These are two mythical Westerns from Clint Eastwood, both of which essentially have the same conceit – the Clint character is the reincarnation of a dead lawman murdered by bandits, who returns to deliver justice to the perpetrators.

High Plains Drifter was the first Western Clint directed himself, and the influence of Sergio Leone looms large. The movie plays somewhat off Clint’s Man With No Name persona from the Dollars trilogy, whilst adding the mythic element as an interesting twist on the genre.

I once owned the UK quad poster but sold it years ago. It has the same image that features on the cover of the book Great Movie Posters which I own. The French ‘petit’ poster featured here is an interesting graphic treatment of the same pose, by the designer Michel Landi, who was responsible for a great many French movie posters in the 70s and 80s (including my Dracula AD72 poster).  He adds rather more dynamism to the illustration.  I think they are both strong images, and cannot decide which one I like best.

Pale Rider I like less as a movie, partly because it is in many ways a less interesting retread of High Plains Drifter. This time Clint plays a preacher, although it does not give too much away to say that he hangs up his collar and picks up his guns before the movie plays out.  Here is the cover of the UK press kit, which uses the same images as the poster, plus a selection of stills.