Joe Kidd
(1972)
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Clint Eastwood stars as the title character in this low-key, moderately politicised variation of his spaghetti westerns. In New Mexico in the late 1890s, the fiery Louis Chama (John Saxon) leads a group of Mexican-American peasants in a fight for their land after the evidence of their ownership has been destroyed in a questionable courthouse fire. The wealthy Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall), who also lays claim to the disputed land, has decided to bypass the legal system and hires a group of killers to take care of Chama. Kidd, who initially rejects Harlan's offer to join his hunting party, changes his mind when he finds that Chama has stolen some of his horses and brutalized one of his ranch hands. However, after seeing Harlan randomly pick off some Mexicans and becoming interested in Helen Sanchez (Stella Garcia), Kidd begins to think twice about his current employer. |
The spaghetti western meets its classic American origins, but Clint Eastwood's potent “Man with No Name” persona is in conflict with John Sturges's anonymous direction in this misfiring range-war saga. Eastwood's gunman is up against greedy businessman Robert Duvall, who's dispossessing Mexican-Americans of their land, but there's little to get excited about in this indifferent effort scripted by Elmore Leonard. The one fun highlight is when Eastwood drives a train through a saloon to mow down the villains.
