Like many of you, I have always been a Clint Eastwood fan … from his days as “Rowdy Yates,” “Dirty Harry” and many other characters he has portrayed on the screen. Like many actors, he learned early that movies were a director’s medium. And his first movie directorial job was “Play Misty for Me,” in which he played a young disc jockey.
Hollywood took to him because he brought the movie in on time and under budget. To top it all off, it made a bunch of money. He resurrected a song that female folk singers had been singing and, I suspect because of the movie, it became a huge hit single, “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which was recorded by Roberta Flack. Clint Eastwood is a jazz lover, yet he has been associated with country music in some of his movies, and some of his movies have had great sound tracks.
He appears to be a man’s man that women are nuts about. His advancing years have not taken much of that away from him. And he certainly appears not to have lost any of his directing skills because of his age. His rambling attack on the President during the GOP convention wasn’t very effective. It appears that Mr. Eastwood tried to be humorous and he failed. He apparently got off track when he became Mitt Romney’s newest attack dog.
I would rather not believe that this actor, director, producer, and lover of good music, is in bed with the tea party and their rampant stupidity about taxes and other things. But, if he is, he is. And like the man said, “The shoe may pinch, but you have to wear it anyway.”
I have no idea what attracts Clint Eastwood to the obvious right-wing swing of the Republican Party, and I suppose to find out about it we should ask actress Sondra Locke. She was Clint’s love interest on and off the screen in many movies. They were together for many years and it was, ultimately, a very tough break-up. I’m sure she understands the right-wing Republican slant against women.
Thanks, Clint. You made my day!
Ronn Mott, a longtime radio personality in Terre Haute, writes commentaries for the Tribune-Star. His pieces are published online Tuesday and Thursday on Tribstar.com, and in the print and online editions on Saturday.
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RONN MOTT: Clint Eastwood GOP
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