Clint or The Duke

They both suck.

 

Eastwood, by far.

The final scene at the end of "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly" in the cemetery --- Blondie, Angel Eyes, and Tuco in a three-man faceoff --- is my favorite scene in movie history.

John Wayne's western characters were always the hero type, and although Eastwood's were the "good" guy, they were often really the least-bad guy, as in "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly."

 

"Fill yer hand, you son of a bitch."

 

All true.
I wonder if this is a generational thing ... the Duke was my dad's generation, and I have no doubt about how he would vote, if he were around to do so. To those of us who grew up in the '70s and later, Wayne is just so square. Eastwood reflects the late-20th-century view of the West and of "heroes."
That Rooster Cogburn stuff, which was so bold at the time because the Duke was allowed to cuss and stuff, really hasn't aged well, if you ask me. Pretty much unwatchable. But whatever happened to Kim Darby?

 

Marion Robert Morrison?

 

The Duke. Anyone who says he can't act never watched "The Searchers."

 

It's John Wayne for westerns.

"You can call me Jake. You can call me Big Jake. You can call me a dirty son of a b_tch. But if you ever call me Daddy again, we'll finish this fight."

Eastwood didn't have a line close to that in a Western. (The Dirty Harry films, however, is another kettle of fish ... )

 

Clint Eastwood.

For what he did back in the day,

AND

For making western's popular again in the '90s with "Unforgiven."

 

Let's have a closer look at some of Clint's lines.

Fistful of Dollars
Clint: “When a man with a .45 meets a man with a rifle, you said the man with the pistol’s a dead man. Let’s see if that’s true.”
Another one: “You see... my mule don’t like people laughing. He gets the crazy idea you’re laughing at him. Now if you apologize like I know you’re going to, I might convince him that you really didn’t mean it.” [the music starts and Clint unloads five shots]

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
Clint: “You see in the world there’s two kinds of people my friend: those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.”

Outlaw Josey Wales
Clint: “Now remember, when things look bad and it looks like you're not gonna make it, then you got to get mean. I mean plumb, mad-dog mean! Cause if you lose your head and you give up, then you neither live nor win. That's just the way it is.”

Unforgiven
This is what I believe to be one of the best lines of his career: “It’s a hell of a thing, killing a man — to take away all he’s got... and all he’s ever gonna have.”
And another one to remember:
Gene Hackman: “I don’t deserve this, to die like this. I was building a house.”
Clint: “Deserve’s got nothing to do with it.”

Clint made memorable westerns in FOUR different decades with Fistful of Dollars in ‘64, Outlaw Josey Wales in ‘76, Pale Rider in ‘85 and Unforgiven in ‘92. I think it’s only because of his success in other ventures that Eastwood isn’t seen as the greatest westen actor of all times.

 

Another classic from Outlaw Josey Wales:

The snake oil salesman is pestering Clint's character on the ferry boat, telling how about all the mystical powers of the magic elixir he's peddling. Clint looks at the guy with utter disdain, spits tobacco juice on the guy's white suit coat and deadpans: "How's it on stains?"

Love the concept above of young Duke in Pale Rider or even Josey Wales. Got to remember that American movies weren't ready for an anti-hero when Wayne was in his prime, and that path is what gave Clint his real edge.

Could see Clint as Wayne's character in Red River, though. Or The Searchers, Wayne's very best film. And frankly, I don't think Clint could have pulled off True Grit, because he's not that great playing drunk (The Gauntlet!) and he's not that great playing comic (the orangutan movies).

I'll vote for The Duke because Clint would vote for The Duke, an inspiration to him.

 

I have to agree with the "True Grit" factor. John Wayne proved that he could be funny in a Western setting without turning the film into a farce.

 

I was about to type the same thing.

Shit......you named your dog Marion?