CLINT EASTWOOD - EASTWOOD THREATENS MOORE WITH DEATH

CLINT EASTWOOD has chillingly warned documentary-maker MICHAEL MOORE he'll face certain death if he ever points his camera at him.

Picking up a Special Film-making Achievement prize for MILLION DOLLAR BABY at the NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW AWARDS dinner in New York on Tuesday (11JAN05), Eastwood urged the FAHRENHEIT 9/11 director to avoid making him the subject of a future project if he values his life.

However, Eastwood - a staunch supporter of the Republicans - did admit he and Moore have a shared view of how American society should operate.

He said, "Michael Moore and I actually have a lot in common - we both appreciate living in a country where there's free expression.

"But, Michael, if you ever show up at my front door with a camera - I'll kill you."

And when Eastwood noticed the audience had erupted in laughter to his threat, he emphasised, "I mean it."

However, Moore's representatives insist the comments were intended as a joke: "Michael laughed along with everyone else, and took Mr Eastwood's comments in the lighthearted spirit in which they were given."