Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood The Gauntlet (1977) is a high-octane action thriller that subverts his "supercop" persona through the character of Ben Shockley, a down-and-out, alcoholic detective. Plot Overview
★★★★☆ (4/5 – A lean, mean, bullet-riddled classic) The Gauntlet - Clint Eastwood 1977 Eng Subs 720...
: Ben Shockley (Eastwood), a down-on-his-luck alcoholic cop, is assigned to escort a witness, Augustina "Gus" Mally (Sondra Locke), from Las Vegas to Phoenix . They soon realize they are being hunted by the mob and corrupt police . Directed by and starring Clint Eastwood The Gauntlet
What follows is a 90-minute endurance test. Shockley and Augustina must run a literal “gauntlet” of armed assassins, roadblocks, and a final, legendary ambush outside the Phoenix courthouse. The climax—where Shockley commandeers a city bus, armors it with scrap metal, and drives it straight into a wall of 200 cops—is one of the most audacious set pieces of the 1970s. Gritty Action Sequences : The film features a
Before he became America’s taciturn conscience with Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby , Clint Eastwood directed and starred in The Gauntlet —a film that often sits in the shadow of his Dirty Harry series but deserves recognition as one of his most nihilistically entertaining thrillers. Released in 1977, at the tail end of the paranoia fueled by Vietnam and Watergate, The Gauntlet is a two-lane blacktop nightmare: a brutal, almost absurdist chase movie where the entire system is corrupt, and the only people left standing are a washed-up alcoholic cop and a blowzy prostitute with a sharp tongue.
Clint Eastwood plays Ben Shockley, a Phoenix cop who has been on the skids for years. He’s a joke to his colleagues, a man drowning in cheap whiskey and self-pity. He’s given a simple assignment: “Go to Las Vegas. Pick up a witness. Bring her back for a trial.” Sounds easy. But the witness is Augustina “Gus” Mally (Sondra Locke), a sharp-mouthed prostitute who witnessed a mob hit. By the time Shockley finds her, half of Vegas’s underworld—and the apparently compromised Phoenix police force—wants her dead.
"The Gauntlet" is an action thriller film directed by James Keach and starring Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke. The movie follows two police officers, Ben Scott (Eastwood) and Murdock (Locke), who are tasked with transporting a key witness, a prostitute named Janet (played by Ruta Lee), across the country to testify against a mob boss.