Pale Rider
Movie, 1985, The '80s, Set in A California mining camp
Pale Rider is #21 of 34 in release order and #18 of 34 in chronological order in the Westerns.
The story
A mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying to encroach on their land.
Pale Rider recap
Pale Rider (1985) brings a mysterious preacher to a California mining camp just as a girl prays for help against a bullying mining baron. Clint Eastwood directs and plays the man, known only as Preacher. The mining baron Coy LaHood (Richard Dysart) wants the Carbon Canyon claims worked by independent prospectors, among them Hull Barret (Michael Moriarty), who is courting the widow Sarah Wheeler (Carrie Snodgress); her teenage daughter Megan (Sydney Penny) is the one who prays. Preacher beats four of LaHood's men with an axe handle and later fells the giant Club (Richard Kiel). Hull notices six healed bullet wounds in his back. LaHood offers the miners a buyout and, when they refuse, sends for Marshal Stockburn (John Russell) and six deputies. Preacher retrieves his guns from a bank deposit box. Stockburn is alarmed by the description of the stranger, saying the man he resembles is dead. The film stands alone, though it closely echoes Shane.
Pale Rider ending explained
Pale Rider ends with Preacher killing Stockburn and his deputies in town, then riding away as Megan calls out her thanks. Preacher and Hull first dynamite LaHood's hydraulic mining works. In town Preacher picks off the deputies one by one, and Stockburn recognises him before Preacher shoots him six times in the chest, leaving wounds that mirror his own, then finishes him. Hull, who walked to town, shoots LaHood as he aims at Preacher from a window.
Post-credits scenes
No. There is no post-credits scene.
Where to watch Pale Rider
Pale Rider is streaming on YouTube (free) in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 7.3/10, Rotten Tomatoes 94%
Where it fits
- Release order: after The Outlaw Josey Wales, before Lonesome Dove.
- Chronological order: after The Outlaw Josey Wales, before Lonesome Dove.
Cast
- Clint Eastwood as Preacher
- Michael Moriarty as Hull Barret
- Carrie Snodgress as Sarah Wheeler
- Chris Penn as Josh LaHood
- Richard Dysart as Coy LaHood
- Sydney Penny as Megan Wheeler
- Richard Kiel as Club
- Doug McGrath as Spider Conway
- John Russell as Stockburn
- Charles Hallahan as McGill
- Marvin J. McIntyre as Jagou
- Fran Ryan as Ma Blankenship
Directed by Clint Eastwood.