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 1970s of Josey Wales with his Man With No Name character in his Dollars westerns and praised the atmosphere of the film. The film was awarded a 97% rating on the critical website Rotten Tomatoes. After "The Outlaw Josey Wales", Eastwood was offered the role of Benjamin L. Willard in Francis Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" but declined as he did not want to spend weeks in the Philippines shooting it. He was offered the part of a platoon leader in Ted Post's Vietnam War film, "Go Tell the Spartans". Eastwood refused the part and Burt Lancaster played the character instead. Eastwood was