Eastwood's non-western movie, GRAN Torino, was his best. He wrote the screenplay, produced, directed, and starred in it. It works on so many levels. "Get off my lawn".
Old Henry is now available for streaming on several platforms. I paid $4.99 and if you like Westerns, it’s well worth it.
It’s probably the most flat-out old-fashioned film I’ve seen in years. For those who complain that Hollywood doesn’t make movies the way the used to — well, they do; just not enough of them. This movie could have been made in 1954, except that the cinematography is of course much better, as is the period dialect.
(John Wayne always made a much better cavalry officer than a cowboy, since cavalry officers, as a generic type, are expected to be better educated with better diction. Other actors of that era had the same problem; most of them were formally trained in the studio system and they spoke far too well for real white trash roles. Jeff Bridges set a new standard in the True Grit remake, and a couple of actors in Old Henry are up to the mark.)
Anyhow ... no spoilers, but Old Henry resists the modernist disease to pursue novelty for the sake of novelty. It is telling an old-fashioned story in a straightforward old-fashioned way. If you are up on your Old West lore, the hidden surprise isn’t even hidden, as the film uses Old Henry’s real name; they of course are counting on modern audiences who don’t have a clue, but even then it’s all hiding in plain sight. Just like a 1950’s Western, which was content to tell an unsubtle morality tale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cItX4qgmJfM