Joe Kidd (1972)

Director:

John Sturges

Writer:

Elmore Leonard (written by)

Release Date:

14 July 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

If you're looking for trouble - - - he's JOE KIDD

Plot:

An ex-bounty hunter reluctantly helps a wealthy landowner and his henchmen track down a Mexican revolutionary leader.

Plot Keywords:

Landowner | Mexican | Land | Bounty Hunter | Shotgun

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Joe Kidd
Robert Duvall	...	Frank Harlan
John Saxon	...	Luis Chama
Don Stroud	...	Lamarr Simms
Stella Garcia	...	Helen Sanchez
James Wainwright	...	Olin Mingo
Paul Koslo	...	Roy Gannon
Gregory Walcott	...	Sinola County Sheriff Bob Mitchell
Dick Van Patten	...	Hotel manager
Lynne Marta	...	Elma
John Carter	...	Judge
Pepe Hern	...	Priest
Joaquín Martínez	...	Manolo (as Joaquin Martinez)
Ron Soble	...	Ramon
Pepe Callahan	...	Naco

Also Known As:

Sinola (USA) (working title)
Sinola (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Belâ arayan adam (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Joe Kidd (France) [fr]
Joe Kidd (Spain) [es]
Joe Kidd (Greece) [el]
Joe Kidd (Brazil) [pt]
Joe Kidd (Finland) [fi]
Joe Kidd (Denmark) [da]

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

UK:15 (1987) | UK:AA (1972) | Iceland:16 | Spain:13 | West Germany:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:15 | Norway:16 (1972) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Writer Elmore Leonard certainly did know something about classic firearms. From Frank Harlan's Custom Savage 99 (1899), Olin Mingo's Remington-Keene sporter (1880) in .45-70, Lamarr Simms Mauser C-96 (1896) broomhandle and Joe's Cased Ross Rifle sporter model M-10 (1910) in .280 Ross. Leonard took special care to ensure all weapons (even the optics) were period accurate for that movie, being set in pre-statehood New Mexico territory (1912).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Near the end of the film when Joe Kidd and the sheriff are coming out of the courthouse the sheriff tries to put his gun in his holster but misses and has to try again.

Quotes:

[Joe is putting the moves on Elma]
Elma: How long have they had you locked up?
Joe Kidd: Two days.
Elma: What would you be like after two months?
Joe Kidd: We wouldn't even be talking now.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Drive-in Movie Memories (2001)

Just don't kid around with Joe Kidd, okay…

Just another vehicle for Dirty Harry in the west? Well, not quite. This time round, Clint plays the title role – an individualist, of course, and one with a sense of justice not unlike Dirty Harry; where Joe Kidd differs is that he has no truck with the law and prefers the hunter's life on the range.

Which, in turn, causes him to wind up in jail because, in the opener, we find Joe in jail having been charged with hunting deer on reservation land. After being summarily fined $10 and deciding to work out the fine in jail instead, the court proceedings are interrupted by a large band of Mexicans desperately seeking justice about land claims in the area.

During the subsequent shooting melee when the Mexicans attempt to kidnap the county judge, Joe takes the initiative and gets the judge safely away, and out of harm. After the bandits run, Joe settles down to work off his jail term of ten days – only to be hauled out of that predicament by Robert Duvall's nasty business tycoon, Frank Harlan, who wants to hunt down, with his own band of killers, the leader of the Mexican band, Luis Chama, as portrayed by John Saxon.

Thereafter follows an inventive narrative and denouement as written by one of America's best writers, Elmore Leonard, involving a hunt to the high sierras and a Mexican standoff – and a Mexican standoff - between the Mexican bandits, the American bounty hunters and finally Joe who escapes the clutches of the bounty hunters to try to persuade Chama to plead his case in a court of law.

To say more would ruin the plot for you. Clint does his usual laconic, iron-fisted turn with revolver, rifle and now pistol – an automatic German C96 Mauser, no less (the setting is in 1897 or so, and that pistol began production in 1896). Robert Duvall is suitably slimy and duplicitous, hell bent on killing whomever he wishes to get his way; perhaps a bit of a parody of bad guy, but what the hey! The real parody, however, is Don Stroud, as Lamarr, the gunman who just can't behave while Joe Kidd is around. While John Saxon's Mexican bandit, Luis Chama, is sympathetically done.

The setting is simply and starkly beautiful – snow capped peaks in the sierra, the undulating plain, a frontier town, rocky outcrops, a small village with the inevitable church and bell tower which plays an important and somewhat comedic part in the battle between the competing bands. Director Sturges certainly took advantage of the natural splendor to make this film all that more enjoyable.

As always, though, my criticism with Hollywood Westerns made from the fifties to the seventies generally is that the characters are way too clean: these were rough conditions, dirty times, filthy streets. I know there were exceptions, but that just proved the rule. Eastwood's Unforgiven (1995), Jamurschs' Dead Man (1996) or Cimino's Heaven's Gate (1992) redressed that aspect very nicely, however.

For 84 minutes you'll enjoy a good story, well acted and with appropriate action. See it if you can. Recommended for all.