Believe it or not, when Clint Eastwood convinced Burt Reynolds to play in one of its worst Western, the two were in fact friends. It seems that there was some confusion on Eastwood’s suggestion that Reynolds played in a Western spaghetti of the type that had made him a big name. This resulted in a regrettable role for Reynolds as a American in “Navajo Joe”, a film that the actor openly criticized for the rest of his life. Despite all that, Eastwood and Reynolds had been friends before “Navajo Joe” and remained friends in the years after, even working together on an equally unhappy film that brought together the couple at the height of their powers, but failed to be up to such invoicing.
In 1984, Eastwood and Reynolds played in “City Heat”, a forgotten gangster film that Roger Ebert hated absolutely, enough to call him “parody”. The film has experienced since infamy since, with a pitiful 22% note on Rotten Tomatoes and is generally recalled as one of the biggest misconducts in the career of the two actors. But “City Heat” could not derail the careers of Eastwood or Reynolds, and they remained two of the largest box-offs in the world. Over time, the first has gone from the legendary action hero to the famous director. Meanwhile, the latter has not really reached the same artistic heights, even if there remains a legend in its own right.
Who would have thought that all of this was possible in the 1950s, when the two actors were dismissed by Universal? Well, the reasons why they were dismissed are, of course, ridiculous. But if Reynolds’ memory of the way they were released are correct, the reasons also speak of how these two quarries on the screen have diverged over the years.
Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood have lost their contracts for very different reasons
In the 1950s, Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds signed contracts with Universal Pictures. As the New York Times said in a 1966 play, Reynolds “signed a seven -year contract with Universal and was tested with starlets for fans magazines”. But it seems that he is not entirely up to the studio expectations in this regard because, according to the actor, he was finally released – with Eastwood.
In an interview of 2000 with Larry King, Reynolds recalled how he had signed a contract with Universal in 1958 before being dismissed the following year, which was at the same time that Eastwood was released from the studio. As Reynolds remembered it:
“I always tell the story that we were dismissed the same day, but we did not do it. We were dismissed the same year. And he was dismissed because the apple of his Adam remained too far. He spoke too slowly. And he had a chipped tooth and he would not make him fix. And I said:” Why are you held? “And they said,” You can’t act. “
In a later interview with Conan, Reynolds said that he and Eastwood had been dismissed on the same day. “We are walking towards his truck, you know, thereafter,” he recalls, “and I said,” You know you are in many problems “, and he said:” Why? “And I said:” I can learn to act, you will never get rid of Adam apple. “”
Whether the anecdote of Reynolds is correct or embellished for a good story is not clear. But if Universal really let him go so as not to be able to act, while Eastwood was cut for cosmetic reasons, it was an early indication of the way in which the pair career would progress. Now no one doubts that Eastwood can act. Reynolds, who died in 2018, never really appreciated the same unshakable esteem, but he clearly had a good sense of humor on this subject.
