Joe Kidd (1972)

Clint Eastwood plays Joe Kidd, a small rancher with an independent streak.

He’s cooling his heels in jail for killing a deer on an Indian reservation, putting up a fuss as he was being arrested and threatening to urinate on the courthouse. He’s sentenced to 10 days in jail.

Robert Duvall is Frank Harlan, a big rancher who offers to get Kidd out of jail — if he’ll guide Harlan’s hunting party.

He says he’s after big game. Kidd suspects, correctly, that the game he’s after is a Mexican named Luis Chama.

There’s a battle over property rights in pre-statehood New Mexico. Ranchers like Harlan want to hold onto as much land as possible.

Mexican Americans like Chama are finding that the courts are no longer honoring old land grants. He’s trying to rally Mexican peasants hoping to hold onto their land.

At first, Kidd rejects Harlan’s offer. Then he returns home to find Chama’s men have visited, stealing his horses and tying up one of his men with barbed wire. He returns to town and accepts Harlan’s offer, for $1,000.

And, just as quickly, he begins to regret that decision.

Harlan and his men want Chama, sure enough. And they won’t think twice about killing several other innocent Mexicans to learn where he’s hiding.

Clint Eastwood, leading Frank Harlan and his companions into countryside in Joe Kidd (1972)

Robert Duvall as Frank Harlan, hoping to hire Joe Kidd as a guide in Joe Kidd (1972)

Review:

One of four Spaghetti-like Westerns Eastwood made upon returning to Hollywood from Italy where he became a star appearing in films made by Sergio Leone.

This doesn’t quite have the Leone flair, but it has several Spaghetti trademarks, including the special weapons used by Harlan and his hunting party and some clever antics on Joe Kidd’s part when he climbs a bell tower to masquerade as one of Harlan’s lookouts.

There’s also a well-done climatic showdown as Joe Kidd returns Chama to a town where Harlan and his men are waiting in ambush. Kidd will foil that ambush with the help of a train ride right into a saloon.

Both of the female actresses featured here — Stella Garcia as Helen Sanchez and Lynne Marta as Elma — did most of their work on TV, though the former appeared in “The Last Movie” and the latter had a role in “Footloose.”

Here, they’re the women who keep Harlan and Chama, respectively, warm at night. Joe Kidd flirts with Elma; he rescues Helen after she’s been captured by Harlan’s men.

John Saxon as Luis Chama, taking refuge in the hills with his men in Joe Kidd (1972)

Stella Garcia as Helen Sanchez, discussing Luis Chama with Joe Kidd in Joe Kidd (1972)

Directed by:
John Sturges

Cast:
Clint Eastwood … Joe Kidd
Robert Duvall … Frank Harlan
John Saxon … Luis Chama
Don Stroud … Lamarr Simms
Stella Garcia … Helen Sanchez
James Wainwright … Olin Mingro
Paul Koslo … Roy Gannon
Gregory Walcott … Sheriff Bob Mitchell
Dick Van Patten … Hotel Manager
Lynne Marta … Elma
John Carter … Judge
Pepe Hern … Priest
Joaquin Martinez … Manolo
Ron Soble … Ramon
Pepe Callahan … Naco

Runtime: 88 min.

Don Stroud as Lamarr Simms, one of Frank Harlan’s men in Joe Kidd (1972)

James Wainwright as Olin Mingro, one of Frank Harlan’s men in Joe Kidd (1972)

Memorable lines:

Judge: “You know it’s against the law to hunt on reservation land?”
Joe Kidd: “Well, the deer didn’t know where he was. And I wasn’t sure either.”

Elma, as she half-heartedly fends off the advances of Joe Kidd: “How long have they had you locked up?”
Joe: “Two days.”
Elma: “What would you be like after two months?”
Joe: “We wouldn’t even be talking now.”

Joe Kidd: “I came here to hunt Chama, not kill people in cold blood.”
Frank Harlan: “I told you once before, I don’t have time for court hearings. Now if these people want to fight me, then I’ll blow them straight to hell.”

Helen Sanchez: “Luis, he is right. Don’t you see? We must give ourselves up. There’s not other way.”
Luis Chalma: “I do not care what you think. I take you along for cold nights and days when there’s nothing to do. Not to hear you talk.”

Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd, relaxing with a beer and a shotgun as Luis Chama’s men leave town in Joe Kidd (1972)

Gregory Walcott as Sheriff Bob Mitchell, taking Joe Kidd before a judge in Joe Kidd (1972)

John Carter as the judge, presiding over Joe Kidd’s hearing in Joe Kidd (1972)

Lynne Marta as Elma, Frank Harlan’s female companion in Joe Kidd (1972)

Paul Koslo as Roy Gannon, one of Frank Harlan’s men interrupting Joe Kidd’s smooch with Frank’s girl in Joe Kidd (1972)

John Saxon as Luis Chama, confronting the judge about the slow process of approving land grants in Joe Kidd (1972)

Robert Duvall as Frank Harlan, quizzing Helen Sanchez about Louis Chama’s whereabouts in Joe Kidd (1972)

Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd, about to try out one of the high-powered rifles used by Frank Harlan’s men in Joe Kidd (1972)