Take a few unshaven, gun-toting cowboys, throw in some cute one-liners, showdowns and horse chases and you’ve got the standard, stereotypical western.

What separates Clint Eastwood’s 1973 classic, from its cliché peers is its minimalistic directing, dark, underlying themes and amazingly intense plot development.

John Wayne hated this movie because Eastwood’s character is neither good nor bad. Flashbacks show the town’s last marshal, who was whipped to death while the townspeople stood idle. The story is one of the marshal’s revenge: A gruff drifter comes into a small town and in exchange for his protection, makes its cowardly citizens wallow like subjects under his command.

It’s hard not to like Eastwood’s cool swagger, even with callous abuse of the townsfolk. It’s also hard not to love this movie, which showed that Westerns can be artistic, too.