Malpaso Productions

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Malpaso Productions
Company typePrivate
IndustryFilm
Founded1967
FounderIrving Leonard
Clint Eastwood
Headquarters,
Key people
Clint Eastwood
Robert Lorenz
David Valdes
Fritz Manes
Robert Daley
Keith Dillin
ProductsMotion pictures
ServicesFilm production

Malpaso Productions is Clint Eastwood's production company.[1] It was established in 1967 as The Malpaso Company by Eastwood's financial adviser Irving Leonard for the film Hang 'Em High, using profits from the Dollars Trilogy. Leonard served as President of the Malpaso Company until his death on December 13, 1969.

Name origins[edit]

The name is derived from Malpaso Creek (Spanish for "bad step", or "misstep"), located south of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Eastwood had received U.S. Army basic training at nearby Fort Ord, where he remained as a lifeguard until discharged in 1953.[2] On December 24, 1967, Eastwood bought five parcels totaling 283 acres (115 ha) of land along Malpaso Creek from Charles Sawyer.[3] He later added more land until he owned 650 acres (260 ha). The land bordered the south bank of Malpaso Creek from the eastern side of Highway 1 to the coastal ridge. He sold it to Monterey County in 1995 for $3.08 million.[4][5] Near the coast, a trail and later a road ran from Carmel to Big Sur during the 1800s. The creek has very steep side slopes and there was only one crossing (a ford only 10 feet (3.0 m) above sea level) until the Malpaso Creek Bridge was built in 1935 as part of Highway 1.

Founding[edit]

When Eastwood agreed to take the role of The Man with No Name in A Fistful of Dollars in 1964, his agent told him that it would be a "bad step" for his career. The Dollars Trilogy was surprisingly successful. After filming Where Eagles Dare in 1968, Eastwood grew annoyed about the money he considered wasted during these big productions. He wanted more creative control over his films and decided to form his own production company. He thought the choice of "Malpaso" was appropriate.[6]

Irving Leonard, Eastwood's financial adviser, organized the company for Eastwood following the success of and using the earnings from the Dollars Trilogy.[7] The first feature they produced was the 1968 film Hang 'Em High. Leonard served as President of the Malpaso Company and associate producer of Eastwood's films from Hang 'Em High until his death in 1969.[8][9]

Eastwood is known for very tight shooting schedules, finishing his films on schedule and on budget, or earlier and under budget, typically in much less time than most production companies.[10]

Few film production companies such as Malpaso Productions have been involved with one studio for releasing its motion pictures. Warner Bros. Pictures has served as the distributor of many of Clint Eastwood's produced, directed and starred films, a relationship that has lasted for nearly half a century and resulted in more than 40 features.[11]

Filmography[edit]

1960s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
1968 Hang 'Em High Ted Post United Artists The Malpaso Company co-production with Leonard Freeman Productions; first film
Coogan's Bluff Don Siegel Universal Pictures
1969 Paint Your Wagon Joshua Logan Paramount Pictures top production billing went to Alan Jay Lerner Productions

1970s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
1970 Two Mules for Sister Sara Don Siegel Universal Pictures The Malpaso Company co-production with Sanen Productions
1971 The Beguiled co-production with Jennings Lang Productions
Play Misty for Me Clint Eastwood
Dirty Harry Don Siegel Warner Bros. Pictures
1972 Joe Kidd John Sturges Universal Pictures
1973 High Plains Drifter Clint Eastwood
Breezy
Magnum Force Ted Post Warner Bros. Pictures
1974 Thunderbolt and Lightfoot Michael Cimino United Artists
1975 The Eiger Sanction Clint Eastwood Universal Pictures co-production with Zanuck/Brown Productions
1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales Warner Bros. Pictures
The Enforcer James Fargo
1977 The Gauntlet Clint Eastwood
1978 Every Which Way But Loose James Fargo
1979 Escape from Alcatraz Don Siegel Paramount Pictures

1980s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
1980 Any Which Way You Can Buddy Van Horn Warner Bros. Pictures The Malpaso Company
1982 Firefox Clint Eastwood
Honkytonk Man
1983 Sudden Impact
1984 Tightrope Richard Tuggle uncredited scenes directed by Clint Eastwood
City Heat Richard Benjamin
1985 Pale Rider Clint Eastwood
1986 Heartbreak Ridge
Ratboy Sondra Locke
1988 The Dead Pool Buddy Van Horn Malpaso Productions
Bird Clint Eastwood The Malpaso Company
Thelonious Monk: Straight, No Chaser Charlotte Zwerin Malpaso Productions
1989 Pink Cadillac Buddy Van Horn

1990s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
1990 White Hunter, Black Heart Clint Eastwood Warner Bros. Pictures Malpaso Productions
The Rookie
1992 Unforgiven
1993 A Perfect World co-production with Mark Johnson Productions
1995 The Bridges of Madison County co-production with Amblin Entertainment
The Stars Fell on Henrietta James Keach
1997 Absolute Power Clint Eastwood Sony Pictures Releasing co-production with Columbia Pictures and Castle Rock Entertainment
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Silver Pictures
1999 True Crime co-production with The Zanuck Company

2000s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
2000 Space Cowboys Clint Eastwood Warner Bros. Pictures Malpaso Productions co-production with Mad Chance Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures and Clipsal Films
2002 Blood Work
2003 Mystic River co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment
2004 Million Dollar Baby co-production with Lakeshore Entertainment
2006 Flags of Our Fathers Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with DreamWorks Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
Letters from Iwo Jima Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with DreamWorks Pictures and Amblin Entertainment
2007 Rails & Ties Alison Eastwood
2008 Changeling Clint Eastwood Universal Pictures co-production with Relativity Media and Imagine Entertainment
Gran Torino Warner Bros. Pictures co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures
2009 Invictus co-production with Spyglass Entertainment

2010s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
2010 Hereafter Clint Eastwood Warner Bros. Pictures Malpaso Productions co-production with Amblin Entertainment and The Kennedy/Marshall Company
2011 J. Edgar co-production with Imagine Entertainment and Wintergreen Productions
2012 Trouble with the Curve Robert Lorenz
2014 Jersey Boys Clint Eastwood co-production with RatPac-Dune Entertainment and GK Films
American Sniper co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Mad Chance Productions and 22nd & Indiana Pictures
2016 Sully co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Flashlight Films, The Kennedy/Marshall Company and Orange Corp
2018 The 15:17 to Paris co-production with Village Roadshow Pictures and Access Entertainment
The Mule co-production with Imperative Entertainment and Bron Creative
2019 Richard Jewell co-production with Appian Way Productions, Misher Films and 75 Year Plan Productions

2020s[edit]

Year Title Director Distributor Names Notes
2021 Cry Macho Clint Eastwood Warner Bros. Pictures Malpaso Productions
TBA Juror #2 co-production with Dichotomy and Gotham Group

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Clint Eastwood". Variety.
  2. ^ "Military People". www.militaryhub.com. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  3. ^ "Mutual Water Company Subscription Agreement - Victorine Ranch Mutual Water Company" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 23, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
  4. ^ Pitnick, Richard (January 29, 1998). "Eastwood's Odello donation helped the movie mogul and the county". Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "Rancho Cañada Village" (PDF). Carmel Pine Cone. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
  6. ^ "Clint Eastwood". The Biography Channel. Archived from the original on February 16, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2008.
  7. ^ McGilligan, Patrick (1999). Clint: The Life and Legend. London: HarperCollins. p. 162. ISBN 0-00-638354-8.
  8. ^ Smith, Paul (January 1, 1993). Clint Eastwood. Taylor & Francis. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-85728-158-3. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  9. ^ American Film Institute (1997). The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1961-1970. University of California Press. pp. 450–. ISBN 978-0-520-20970-1. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
  10. ^ Edward Buscombe (1999). The Oxford History of World Cinema. Oxford University Press. pp. 472–473.
  11. ^ "Happy Birthday Clint Eastwood". Retrieved June 2, 2020.