Clint Eastwood has publicly identified one film from 1967 as a source of ongoing embarrassment: "The Witches," a segment of an anthology directed by Italian neorealist master Vittorio De Sica. The film is notably anomalous in Eastwood's career, featuring surreal content including Batman fantasies and ending with his character shooting himself—a stark departure from his typical Western roles. United Artists was so protective of Eastwood's image that they purchased the film's rights and severely restricted its theatrical release in the United States, limiting it to a brief, confined run in New York in 1969, more than two years after its Italian premiere.

Despite describing the film as "laughable" and "crazy" when recalling it in 1997, Eastwood stated that he was genuinely glad to have undertaken the unconventional role. He emphasised the importance of taking creative risks and exploring different directions in one's work, viewing the experience as valuable despite—or perhaps because of—its deviation from his established persona. After this singular artistic experiment, he returned to the Westerns and action films that defined his career.