It came as a great surprise to me, upon browsing the archives of movies I have covered in the last 10 years since the start of this blog, that I had only delved into Clint Eastwood's output once. (Only once?) And to boot, it was City Heat. Not that I don't like City Heat, but I list Eastwood as my second favorite western actor, behind John Wayne. That's almost sacrilege that I never covered even one of his westerns.
I recently acquired a 10 Film Western Collection, and only one of those movies on that set has even made it to the screen of The Midnite Drive-In. (That movie, by the way, is Rio Bravo. Not one of my favorites of John Wayne's output, but it also brings up another neglected film in my output of reviews, The Searchers. Gotta remedy that soon, too.)
Anyway, I missed out on The Outlaw Josey Wales when it hit the theater, since I was still in my childhood days, and not allowed to go see PG or R rated movies. But I did see Pale Rider in the theater. It's been quite a few years since I watched it, but I remember enjoying it quite immensely. I saw The Outlaw Josey Wales on TV prior to that, and was ready for another western from Eastwood by that time.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is my second favorite western of all time, close behind El Dorado and just slightly in front of Silverado. This entry will correct the faux pas that I have not reviewed this movie before. And in the next few weeks I'll get another correction by getting up a review of Pale Rider.
Eastwood, of course, got his start in the western genre. Not right away, of course. His first appearance was in the sequel to Creature from the Black Lagoon, titled Revenge of the Creature, and among those early roles he was cast in such features as Francis in the Navy and Tarantula!, almost all of them as uncredited bit parts, but he started moving into the western genre fairly early. He got a big role as the third credited star in a 1958 film Ambush at Cimarron Pass, behind the star, Scott Brady. And, that role, probably more than anything, led to his defining early role as Rowdy Yates in the TV series Rawhide in 1959.
Of course any Eastwood aficionado will know that that Rawhide role was what led to one of Eastwood's more iconic roles, that of the "Man with No Name", the center of Sergio Leone's trilogy of "spaghetti westerns"; A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Unlike my other actor/western hero, John Wayne, however, Eastwood did not make the western his go-to genre. Most people would probably think of the Dirty Harry series of films first when Eastwood's name is mentioned. More modern viewers might be more apt to think of his recent successes as a director rather than an actor.
The Outlaw Josey Wales started out as a novel by "Forrest Carter". There is some background to the author, which I will only briefly write about, but the gist of the story is that the character of "Forrest Carter" was a fiction. He wasn't who he really claimed to be, but was instead a former Ku Klux Klan member and speechwriter for George Wallace, the segregationist Alabama governor. (Just to point it out, not to discredit him...)
The first printing of the novel, which eventually was published under the title Gone to Texas, only had 75 copies made, one of which eventually ended up in Eastwood's hands. He liked the novel and acquired it for production.
Initially he had hired on Philip Kaufman only to help out on the screenplay, but eventually asked him to direct. However, differences between the two, both in how the movie was being directed and (it is rumored) their attraction to co-star Sandra Locke, caused Eastwood to engineer having Kaufman dismissed as director and taking the reins himself.
There are many standout performances of note in the film. In particular, several of the actors playing Native Americans in the film were actually of Native American descent, making it a rarity in those days, as well as portraying the Native American in a sympathetic light. Chief Dan George, Will Sampson and Geraldine Keams were all of Native American descent.
Other roles that stand out are: Bill McKinney as Captain Terrill, John Vernon as Fletcher and one of my favorite characters, Paula Trueman as Granny. Sam Bottoms altogether too brief role as Jamie is also good.
The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976):
Josey Wales (Clint Eastwood) is just a farmer trying to get his field plowed in preparation for the planting, with his son, Little Josey (played by Eastwood's real son, Kyle). The action doesn't take long to get underway, as a band of marauders led by Captain "Redlegs" Terrill (Bill McKinney) raids his farm, burns his house to the ground and kills his wife and son. When a contingent of Confederate soldiers ride up to the destroyed farm, Wales joins up to take the battle to his tormentors.
After the Civil War is over, apparently there were stragglers (renegades) who refused to give up the fight, and Wales' group was one. This makes some sense of what happens afterwards, because otherwise the actions of the Union soldiers against the surrendering Confederates would seem a bit over the top. Instead of just a normal peaceful surrender the Confederate renegades are slaughtered by the Union troops. The background premise, although not overtly stated, is that the Confederate group were considered outlaws, not legitimate soldiers, and therefore not deserving of any treatment usually given to surrendering "soldiers".
Wales enters the camp and wreaks havoc on the Union soldiers, and eventually escapes with fellow Confederate, Jamie (Sam Bottoms). Captain Terrill is given a commission to hunt down Wales, along with Wales' former commanding officer, Fletcher (John Vernon).
Wales and Jamie set out for the Indian Nation, en route to Texas. Wales, who has no desire to have another family, seems destined to garner one despite his reluctance. First he has the younger, hanger-on, and almost surrogate son of Jamie. Jamie was injured during the battle and, reluctant though he is, Wales has to be the father figure and nurse to help Jamie survive. Jamie does his part to help out, but eventually succumbs to his wounds.
Now, Wales finally alone, continues on his trek. But this "lone wolf" role is continually disrupted. In the Indian Nation Wales meets Lone Watie (Chief Dan George), a hold out who has determined to not go with the rest of his tribe to the reservation that the government has determined to send him.
Oh, well, Wales gets a companion his trek. In addition, at a trading post, he rescues a young Navajo girl, Moonlight (Geradine Keams), who views herself as being indebted to Wales and joins the band.
Wales constantly finds himself in situations where he has to prove that he is not about to go gentle into that good night. As Lone Watie observes when Wales says "When I get around to liking someone, they ain't around for very long", Watie says "I notice when you get around to DISliking someone, they ain't around for very long either."
The film has some very memorable scenes with some of the best lines coming whenever Wales has to have a showdown with people who are determined to take Wales out of the picture. In one town he is outed as Wales and faces of a quartet of Union soldiers.
"You gonna draw those pistols, or whistle Dixie?"
In another scene, a bounty hunter faces off Wales.
When Ten Bears and his tribe threaten the safety of the settlers Wales makes a pact with him and declares that they can both live in peace.
So the settlers are safe, but Wales is not quite safe yet. He still has to deal with those pesky pursuers led by Terrill. The final battle involves Wales and his new family facing off against the horde of Union soldiers, which has grown from the 5 men that the Senator sent him off with to about a dozen or more...
The Outlaw Josey Wales was a pretty good success at the box office, this despite the fact that many people at the beginning of the production tried to dissuade Eastwood from taking on the project because westerns had become pretty much passe. It cleaned up with about a $30 million profit.
The summer of 1976 was not filled with a bunch of big competitors, however. The big draws for that year, Rocky, King Kong and A Star is Born all came out at the end of the year, and the other big movie, All the President's Men had been released in April. The only movie that was around to really give the film a run for it's money was The Omen.
Rotten Tomatoes has the film rated at 91% Fresh. It got a lot of acclaim by the reviewers of the time. Roger Ebert gave the movie 3 stars. Many praised the cinematography, and the musical score went toe to toe with Jerry Goldsmith's score for The Omen (the eventual winner), as well as Bernard Hermann who was nominated for both Obsession and Taxi Driver.
I watch this film at least once every few years, just to remind myself that the 70's version of Eastwood is probably his best version. From 1970 to 1979 we got some really good Eastwood films, beginning with Kelly's Heroes, and going through the decade we also got Dirty Harry (and two other Harry Callahan films), High Plains Drifter, and, of course, Play Misty for Me.
Well, folks, that wraps up this feature. Drive safely.
Quiggy