Clint Eastwood had a very familiar piece of wardrobe when he starred in “Unforgiven” in 1992. He wore his boots from his “Rawhide” days.
Eastwood broke back out the boots that began his career in many respects. “Rawhide” helped make Eastwood a household name and proved to be a launching pad for Eastwood’s long career.
In the series, Eastwood starred as Rowdy Yates in eight seasons of the western, starting in 1958. Almost 30 years later, Eastwood was saying goodbye to the genre that made him famous.
According to IMDb, Eastwood wore the boots to bring his career to full circle in many respects. The boots have also been a part of Eastwood’s personal collection since then. Although, in 2005, the actor loaned the footwear out to the Sergio Leon exhibit at the Gene Autry Museum of Western Heritage in Los Angeles, California.
“Unforgiven” was Eastwood’s swan song to westerns, even though his career continued for decades more. Well, at least at the time, he thought it would be his final Western. Eastwood is reportedly set to star in and direct “Cry macho,” an upcoming American neo-Western, according to Slash Film.
As for “Unforgiven,” the film featured a very different gunslinger than Rowdy Yates or even the Man With No Name. Eastwood’s William Munny was as if those characters actually got the chance to get old. Maybe, they didn’t die on the prairie in a hail of bullets. Maybe, they lived to put a lifetime of violence behind them.
The film proved to be Eastwood’s reckoning with his cinematic past as a western star. He played with the conventions of the genre and directed himself off into the sunset at the same time.
Clint Eastwood and His Poncho
Of course, Clint Eastwood may be sentimental at heart. He certainly holds onto the props of his youth, even if he keeps them stored somewhere. For instance, Eastwood also owns the iconic poncho from the “Dollars” trilogy that his character wore.
“I still have that, yeah… it’s sitting in a glass case. Never been washed,” Eastwood told Feature Story in 2002.
Like the boots, Eastwood held onto the clothing piece after all of these years. The poncho, along with other effects, made the Man with No Name one of Eastwood’s most endearing creations. He occupies the halls of great cowboys alongside other of cinema’s heroes like John Wayne.
Breaking out the poncho may have been too distracting for a movie like “Unforgiven.” But Eastwood made sure to pay tribute to his past in other respects. His character shares several characteristics to his “Dollars” character if older and a little more grizzled.