Clint Eastwood sued to stop the release of his final Spaghetti WesternThe Magnificent Stranger- though there’s a sneaky way to watch it in 2025. Eastwood’s career was forever altered bySergio Leone’sDollarstrilogy, which supercharged the stagnant Western genre and made Clint a movie star.
Eastwood passed on further Leone WesternslikeOnceUpon a Time in Americato focus on becoming a star in America. Of course,Eastwood had plenty of experience with “Oaters"beforeworking with Leone, thanks to long-running seriesRawhideand the fairly terribleAmbush at Cimarron Pass.
It’s interesting to look back onRawhideand see how much of a goody two-shoes Eastwood’s character Rowdy Yates was. The character had his share of angry moments, butYates is a far less complex character than the likes ofEastwood’s Man with No NameorUnforgiven’sWill Munny.
It was around the time he was filmingThe Good, the Bad and the Uglythat Eastwood learned that Jolly Films - a production company behindA Fistful of Dollars- had put together a movie calledThe Magnificent Stranger. This was being sold as a new Clint Eastwood Western - despite his total lack of involvement.
The Magnificent Stranger Is Stitched Together From Two Rawhide Episodes
In reality,The Magnificent Strangertook two Rowdy-focusedRawhideepisodes and slapped them together to make a “new” film. Jolly also doubled down on the links to theDollarsseries, mocking up posters to make Eastwood resemble The Man with No Name, whileThe Magnificent Strangerwas the original title ofA Fistful of Dollars.
It was less of a film than a compilation, but Jolly was preparing to sell it as an original Eastwood Western. This would have technically made it Clint’s fourth Spaghetti Western outing - hadThe Magnificent Strangeractually been released.
It speaks to how wildly popular the first twoDollarsmovies were that the distributor was so desperate to put together another Clint Western.Just the image of Eastwood squinting while firing a revolver would have been enough to lure viewers in, even ifRawhideis the tonal opposite of Sergio Leone’s Westerns.
Clint Eastwood Sued To Stop The Magnificent Stranger’s Release
Eastwood was actually working onThe Good, the Bad and the Uglywhen he heard aboutThe Magnificent Stranger. According toClint Eastwood: A Biographyauthor Richard Schicker,Clint then flew to Rome and launched a civil suit against Jolly to stop the distribution of the Westernentirely.
The Magnificent Strangerhas become lostin the decades since.There are reports of the Western having brief runs in Italy and West Germany during the late 1960s, but these are unconfirmed. What is known is that the Western hasn’t been seen since, having never received TV airings or home video releases.
Clint Eastwood’s first leading role in an American production wasHang ‘Em High.
To Clint fans, there might be a certain allure to his “lost” Western, butThe Magnificent Strangeris essentially aRawhidedouble bill. The dub may have added or dropped story beats from the episodes themselves, butwithout the involvement of Eastwood or Leone, all it could ever be was a blatant cash grab.
As for Eastwood and Leone themselves, the two fell out after Clint passed on Leone’s later Westerns. They did make peace in the year leading up to Leone’s passing, with the Italian legend planning to offer Clint a featured cameo in a Western miniseries he was developing.
Had things gone to plan,Coltwould have opened with Clint as a mystery gunslinger who has a special revolver custom-built. However, he would have been gunned down shortly after taking it, and the show would have revolved around the gun passing between different owners. Following Leone’s 1989 death, the show has yet to happen.
Clint Fans Can “Watch” The Magnificent Stranger By Viewing These Rawhide Episodes
It’s tough to find any solid details surrounding Eastwood’sThe Magnificent Strangerlawsuit, but it was obviously a success since it kept the film locked away for nearly 60 years. There could be a print of it collecting dust somewhere in Italy or Germany, but it’s unlikely the Western will ever resurface.
For anybody eager to seeThe Magnificent Stranger, all they need to do is watchRawhide’s"The Backshooter” and “Incident of the Running Man"back to back. The latter episode involved Rowdy trying to warn an outpost of an impending attack by outlaws, whilst being accused of killing a deputy sheriff.
“Incident of the Running Man” came fromRawhide’sthird season, while “The Backshooter” was a season seven outing. This saw Rowdy getting into more mischief when he is chased by more outlaws who wrongly believe he killed their friend.
Both episodes were logical picks forThe Magnificent Stranger, since their focus is almost solely on Rowdy and they’re departures fromRawhide’sstandard formula. Still, they’re also lacking in the cinematic style and raw edge of theDollarssaga, and the film would have been a letdown for audiences expecting something similar.
Leone seemingly never voiced his thoughts onThe Magnificent Stranger, though he probably aligned with Clint. While Eastwood never returned to Italy for another Spaghetti Western, he did bring their sense of style (and brutality) to his American Westerns likeHang ‘Em HighandHigh Plains Drifter. He also dedicatedUnforgivento Leone, alongside his American director mentor Don Siegel.
The Magnificent Stranger
Cast
The Magnificent Stranger is a 1966 film featuring the character Rowdy Yates, who is wrongly accused of murder. As the tension mounts, Yates must hasten to warn the Army of an impending attack by a group of bandits.
Clint Eastwood
Discover the latest news and filmography for Clint Eastwood, known for Dirty Harry and Unforgiven.
