The American Film Institute Salute to Clint Eastwood (1996) (TV)

Director:

Louis J. Horvitz

Writers:

Judd Apatow (special material: Jim Carrey)
Robert Shrum (writer)

Release Date:

1 May 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A testimonial presented by the American Film Institute to actor/director Clint Eastwood, including reminiscences by his friends, coworkers and co-stars. |

Plot Keywords:

Awards Show | TV Special | Actor | Director | Film Industry

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Honoree
Jim Carrey	...	Himself - Host
Rene Russo	...	Herself (host)
Don Rickles	...	Himself
Steven Spielberg	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Warren Beatty	...	Himself
Pierce Brosnan	...	Himself
Nicolas Cage	...	Himself
Faye Dunaway	...	Herself
Francesca Fisher-Eastwood	...	Herself (as Francesca Ruth Eastwood)
Ed Harris	...	Himself
Dustin Hoffman	...	Himself
Quincy Jones	...	Himself
Dylan McDermott	...	Himself
Jack Nicholson	...	Himself
Gregory Peck	...	Himself
Kevin Spacey	...	Himself
Donald Sutherland	...	Himself
Quentin Tarantino	...	Himself
Forest Whitaker	...	Himself

Also Known As:

The AFI Salute to Clint Eastwood (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

American Film Institute (AFI)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project (2007)

An entertaining hour

"The American Film Institute Salute to Clint Eastwood," as it aired on ABC-TV in May 1996, is a very entertaining hour hosted by a respectful, if still hilarious, Jim Carrey whose best moment is probably his imitation of Frank Sinatra as a singing Dirty Harry. When a wrist injury forced Ol' Blue Eyes off the project, Eastwood, Carrey said, axed Sinatra's songs, not wishing to repeat the debacle of "Paint Your Wagon." Don Rickles, Eastwood's co-star in "Kelly's Heroes," was hilarious describing the guest of honor as a man who likes "to sit on the back of his pickup truck and watch his dog bark." Dylan McDermott, Forest Whitaker, co-host Rene Russo, and Steven Spielberg also offered testimonials in between clips from "A Fistful of Dollars," "Dirty Harry," "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot," "Bird," "In the Line of Fire," "Unforgiven," "The Bridges of Madison County," and even TV's "Rawhide." Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Pierce Brosnan, Ed Harris, Quentin Tarentino, Nicolas Cage, Faye Dunaway, Donald Sutherland, Kevin Spacey, and Quincy Jones were all in attendance, but where, I wondered, was Meryl Streep (from "Bridges"), Kevin Costner (from "A Perfect World"), and the co-stars of "Unforgiven"? Eastwood makes his entrance to the accompaniment of Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" (from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly") and gives a very modest, appreciative acceptance speech that proves what I have long suspected: he's not only a cinema giant, but one of the film world's most decent men. A longer (2 hour) version of this tribute later played on the Arts and Entertainment channel, and was superior to the edited commercial broadcast. The highlight of the entire evening (cut out of the ABC version) can be found there: Donald Sutherland reminiscing about the ordeal of filming "Kelly's Heroes" in Yugoslavia, and of Eastwood's making it so much easier than it would have otherwise been.