Joe Kidd (1972)

	Directed by: John Sturges	COUNTRY USA GENRE Western NORWEGIAN TITLE Joe Kidd RUNNING TIME 88 minutes
	Produced by: Sidney Beckerman Robert Daley
	Written by: Elmore Leonard

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Joe Kidd	Clint Eastwood
Frank Harlan	Robert Duvall
Luis Chama	John Saxon	½
Lamarr Simms	Don Stroud	-
Helen Sanchez	Stella Garcia
Olin Mingo	James Wainwright	-
Roy Gannon	Paul Koslo	-
Sinola County Sheriff Bob Mitchell	Gregory Walcott	-
Hotel Manager	Dick Van Patten	-

Review

This revisionist western is populated by weary archetypes and California landscapes as dry as dust, the result of which is that despite some interesting narrative aspects, the film never really rises from mediocrity. Clint Eastwood stars as his typical western loner; Robert Duvall is his vicious nemesis – though you never truly feel the animosity between them. Duvall remains too affable despite his wicked actions, and Eastwood's titular character is an enigma – not because he's so darn mysterious, but because he's never fully fleshed out. This was the penultimate western of genre specialist John Sturges (The Magnificent Seven). The score is by Lalo Schifrin, though not among his most memorable.