Joe Kidd

<em>'Joe Kidd'</em> is solid. It's not Clint Eastwood's best work but it's still a role that sufficiently entertains. You also have an important role for one Robert Duvall, who did <em>'The Godfather'</em> in the same year interestingly. No-one else really stands out; not even the miscast John Saxon. The plot is a simple one, which thankfully doesn't drag thanks to a short run time of around 90 minutes. There's also an amusing scene involving a choo-choo, so there is also that. Overall, it does enough for me.

**_Eastwood’s “lost” Western with Duvall and Saxon_** In the Southwest in 1902 a land-grabbing tycoon (Robert Duvall) hires an ex-bounty hunter (Clint Eastwood) in order to track down a Mexican leader who objects to injustice (John Saxon) and is hiding out in the high country with his people. Don Stroud is on hand as one of the pompous gringo’s heavies. "Joe Kidd" (1972) is generally viewed as one of Eastwood’s lesser Westerns when it’s more entertaining than Sergio Leone’s overrated trilogy from 1964-1966, at least in my opinion. It has a notable cast, a superb score and great locations, not to mention being directed by John Sturges, known for great (or near-great) films like “The Law and Jake Wade” (1958), “Chino” (1973) and “The Eagle Has Landed” (1977). True, Sturges was reportedly struggling with alcoholism during shooting and the story starts to meander in the high country during the second act, but the flick works as a whole and everything ties-together for the climax. Originally, Saxon’s ‘bandit,’ Chama, was supposed to be more heroic, but this was changed when Clint was hired on and Joe Kidd became the amusingly fearless hero, the intermediary between two opposing forces. Very little is predictable, from the interesting costumes & weaponry to the bizarre plot twists to the amusing ways the protagonist gets himself into and out of trouble, like the ladder/trapdoor sequence, the swinging water jug scene, the sniper vs. sniper sequence and the whacky train ride. Stella Garcia (Helen) and Lynne Marta (Elma) are featured in the feminine department. Anyone who favors Eastwood’s other Westerns will find a lot to like here. The film runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Old Tucson & Sonoran Desert, Arizona, and Alabama Hills & Inyo National Forest, California. GRADE: B+

When the Mexican farmers under their leader “Chama” (John Saxon) finally run out of patience with the gringo’s stealing their land, they take matters into their own hands and earn the enmity of opportunist land-grabber “Harlan” (Robert Duvall). Meantime, “Kidd” (Clint Eastwood), who prefers to see life through the bottom of a bottle, has been having his own altercations with the law and so reluctantly joins the posse. Fairly swiftly, though, he (and we) realise that he’s backed the wrong horse as his new boss’s indiscriminate brutality begins to turn his stomach. Constantly ribbed by the provocative “Lamarr” (Don Stroud) and becoming just a little drawn to the fesity “Helen” (Stella Garcia), though not romantically, it's obvious that "Kidd" isn't going to prove too reliable for team "Harlan". I suppose my problem with this was it’s predictability. Right from the preamble, it’s quite clear which trammels the characters are going to follow and although there’s a degree of mischief as “Kidd” gradually evens the odds, the denouement might as well have been written on the front page. It does look good and both Duvall and Eastwood are naturals with this genre where dialogue is way less important than action and grand scale photography - in this case of some snow capped mountains providing much of the backdrop. It’s just not really a very distinctive film, but it’s solid with plenty going on and passes the time easily enough.