A Clint Eastwood Western proved the genre was alive and kicking, five years after a devastating box-office bomb appeared to kill them. Westerns were once one of the most popular genres in American cinema, but moving into the '60s and '70s, they started to feel old hat and outdated to audiences. Clint Eastwood was one of the last movie stars to make his name with them, thanks to the success of Sergio Leone's groundbreaking Dollars trilogy.
https://screenrant.com/pale-rider-movie-clint-eastwood-westerns-saved-heavens-gate-failure/