Joe Kidd (1972)

Directed by John Sturges. Starring Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, Stella Garcia, John Saxon, Don Stroud, Paul Koslo, James Wainwright, Gregory Walcott, Dick Van Patten, John Carter, Lynne Marta. [PG]

Eastwood is Joe Kidd, a gunman of even fewer words than one has come to expect from an Eastwood gunman, who reluctantly joins up with a ruthless land baron (Duvall) to find and kill a peasant revolutionary (Saxon). He seems to switch sides at will (like the “Joe” character he played in A Fistful of Dollars), but it’s not always clear why or whose side he’s on; in the end, Joe appears to end up favoring basic human decency (rather than any political stance) by going against whoever seems like the nastiest S.O.B. in sight—first it was Saxon, who attacked a compadre of Kidd’s, but then Duvall threatens to butcher innocents and, well… (Prevailing human decency, of course, involves punching and shooting just about everyone in sight.) Okay Western should satisfy most fans of the star, but too little in the story or protagonist sets this one apart from the pack, excepting a late scene when Kidd drives a locomotive through the side of a saloon, guns ablazing. Good scenery; talented Sturges surprisingly provides little more than routine direction. Written by Elmore Leonard.

53/100