movie star, playing only one role in the Western series Rawhide in the United States. In one film and one role, his Man With No Name became a cinematic icon, but above all, Eastwood created a unique look for himself, and it was a bit of an accident.

If at that time the director Sergio Leone found his poncho and put it on his shoulders, only Clint Eastwood discovered his famous smile and eyes, which will make his face quite neutral in the series Rawhide, a real movie. the face but how

We owe him two combined elements: firstly, the famous cigarillo smoked by his character, the man with no name: Tuscan cigars, “tough and strong” In Leone’s words Conversations with Sergio Leone Christmas carol. Their power makes the actor grimace, not a fan of this tobacco, but that’s not all.

The narrowing of his eyes was born during the filming of this scene, the actor had nothing but a cigar that made him grimace, the sun in his eyes despite his hat, and above all, Arc lamps 115 to 120 volts directly on the face to illuminate it as much as possible. The result is in front of you:

And so a legend was born. Because it is the closing of the eyes that gives all the power to the characters played by Clint Eastwood, whether they are tough guys or softer characters. And because his eyes are narrowed most of the time, their opening – as in the final scene of Mercy – indicates the determination of this character. Eastwood is proud to point this out:

And that smile from A Fistful of Dollars would launch his career as Sergio Leone and the Transalpine Western. The film’s success spawned a genre in its own right, including quite a few bad films made by opportunistic filmmakers on the assembly line and other very good, ambitious directors. We prefer to remember the latter, but not the former.