The great Clint Eastwood started his directorial career back in 1971 with Play Misty for Me, and by the time he got to his sixth directing feature, a brisk, humorous, highly energetic action film called The Gauntlet, he developed a kind of his own filmmaking signature. The Gauntlet, a story of an alcoholic loser of a cop accepting a seemingly simple assignment of escorting an intelligent and strongminded Las Vegas prostitute to Phoenix so she could testify against the mob, fits perfectly into his repertoire.
The Gauntlet was a big commercial hit when it came out, and a good deal of its appeal and power comes from the unlikely, dynamic partnership between Eastwood’s detective Ben Shockley and Sondra Locke’s surprisingly informed witness. The other half of the movie’s charm is derived from really top-notch action sequences: as we learn that Locke’s character is not some lowlife informant scheduled to testify in some non-important trial, but a very important witness whose testimony would incriminate both the mob and some high-ranking dignitaries, we’re taken on an exhilarating and suspenseful ride with the two central characters. Car bombs, stolen motorcycles, fights with Hell’s Angels, hijacked buses, helicopter explosions… If you’re looking for high-quality action films enriched with style and humor, The Gauntlet might just exceed your expectations.
In 1972 a neophyte Spanish media company created a rare platform for artists to explore classic genre imagery with a sophisticated cinematic sensibility.
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