Clint Eastwood in the 1970s would be widely screened in France later and is considered one of Eastwood's finest works by the French. According to Eastwood and Lang, the film, aside from being poorly publicized, flopped due to Clint being "emasculated in the film". Eastwood said about his role: 1971 was a professional turning point in Eastwood's career. Before his professional financial adviser and president of Malpaso Productions Irving Leonard died, the last film they discussed was "Play Misty for Me". The goal was to give Eastwood the artistic control that he desired and make it his directorial debut. The rights to the song "Misty"
Clint Eastwood in the 2000s opening weekend in January 2009, making Eastwood, at age 78, the oldest leading man to reach number one at the box office. "Gran Torino" grossed over $268 million worldwide in theaters and is the highest-grossing film of Eastwood's career so far without adjustment for inflation. Andrew Sarris of the "New York Observer" stated that Eastwood "... caps his career as both a director and an actor with his portrayal of a heroically redeemed bigot of such humanity and luminosity as to exhaust my supply of superlatives." Eastwood said at the time that it was likely the last time he would