A stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides into Lago, kills three ruffians who give him a hard time and drags pretty Callie Travers (Marianna Hill) into a barn to rape her after she insults him.
And, just like that, the town leaders in Largo think they’ve found the answer to their problem: a man who can handle the three convicts who have sworn to get revenge on Largo after they’re released from prison. Well, those three, led by Stacey Bridges (Geoffrey Lewis), are about to be released.
In exchange for his help, the Stranger is given free rein in the town. That means all the new handmade boots, all the whiskey, all the anything he wants — women included — for free.
The townsfolk even knuckle under when he appoints a dwarf named Mordecai as the town’s new sheriff and mayor.
The Stranger’s increasingly bizarre requests have the townsfolks at odds over how to react. He orders everyone out of the hotel so it can be for his personal use.
He orders the townsmen to form a home guard of sorts. He orders the town painted red. He changes the name on the sign leading into town from Largo to Hell.
This, after all, is a town with a secret. Years earlier, a marshal named Jim Duncan discovered that the mine that fueled the town’s growth was on government land.
Fearing he would shut it down, town leaders had that marshal whipped to death in the middle of the street.
Mordecai remembers that night very well. As it turns out, so does The Stranger.
Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, arriving in Lago in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Billy Curtis as Mordecai, lighting a cigar for the Stranger in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Review:
This is the second film Eastwood directed and comes closest among his post-Leone Westerns to recapturing the flair of those films. The Stranger without a name is back. And central to the film is a tormented character looking for revenge.
There’s debate over who the Eastwood character really was, because he refuses to give a name when asked. But the hints in the film, especially at the end, are pretty clear.
Hotel owners’ wife Sarah Bedding mentions to The Stranger that the former marshal Duncan was buried in an unmarked grave. “They say the dead don’t rest without a marker of some kind,” she tells the stranger.
At the end of the film, Mordecai is putting the name Jim Duncan on a tombstone. “I never did know your name,” he says to The Stranger, who is about to ride off. The Stranger’s response: “Yeah, you do.” And go back and check The Stranger’s reaction when a whip cracks as he first rides into Largo.
Spaghetti fans will likely spot a couple of familiar faces in this. Marianna Hill’s other biggest film role was probably in the Spaghetti-inspired film “El Condor,” starring Lee Van Cleef and Jim Brown. And Walter Barnes, who plays the sheriff here, appeared in at least a half dozen European Westerns, including “The Big Gundown,” also starring Van Cleef.
Speaking of the cast, Mordecai is played by Bill Curtis. Yep, the same Billy Curtis who starred in “Terror of Tiny Town,” an all-midget Western, about 30 years earlier.
Marianna Hill as Callie Travers, about to get the Stranger’s attention in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Verna Bloom as Sarah Belding, the hotel owner’s wife, her attitude changed after a night with the Stranger in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Directed by:
Clint Eastwood
Cast:
Clint Eastwood … The Stranger
Verna Bloom … Sarah Belding
Marianna Hill … Callie Travers
Mitch Ryan … Dave Drake
Jack Ging … Morgan Allen
Stefan Gierasch … Mayor Hobart
Ted Hartley … Lewis Belding
Billy Curtis … Mordecai
Geoffrey Lewis … Stacey Bridges
Walter Barnes … Sheriff Shaw
Scott Walker … Bill Borders
Paul Brinegar … Lutie Naylor
Richard Bull … Asa Goodwin
Robert Donner … Preacher
John Hillerman … Bootmaker
Runtime: 105 min.
Mitchell Ryan as Dave Drake, the mine owner who had a hand in the demise of a former lawman in Lago in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Jack Ging as Morgan Allen, the Lago businessman who tries to set a trap for the Stranger in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Memorable lines:
Townsman: “Flea-bitten range bums usually don’t stop in Lago. Life here’s a little too quick for ’em. Maybe you think you’re fast enough to keep us with us. Huh?”
The Stranger: “A lot faster than you’ll ever live to be.”
The Stranger, after the woman he “took” in the barn starts shooting at him the next day: “Wonder what took her so long to get mad?”
Mordecai: “Maybe because you didn’t go back for more.”
Callie to town officials: “Isn’t forcible rape in broad daylight a misdemeanor in this town?”
Sheriff Shaw: “This is a God-fearing town. These are God-fearing people.”
The Stranger: “You like them. You save them.”
Walter Barnes as Sheriff Sam Shaw, watching the Stranger ride into Lago in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Ted Hartley as Lewis Belding, about to learn the Stranger is having his barn torn down in HIgh Plains Drifter (1973)
Stacey Bridges, upon being released from prison with his two colleagues: “What about our horses? We had three good animals.”
Prison warden: “What do you think you’ve been eating for the last six months.”
Townsman: “I hope you’re not going to blame us for Morgan Allen’s stupidity. Because the rest of us have an agreement with you.”
The Stranger: “Well, right now I don’t feel very agreeable.”
Townsman: “Well, maybe a little bonus will make you a little more appreciative.”
The Stranger: “How little?”
Townsman: “Five-hundred a head.”
The Stranger: “Five-hundred an ear?”
Townsman: “Done.”
Townsman: “I’ll paint if you want me to, but when we get done, this place is gonna look like hell.”
Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, making alterations to the sign welcoming people to Lago in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Geoffrey Lewis as Stacey Bridges, determined to make the good folks of Lago pay for the time he spent in prison in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Dan Vadis as Dan Carlin, headed back to Lago with Stacey Bridges and his brother in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Anthony James as Cole Carlin, one of the outlaws returning to Lago with Stacey Bridges in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Robert Donner as the Preacher, not quite sure what to make of the Stranger in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Billy Curtis as Mordecai, ready to follow orders from the Strangers in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Marianna Hill as Callie Travers, smiling when the Stranger says he already has his dessert in High Plains Drifter (1973)
Clint Eastwood as The Stranger, giving Sheriff Sam Shaw (Walter Barnes) ideas on how to defend his town in High Plains Drifter (1973)
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