Nobody Remembers Clint Eastwood's Very First Role In A Western — Not Even The Director

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In the latter half of the 20th Century, Clint Eastwood became the standard-bearer of the Western. But like John Wayne before him, his appeal went beyond the humble Oater, with Eastwood becoming symbolic of American culture as a whole — a taciturn, gritty, and more cynical figure for the post-Wayne age. How strange to think, then, that this titan of the genre made his debut in a Western nobody remembers. Eastwood's appearance itself is even less well remembered, with director Charles F. Haas struggling to recall the young actor's brief role in 1956's "Star in the Dust."

As recounted in Patrick McGilligan's "Clint: The Life and Legend," Eastwood spent one day on the set of "Star in the Dust," playing Tom the ranch hand, for which he went uncredited. The movie was filmed in late August 1955, the same year Eastwood caused director Jack Arnold to have a breakdown on the set of "Revenge of the Creature." Making matters worse, the part of the lab assistant in Arnold's largely forgotten horror sequel was Eastwood's first film role. Inducing a meltdown in your director isn't the most auspicious way to start your acting career. That said, at least "Revenge of the Creature" gave the young star-in-the-making several lines in a scene with one of the film's leads, John Agar. He would become scene partners with Agar again in "Star in the Dust," but just like with his brief appearance in Arnold's film, would go uncredited for his efforts.

Perhaps that's why Haas himself couldn't quite remember Eastwood even being in on his set. "If he played any role," the director said to McGilligan, "it must have been tiny, because I have not the slightest memory of him in that context.'"

If your first introduction to Clint Eastwood was via 1964's "A Fistful of Dollars," you'd likely be under the impression that the star just sort of arrived fully formed. But before he and Sergio Leone rewrote the rules of filmmaking with their "Dollars" trilogy, Eastwood spent years honing his on-screen persona, beginning in the mid-50s when he was put under contract at Universal.

In 1955, Eastwood was taking acting classes as part of Universal's talent program. There, he benefited from the wisdom of legendary acting coaches Jess Kimmel and Jack Kosslyn. With director Arthur Lubin — the man who discovered Eastwood and put him under contract — essentially serving as his de facto manager at the time, the then 25-year-old seemed destined for success even if nobody could have predicted the megastardom that actually awaited. Still, like everybody else, Eastwood had to pay his dues before what he termed a "fluke" landed him his "Rawhide" role. He did so in a variety of bit parts beginning with "Revenge of the Creature." "Star in the Dust" quickly followed.

Based on Lee Leighton's 1953 novel "Law Man," the movie stars John Agar as Sheriff Bill Jorden, who oversees the town of Gunlock in the1800s. There, Richard Boone's Sam Hall is set to be hanged for the murders of three farmers which he carried out at the behest of the local cattlemen's association. The ranchers wanted the land for their herds, and sent Hall to dispatch the farmers. Now, they want Hall's life spared. Unsurprisingly, the other farmers are adamant that the execution go ahead, which puts Sheriff Jorden at the center of a dispute that soon turns violent, leading to a classic Western shootout. But where was Eastwood in all this?

Clint Eastwood appears in "Star in the Dust" for less than 30 seconds. But he's much more than what you might call "atmosphere." Like with "Revenge of the Creature," the actor finds himself conversing with John Agar when he shows up in a walk-on part as Tom the ranch hand and catches Agar's beleaguered Sheriff as he walks through town. "Today's the day, isn't it?" Eastwood's character asks Sheriff Bill Jorden, before informing him that he's headed to the Casino to "lay a bet" that Sam Hall will be kept alive rather than hung. "Judge Webb ordered Hall hanged at sundown today," comes the Sheriff's terse reply, before Eastwood exits with a wry smile that somehow projects more charisma than any of the other performers in the movie.

Perhaps that's partly why "Star in the Dust" isn't all that well-remembered. The movie was far from being one of the worst Westerns of all time, and featured some impressive stunts, including one towards the end when a man falls from a rooftop and crashes into an awning before hitting the floor — all of which happens in one shot that looks downright painful. There's also a fun and surprisingly vicious fight between Coleen Gray's Nellie Mason and Randy Stuart's Nan Hogan. Otherwise, however, "Star in the Dust" is a fairly uneventful if decent Western that followed the oft-used story structure of a law man who suddenly finds himself at odds with the very people he's sworn to protect.

In that sense, Eastwood's brief appearance is actually one of the most compelling aspects of the film, if only because it contains early hints of the magnetism that would come to define his career as it progressed