A Fistful of Dollars

I've just finished watching "A fistful of Dollars" for the first time. I thought it might tie in well with us looking at stars and how they were used in hollywood. Do people watch this film because its a classic piece of cinema or do they watch it because they want to see Clint Eastwood swaggering and grimacing around the screen? I suppose its not that good an example because these are the films that really established him as a star. But the character he plays seems to be the model for later Eastwood films; the fierce, quietly intelligent hero. Maybe then this is how a star is created and then used. Audiences loved Clint Eastwood playing that character and would pay their money again and again to see him play it. Studios see that audiences like this and so put him in the same roles and so this "star" image is created. Clint Eastwood is no longer an actor hes a brand the studio can advertise and sell.