Production High Plains Drifter

mono lake

eastwood reportedly liked offbeat quality of film s original nine-page proposal, , approached universal idea of directing it. under joint production between malpaso , universal, original screenplay written ernest tidyman, had won best screenplay oscar french connection. tidyman s screenplay inspired real-life murder of kitty genovese in queens in 1964, eyewitnesses reportedly stood , watched. holes in plot filled in black humor , allegory, influenced sergio leone. uncredited rewrite of script provided dean riesner, screenwriter of other eastwood projects.

universal wanted eastwood shoot feature on lot, eastwood opted instead film on location. after scouting locations alone in pickup truck in oregon, nevada , california, settled on highly photogenic mono lake area. on 50 technicians , construction workers built entire town—14 houses, church, , two-story hotel—in 18 days, using 150,000 feet of timber. complete buildings, rather facades, built, eastwood shoot interior scenes on site. additional scenes filmed @ reno, nevada s winnemucca lake , california s inyo national forest. film completed in 6 weeks, 2 days ahead of schedule, , under budget.

the character of marshal duncan played buddy van horn, eastwood s long-time stunt double, suggest , stranger same person. in interview, eastwood said earlier versions of script made stranger dead marshal s brother. favored less explicit , more supernatural interpretation, , excised reference. italian, spanish, french , german dubbings restored it. s allegory, said, speculation on happens when go ahead , kill sheriff , comes , calls town s conscience bear. there s retribution deeds. graveyard set featured in film s final scene included tombstones inscribed sergio leone , don siegel humorous tribute 2 influential directors.