Clint Eastwood Western "Pale Rider" (1985), the war films "Where Eagles Dare" (1968), "Kelly's Heroes" (1970), and "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986), the action thriller "In the Line of Fire" (1993), the romantic drama "The Bridges of Madison County" (1995), and the drama "Gran Torino" (2008). In addition to directing many of his own star vehicles, Eastwood has also directed films in which he did not appear, such as the mystery drama "Mystic River" (2003) and the war film "Letters from Iwo Jima" (2006), for which he received Academy Award nominations, the drama "Changeling" (2008), and the South African biographical political sports drama "Invictus"
Clint Eastwood a fee of $400,000 and 25 percent of its net box-office takings. Using money earned from the "Dollars" trilogy, accountant and Eastwood advisor Irving Leonard helped establish Eastwood's own production company, Malpaso Productions, named after Malpaso Creek on Eastwood's property in Monterey County, California. As recently as a month prior to the film's release, 38-year-old Eastwood was still a relative unknown; in July 1968, syndicated columnist Dorothy Manners noted "The proverbial man in the street is still asking, "Who's Clint Eastwood?" Leonard arranged for "Hang 'Em High" to be a joint production with United Artists; when it opened in August