High Plains Drifter

Although High Plains Drifter was a commerical hit in 1973 and is generally held in high regard by film fans and critics, it has somewhat faded from memory over the years. This is ironic in that the power of memories is one of the film’s central thematic pillars.

The title of the film is the first clue, High Plains referring to the heavens of the afterlife and Drifter referring to Jim Duncan’s soul, which won’t rest until he has achieved retribution.

In the opening shot The Stranger materializes ("fades in" in simple editing terms) out of the shimmering heat of the desert plains, accompanied by ghostly music. He exits the film identically in the final shot. Ghostly music reccurs at many other points in the story. While approaching Lago the Stranger is seen passing through a graveyard. Once inside the town the Stranger is startled by the sound of a bullwhip from a passing wagon, not far from where Marshal Duncan’s murder by bullwhip took place. A few seconds later the Stranger dismounts his horse and sees the town undertaker staring at him next to an open coffin.

Skipping a few scenes, the Stranger settles down on a bed in a hotel room and we fade into the first flashback of Jim Duncan’s murder. The similar profiles between the Stranger’s face and the bullwhipped face of the marshall are highly suggestive that they’re the same person. We then fade back to a close-up of The Stranger awakening. It appears he dreamt the flashback. Possibly adding to the shared identity symbolism, The Stranger looks into a mirror after getting off the bed.

Now onto the second barber shop scene. As the stranger is having a bath Callie, the woman he raped in the barn, comes in firing a gun at him. His reaction is simply to duck under the water. Despite Callie firing at least two whots into the water, he emerges unscathed. He’s either supernaturally bullet proof or incredibly lucky.

The supernatural subtext then disappears while the story concentrates on the population of Lago, the release of the three released convicts and some background exposition regarding how and why Marshall Duncan was killed. But the supernatural subtext returns as the Stranger orders all occupants of the hotel out on the streets so he can sleep alone. At this point Lewis Belding, the hotel owner, sarcastically refers to the Stranger as “… our guardian angel”.

Next we get our second flashback of Jim Duncan’s murder, but this time it’s the midget, Mordicai, who is remembering the atrocity. The fact that this sequence is an expanded, but otherwise identical, repetition of the Stranger’s dream sequence demonstrates that the Stranger’s flashback was a real memory. The Stranger’s flashback was identical to Mordicai’s because he was there – he is Jim Duncan ghost.

Skip a few scenes and we hear Lewis Belding make another supernatural comment, while ranting in the church about the negative influence of the Stranger. “It couldn’t be worse if the devil himself had ridden right  into Lago!” After the failed attempt to kill the Stranger that same night, he sleeps with Mrs Belding. In the morning she brings up the story of Jim Duncan’s murder. “He’s lying out there right now in an unmarked grave. They say the dead don’t rest without a marker.”

The ghost subtext now disappears again until after the failed ambush on Stacey Bridges and his cousins. The Stranger suddenly bullwhips Cole Carlin by the neck and drags him out of the saloon then bullwhips him to death. But look at the angle from which the whip pulls Cole through the saloon doors – It clearly comes from above the door. The Stranger isn’t this tall. Is this another hint of some supernatural force effecting the proceedings?

The next clue comes as Dan Carlin and Stacey Bridges search the flamelit town for the Stranger. Dan is bullwhipped around the neck from above, like Cole was, and he’s hung from a balcony. Bridges looks up but doesn’t see anything of the Stranger. Again it’s as if a supernatural force has lashed out from the dark night sky. The hanging metaphor may also be relevant. The leaders of the town had conspired to have Stacey and his cousins kill Marshall Duncan, but the rest of the town had watched the crime and kept quiet after the fact. The head of the Mining Company, Dave Drake, summed it up, “One hang, we all hang.” So perhaps Dan Carlin’s hanging is symbolic of the punishment of the entire town.

Our next clue is what Stacey Bridges hears after he fires into the darkness at the Stranger. He hears “help me” whispered identically to the way it was whispered by the dying Jim Duncan.  Then we have the devilish Stranger backed by fire and ghostly music as he kills Stacey Bridges.

And finally, as the Stranger leaves town the next day, he has instructed Mordicai to put a name on Jim Duncan’s gravestone. Mordicai states, “I never did know your name”. The Stranger responds, “Yes you do”. The camera then pans down so that the Stranger, riding into the distance, briefly disappears behind Duncan’s gravestone – the dead can now rest.

With all these clues, which range from subtle to blatant, plus the absence of comparable references to the Stranger being a relative of Jim Duncan, it’s only logical to conclude that the Stranger is the dead Marshall’s avenging ghost.

High Plains Drifter was only Clint Eastwood’s second outing as a feature director, yet he delivered like a seasoned veteran. He demonstrates an amazing ability to direct himself in a lead role, this is virtually unheard of in film, and he’s achieved similar results many times since. He also produced the film. According to the DVD production notes the project was shot in just six weeks, was brought in two days ahead of schedule and under-budget.  (from an online essay by Rob Ager)