Miscellaneous Musings - Eastwood/Bronson Revisionist West
Joe Kidd (1972) **1⁄2
When fans and casual western watchers talk about Eastwood favorites, I imagine JOE KIDD rarely enters the conversation, perhaps even overshadowed by lesser received Hang 'Em High(..although, I'm personally very fond of this western which, like JOE KIDD, arrived on the heels of the Man With No Name Sergio Leone series). I think that's unfortunate because the movie has the likes of Robert Duvall and John Saxon(not to mention Don Stroud who is always a great heavy and was also Eastwood's adversary in Coogan's Bluff)as hunter and hunted respectively. Eastwood's Joe Kidd is perhaps a more "ordinary" hero lacking the mythic quality often displayed in other westerns.
Mr. Harlan(Duvall)and his hired killers, cocksure Lamarr(Stroud), crackshot rifleman Mingo(James Wainwright)and cocky wisecracking Roy(Paul Koslo), real bad hombres(all quite confident in their abilities), are preparing to hunt down and kill wanted Mexican outlaw Luis Chama(John Saxon)who is stirring up his people to reclaim the land stolen out from under them by the likes of Harlan who deals in territory. Chama's resistance of Anglo "takeover" of Mexican territory, demanding land reform, doesn't bode well with those who are trying to steal it from them. A hefty warrant is quite rewarding to anyone who can silence a powerful voice like Chama's. Interesting enough, Harlan threatens to assassinate five Mexicans from a church if Chama doesn't come to them, not adhering to their warning, and it will take Kidd's heroism in order to halt such a horrible act. Intriguing how the Mexican people regard Chama as a savior and it's actually an Anglo who comes to save the day. Ultimately when it comes down to land rights and court hearings, Harlan would prefer to just skip all that and wipe Chama off the map completely. Joe is hired by Harlan because he "knows the mountains and game trails better than anybody". Kidd actually takes the guide job in order to get revenge on Chama's man, Ramone(Ron Sobal)who tied his worker in barbwire for his involvement in the murder of a Mexican named Naco(who had denied Kidd a cup of coffee while he was handcuffed to a bed in a prison cell). It was self defense against Naco who drew on him for knocking him across the noggin with a pot(Naco made the mistake of getting on his bad side, never a good idea). Gregory Walcott shows up as Salinas Sheriff Bob Mitchell, who is actually merely in Harlan's hip pocket, and gets, of course, a punch to the chops by Eastwood for popping Kidd during an arrest.
Listen to the names involved in the production of JOE KIDD:Director John Sturges(Bad Day at Black Rock), screenwriter Elmore Leonard(3:10 to Yuma), Lalo Schifrin(Amityville Horror)contributing the score, and Bruce Surtees as cinematographer(Dirty Harry). Amazing all these celebrated artists behind a western considered one of Eastwood's least popular. Maybe it's a pacing issue(it does take a while, well into the movie, before the action really picks up)that many had a problem with. Maybe, it could be because Eastwood made so many memorable western classics that it is inevitable one like JOE KIDD simply falls to the back of the pack due to the list being so long? (My user comments from 2010)
Mr. Harlan(Duvall)and his hired killers, cocksure Lamarr(Stroud), crackshot rifleman Mingo(James Wainwright)and cocky wisecracking Roy(Paul Koslo), real bad hombres(all quite confident in their abilities), are preparing to hunt down and kill wanted Mexican outlaw Luis Chama(John Saxon)who is stirring up his people to reclaim the land stolen out from under them by the likes of Harlan who deals in territory. Chama's resistance of Anglo "takeover" of Mexican territory, demanding land reform, doesn't bode well with those who are trying to steal it from them. A hefty warrant is quite rewarding to anyone who can silence a powerful voice like Chama's. Interesting enough, Harlan threatens to assassinate five Mexicans from a church if Chama doesn't come to them, not adhering to their warning, and it will take Kidd's heroism in order to halt such a horrible act. Intriguing how the Mexican people regard Chama as a savior and it's actually an Anglo who comes to save the day. Ultimately when it comes down to land rights and court hearings, Harlan would prefer to just skip all that and wipe Chama off the map completely. Joe is hired by Harlan because he "knows the mountains and game trails better than anybody". Kidd actually takes the guide job in order to get revenge on Chama's man, Ramone(Ron Sobal)who tied his worker in barbwire for his involvement in the murder of a Mexican named Naco(who had denied Kidd a cup of coffee while he was handcuffed to a bed in a prison cell). It was self defense against Naco who drew on him for knocking him across the noggin with a pot(Naco made the mistake of getting on his bad side, never a good idea). Gregory Walcott shows up as Salinas Sheriff Bob Mitchell, who is actually merely in Harlan's hip pocket, and gets, of course, a punch to the chops by Eastwood for popping Kidd during an arrest.
Listen to the names involved in the production of JOE KIDD:Director John Sturges(Bad Day at Black Rock), screenwriter Elmore Leonard(3:10 to Yuma), Lalo Schifrin(Amityville Horror)contributing the score, and Bruce Surtees as cinematographer(Dirty Harry). Amazing all these celebrated artists behind a western considered one of Eastwood's least popular. Maybe it's a pacing issue(it does take a while, well into the movie, before the action really picks up)that many had a problem with. Maybe, it could be because Eastwood made so many memorable western classics that it is inevitable one like JOE KIDD simply falls to the back of the pack due to the list being so long? (My user comments from 2010)
Breakheart Pass (1976) ***
Undercover Secret Service Agent John Deakin(Charles Bronson;Deakin is posing as a notorious criminal so to fool Ben Johnson's Marshal Nathan Pearce)has followed hidden Winchester rifles(to support notorious in-jun Whitehand and his men in a collaborative effort to collect gold and silver)to a certain train holding military whose leader Maj. Claremont(Ed Lauter)is suspicious to why he is being ordered around by a "piss-poor" politician(Gov. Richard Fairchild played by Richard Crenna). Fairchild tells his lover Marica Scoville(Jill Ireland)that their train must reach the fort her father is stationed quickly carrying "medical supplies" due to a diphtheria outbreak. Slowly as the train travels, men begin to die in strange ways. In one particular harrowing sequence someone unlatches the train compartments holding Claremont's soldiers..they can not escape as it goes off the tracks crashing into the ground below.
When you have a cast featuring such names as Johnson, Crenna, Bronson, Ireland, Durning, and Lauter, it's definitely not gonna be boring. There's a marvelous sequence on top of the train as Bronson's agent and Archie Moore(playing a cook but secretly a henchmen for those in command of the gunrunning)do battle. There are some stunning camera shots of the train traveling across bridges way above the ground(we get a cool shot of Bronson preparing to travel down the side of a bridge to the ground where the engine technician's fire-man "fell to his death" and it is definitely not for those battling vertigo). But, what makes this film really entertaining is Bronson's agent snuffing out the culprits using his mental skills while trying to stay alive aboard a train with certain corrupt individuals seeking his life. (My user comments from 2006)
When you have a cast featuring such names as Johnson, Crenna, Bronson, Ireland, Durning, and Lauter, it's definitely not gonna be boring. There's a marvelous sequence on top of the train as Bronson's agent and Archie Moore(playing a cook but secretly a henchmen for those in command of the gunrunning)do battle. There are some stunning camera shots of the train traveling across bridges way above the ground(we get a cool shot of Bronson preparing to travel down the side of a bridge to the ground where the engine technician's fire-man "fell to his death" and it is definitely not for those battling vertigo). But, what makes this film really entertaining is Bronson's agent snuffing out the culprits using his mental skills while trying to stay alive aboard a train with certain corrupt individuals seeking his life. (My user comments from 2006)
Rated out of ****
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