Clint Eastwood has made many a Western. His big break came from the early sixties television series "Rawhide". Later that decade, he starred in a series of Italian Westerns directed by Sergio Leone, making him famous as the Man with No Name. He was the tough guy, stone faced but not quite cold hearted, as he had sympathy for the underdog. "Hang 'Em High", "Two Mules for Sister Sara", and "High Plains Drifter" were further vehicles establishing Eastwood as the most successful Western movie star since John Wayne.
Eastwood made another big budget Western
in 1976, his last until 1985's "Pale Rider".
The project was "The Outlaw Josey Wales",
the story of a Confederate soldier who
refuses to turn himself in after the Civil
War. It was based on an obscure book by
half-Cherokee poet Forrest Carter, a copy
of which had been sent unsolicited to
Eastwood. After a disagreement, Clint
replaced Philip Kaufman as director during
production.
The biggest asset of "The Outlaw Josey Wales"
is Bruce Surtees' cinematography. The
costumes are good as well, and Clint is
his usual tough-guy self, killing countless
Union soldiers and bounty hunters who had
it coming to them. One surprise is that
Wales builds himself a surrogate family,
with a cantankerous granny (Paula Trueman)
and a genial elderly indian (Chief Dan George)
serving as his mildly eccentric parents.
Locke appears as a love interest midway,
the virginal ingenue who must be rescued
by Eastwood from a rape, as would be the
case for Sydney Penny in "Pale Rider".
Unfortunately, "The Outlaw Josey Wales"
is marred by some bad acting, especially
from hammy Sam Bottoms. It also drags
in the middle, as the film's 135 minutes
could stand some pruning. There are
too many supporting characters, most
of which are underdeveloped and comic
relief. Perhaps the biggest problem,
though, are the action scenes, which
lack credibility.
Eastwood's son Kyle appears briefly at
the beginning of the film. This was the
first of six films that Eastwood would
make with Sondra Locke. (38/100)
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