Clint Eastwood proved that the skills he displayed as a first-time director with "Play Misty for Me" in 1971 were not a fluke. In 1973, he directed and starred in the revisionist Western "High Plains Drifter", playing upon his star-making image as a mysterious drifter with a murky past. In this case, the film had an added unique element: supernatural overtones. John Wayne hated the film but audiences flocked to it and even some critics grudgingly conceded that Eastwood was showing some promising skill as a director. Little would anyone know that in 1993, he would receive the Best Director Oscar for another Western, "Unforgiven".
This is a rare trade ad for "High Plains Drifter" that ran in Boxoffice magazine in July, 1973.