High Plains Drifter (1973)

A stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides into a small isolated and unfriendly town set aside a big lake. The people are afraid of strangers because it's a corrupt town with a collective murderous secret. But when the stranger proves his prowess with a gun, the town promises him anything if he will protect them from three men, just out of prison, who are coming to exact their revenge on the town. Eastwood's second film as a director (his first was the thriller PLAY MISTY FOR ME) is influenced by his mentor Sergio Leone, his character a variation of the "Man With No Name" he played in Leone's trilogy. It's a metaphysical allegory which is a heavy load for a western to carry and Eastwood's touch isn't as assured as Leone's or even his own later directorial efforts. So it's rough around its edges and some of the handling of the action is crude (including a rape as punishment sequence) but it's a strangely compelling western. It's hold on you is almost spellbinding. Eastwood had the entire town built on Mono Lake (just outside Yosemite National Park if I recall) and Bruce Surtees' wide screen cinematography is quite handsome. With Verna Bloom, Marianna Hill, Jack Ging, Mitch Ryan, Paul Brinegar, Geoffrey Lewis, Billy Curtis, Ted Hartley and John Hillerman among the townsfolk.