Offers readers a series of original essays by prominent cinema scholars that explore the actor-director's extensive career. The result is a far-reaching and nuanced portrait of one of America's most prolific and thoughtful filmmakers.

Chapter 1: The Teller and the Tale: An Introduction to the Films of Clint Eastwood Lester D. Friedman and David Desser Part I: Crosscurrents Chapter 2: “I Don’t Want Nobody Belonging to Me”: Riding the Post-Leone Western Stephen Prince Chapter 3: “God/Country/Family:” The Military Movies Lester D. Friedman Chapter 4: “A Man’s Got to Know His Limitations”: The Cop Films from Nixon through Reagan Jonathan Kirshner Chapter 5: “I’m Not So Tough”: Melodrama and Performance in the Later Films Diane Carson Chapter 6: “Heroes are Something We Create: The Biopics” David Sterritt Part II: Controversies Chapter 7: “I Am a Camera”: Clint Eastwood’s Performative Gaze Murray Pomerance Chapter 8: “You ain’t ugly like me; it’s just that we both got scars”: Women in Eastwood’s Films Lucy Bolton Chapter 9: “I know I'm as blind as a slab of concrete, but I'm not helpless”: Eastwood and the Aging Action Hero David Desser Chapter 10: “Seems like we can’t trust the White Man”: The Theater of Race in and out of Eastwood’s Films  Alexandra Keller Chapter 11: Play Music for Me: Eastwood’s Film Scores Charity Lofthouse Acknowledgments Notes on Contributors Index