Clint Eastwood’s bitter feud with Magnum Force director: ‘His ego applied for statehood’ | Films | Entertainment
Following the success of 1971’s Dirty Harry, Clint Eastwood returned for what would be his second of five films in the role. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly star was asked if he’d like to direct 1973’s Magnum Force, but he declined, with Ted Post taking the role.
Post had previously directed Eastwood in both Rawhide and Hang ‘Em High, but the pair ended up in disputes during filming.
The star refused to authorise the shooting of two crucial scenes due to time and expenses. One of these was at the end of the movie, with a long shot of the Dirty Harry actor on a motorbike confronting bad cops.
Another issue was that Eastwood wanted to get the filming done as quickly and smoothly as possible, meaning he often refused to do retakes for some scenes.
Post, who died in 2013, later said: “A lot of the things he said were based on pure, selfish ignorance, and showed that he was the man who controlled the power. By Magnum Force Clint’s ego began applying for statehood.”
The feud remained bitter for many years following the film’s completion, which the director claimed affected the rest of his career.
Second unit director of photography Rexford Metz remarked: “Eastwood would not take the time to perfect a situation. If you’ve got seventy per cent of a shot worked out, that’s sufficient for him, because he knows his audience will accept it.”
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Eastwood went on to direct the fourth Dirty Harry movie, 1983’s Sudden Impact, which included the immortal line, “Go ahead, make my day”.
However, for the fifth and final entry of the franchise, 1988’s The Dead Pool, the film was directed by Buddy Van Horn. A friend and colleague of the star, he was chosen by him as he knew he’d shoot the movie quickly. Interestingly, the movie’s title ended up by the inspiration for Marvel Comics’ Deadpool.
