The Enigma of Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven is a movie filled with men whose ornery, world-beating reputations precede them. One of these is the braggadocious gunslinger English Bob, a self-promoter who arrives in the one-horse town of Big Whiskey by train with his pet bard, a biographer named W.W. Beauchamp, in tow. Eventually, it’s revealed that English Bob is not, as he claims, “the Duke of Death,” but a coward who caught a lucky break during a standoff when his rival’s pistol jammed. He has been dining out on his supposed reputation for decades, but soon enough, English Bob is jailed by the local sheriff—who knows the truth of the situation—and Beauchamp watches in horror as his meal ticket is beaten, humiliated, and finally dispatched. Only then does he realize his complicity in printing a phony legend. Meanwhile, Eastwood’s own character in Unforgiven, William Munny, is the real deal: a stone-cold killer, a real duke of death, no tall tales required. His fondest wish: to be left the hell alone.