Occasionally, while scrolling through films on streaming services, I tell myself that I need to watch more movies from the 1970s.  The decade is considered kind of a lull in American cinema with those years being thought of as a period of malaise.  I am not going to get into the historical detail, but between political scandal and a sagging economy, Hollywood responded with stories that spoke to the times.  With so many less than hopeful offerings being projected in theaters, it is little wonder that Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977) captured the imagination of so many audience members.  This Catholic wishes more people would have turned to God, but I was not alive at that time.  Anyway, today’s entry, High Plains Drifter (1973), falls more on the former of these categories, being a Western with an anti-hero.  That kind of character is one of a few marks against it.

The character who wanders into the Western town of Lago at the start of High Plains Drifter could be called by the title, though the credits list him as The Stranger (Clint Eastwood).  Because there are a couple flashbacks, and I do not wish to continually write out that appellation, I am going to give you the back story now.  A year prior in the same locale, three men whip to death Marshal Jim Duncan.  Despite his pleas for help, the residents stand idly by and watch, though Sarah Belding (Verna Bloom) does voice her desire to do something.  Her husband is Lewis Belding (Ted Hartley), who, like most of the others in the area, rely on the trade brought in by Dave Drake (Mitchell Ryan) and Morgan Allen’s (Jack Ging) mining company.  Marshal Duncan had learned that the digging is being done on government land, making it illegal, and he is going to report the activity.  Thus, most everyone colludes to hire Stacey Bridges (Geoffrey Lewis), Cole Carlin (Anthony James) and Dan Carlin (Dan Vadis) to murder Marshal Duncan.  Once the deed is done, they bring in a new lawman, Sheriff Sam Shaw (Walter Barnes), to take the outlaws to prison.  With all this in mind, it is evident that The Stranger is meant to be Marshal Duncan, but because he has a beard, I guess they do not recognize.  Thus, I will call him Jim, and they all observe him as he rides down the one street.  His first stop is the saloon, where he orders a beer and a bottle to go.  Next, he crosses the street for a shave and a bath.  It is while he is being attended to by the barber that a couple gun men come with evil intent.  Jim makes quick work of them before getting up, going to the hotel, and ordering a room.  On the way, he is purposely bumped into by Callie Travers (Mariana Hill), who he takes into the nearest barn and rapes.  It is later suggested that she wanted this to happen, but it is an uncomfortable scene for this Catholic, to say the least.  The next morning, the hamlet is still abuzz with his feat.  They are also aware that Stacey and the Carlin brothers are due to be released from jail.  The suspicion is that they are going to return to Lago and avenge their incarceration.  Hence, it is Sheriff Shaw who is asked to inquire of Jim as to whether the stranger (sorry) will stay to fend off the potential marauders.  Jim’s first answer is no, but as more of the locals gather to ask the same question, they press him with increasingly generous offers.  It is when they say they will give him anything that he finally relents.  Initially, some of his requests are costly but sensible, like new clothing.  However, he begins to ruffle feathers, such as when he makes Mordecai (Billy Curtis), a little person, the new mayor and sheriff.  Jim also organizes the denizens into a militia, confiscating all the guns from the store to train them to shoot.  He then orders Lewis’ barn to be dismantled to build enough picnic table for the everyone in Lago, and he wants all the buildings painted red.  Lewis is further annoyed when Jim orders all the patrons to leave the hotel, and the Preacher (Robert Donner) is not pleased when Jim makes the guests stay with various residents.  It becomes too much for Morgan, who informs Dave that he is going to do something about the situation.  Following another evening with Callie, of whom Morgan is jealous, the co-owner of the mine attempts to assassinate Jim.  Instead, he throws a stick of dynamite into the room, and later shoots Morgan in the arm.  Though Lewis is aghast by the destruction, Sarah gives in to Jim’s advances and the spend the night with each other.  The next day, Jim tracks the blood trail left by Morgan, finding him with Stacey and the Carlin brothers.  Once they murder Morgan, Jim takes a couple wild shots at the outlaws in order to entice them into the town.  Once there, Stacey’s gang rounds up all the citizens and puts them in the saloon.  Outside, though, buildings are going up in flames and people are starting to panic.  Cole is sent out to investigate, and they all listen as he is whipped to death.  Dan is strung up by the same whip, and Stacey is shot to death by Jim.  Mordecai then saves Jim, the former making amends for previously doing nothing for the latter, by shooting Lewis.  In the morning, with a final nod to Sarah, Jim rides into the distance.

With the kind of ending contained in High Plains Drifter, you can rightly think of it as a classic Western.  At the same time, because this is the 1970s, this is more risqué material like the rape scene.  My description of it should not be any consolation, nor the fact that there is zero nudity, but it is part of what makes Jim an anti-hero.  There is no need for such actions, including during revenge quests.  It also does not matter if the supposition is made that the woman in question is supposedly asking for it.  To violate someone in this manner is a sin, not just for Christians or in the eyes of the law, but for most anyone with a pulse.  Such behavior did not have me rooting for Jim, and the rest of his actions also leave much to be desired.  Indeed, I am not sure what else to add about this story from a Catholic perspective aside from a few scenes in which he stands up for the defenseless.  In the general store, the proprietor abuses a couple browsing Native Americans.  Seeing their treatment, Jim gives the old man a few blankets and the kids two entire jars of candy.  Of course, the main person in which this is symbolized is Mordecai.  He is picked on by most of the other residents, and made to do menial labor in town.  In Luke 9:48, Jesus tells His disciples that the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.”  This comes by practicing Faith, which I am not sure one can say of Mordecai.  Nonetheless, he shows that we need to be mindful of such people because they are God’s children, too.

Speaking of being mindful, I would think twice before watching High Plains Drifter.  Probably the most innocent thing you could say about the film is that it has plenty of Western tropes that you have seen in other examples from the genre.  Otherwise, it has too much objectionable material to want to watch it.