Peter Viertel Black Heart", which was made into a film starring Clint Eastwood in 1990. It is a thinly-disguised account of Viertel's experiences working with film director John Huston while they were making "The African Queen". The central character is scriptwriter Pete Verrill while the Huston character is called John Wilson. Film critic Pauline Kael wrote in 1999 that "White Hunter" was “still the best Hollywood novel I’ve ever come across — and it isn’t even set in Hollywood.” Viertel's opinion of the finished film was tempered by his idea that Huston himself would have preferred a portrayal with more sarcasm. Viertel's
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