Wednesday, December 13, 2017

MOVIE DIALOG OF THE DAY ― JOE KIDD (1972)

Connection with the previous post (BE COOL): Elmore Leonard wrote the books both movies were based on and he wrote the screenplay for Joe Kidd.

RATINGS: IMDB ―6.5/10, Rotten Tomatoes ―86%, ME ― 81%



Frank Harlan: There’s supposed to be a road west of here we could save some time
Joe Kidd: Game doesn’t walk down roads. We’re supposed to be huntin’ mule deer.
Frank Harlan: If we find some walkin’ down the road which doesn’t seem likely does it?
Joe Kidd: Well we’ve had company now for about a mile
Frank Harlan: Where at?
Joe Kidd: Both sides of us.
Frank Harlan: I don’t see a goddam thing. How many of them.
Joe Kidd: Three maybe more.

 Robert Duvall as Frank Harlan and Clint Eastwood as Joe Kidd

Trivia (From IMDB):

Writer Elmore Leonard certainly did know something about classic firearms. From Frank Harlan's Custom Savage 99 (1899), Olin Mingo's Remington-Keene sporter (1880) in .45-70, Lamarr Simms Mauser C-96 (1896) broomhandle, and Joe's Cased Ross Rifle sporter model M-10 (1910) in .280 Ross. Leonard took special care to ensure all weapons (even the optics) were period accurate for that movie, being set in pre-statehood New Mexico territory (1912).

In an interview given to French student Emmanuel Laborit in 1990, John Sturges said he had a lot of problems directing Clint Eastwood, and regretted that he did not resign during filming.

The custom Savage 99 that Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall) carries, is a left hand model.

In the original script, Luis Chama was a more heroic and multi-layered character, but Clint Eastwood wanted to be seen as the hero, so this was changed throughout filming. John Saxon said "Clint needed to be the guy who dealt with all the action, so in the end, Chama was smeared with self-serving and cowardice, so it was clear who the main hero was." Saxon attended a NOSOTROS meeting, a Latin American organization opposed to stereotypes, and publicly apologized for playing such a dubious character.

This is the last time someone else (John Sturges) directed Clint Eastwood in a western. Eastwood's next four westerns would not only be his last, but were all directed by Eastwood.

The exact date of the movie is not given, but judging by the number of stars on the American flag flying on top of the Sinola County courthouse (45 stars), it would imply that this movie is set between 1896 and 1912. Utah was admitted into the Union on 4 January 1896 as the 45th state, and New Mexico was admitted as the 46th state on 6 January 1912.

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