Joe Kidd

"If you're looking for trouble...he's Joe Kidd."

1972 1h 28m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 428

WesternDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A band of Mexicans find their U. S. land claims denied and all the records destroyed in a courthouse fire. Their leader, Louis Chama, encourages them to use force to regain their land. A wealthy landowner wanting the same decides to hire a gang of killers with Joe Kidd to track Chama.

“If you're looking for trouble...he's Joe Kidd.”

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Cast

Clint Eastwood
Joe Kidd
Robert Duvall
Frank Harlan
John Saxon
Luis Chama
Don Stroud
Lamarr Simms
Stella Garcia
Helen Sanchez
James Wainwright
Mingo
Paul Koslo
Roy
Gregory Walcott
Mitchell

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Sturges
Writers: Elmore Leonard
Languages: Spanish, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

54 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Sturges, shot by Bruce Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lalo Schifrin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall and John Saxon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "If you're looking for trouble...he's Joe Kidd.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Sturges directs. Bruce Surtees behind the camera. Lalo Schifrin scores. Ferris Webster cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Spanish, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
254 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Spanish, English.
4Directed by John Sturges, shot by Bruce Surtees. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Lalo Schifrin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ferris Webster shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall and John Saxon carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "If you're looking for trouble...he's Joe Kidd.".
9IMDB entry: tt0068768 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Bruce Surtees
Original score: Lalo Schifrin
Editing: Ferris Webster
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Van Horn
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $6,330,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Joe Kidd (1972)

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John Sturges

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-02-27
★ 6/10
Well the deer didn't know where he was, and I wasn't sure either. There's a certain school of thought with Eastwood purists that Joe Kidd is far more meaningful than its reputation would suggest. In fact, that it most certainly is not in the lower tier of Eastwood Westerns that ratings across internet forums say otherwise. Truth is, is that with Eastwood starring, Robert Duval and John Saxon supporting, John Sturges directing and Elmore Leonard writing, well this really should have turned out far better than it did. In short order it has Eastwood as gunslinger/bounty hunter Joe Kidd who somehow finds himself helping a wealthy landowner and his henchmen to track down a Mexican revolutionary leader - it's a land issue we think.... But once on the trail as part of the posse, Kidd comes to find a conflict of interest and soon enough taking sides is just one of the issues to hand. Sadly I myself can't join with the band of loyal fans who put forward this as a misunderstood piece of work. It plods along as it works its way through a muddled screenplay, which really is very thin from a narrative standpoint, and ultimately it doesn't pay off for character crescendo value come the finale. Add in that Duval's character is poorly under written and Saxon is miscast and you got a few problems to be annoyed about. However, the script does have some nifty dialogue, Bruce Surtees' location photography is outstanding, while Eastwood is yet again a magnetic presence that draws you in to stay the course. Action is well enough handled, including a brilliant finale involving a train as a weapon of mass destruction, and there's some weapons of interest to be interested in!. But you feel that there should have been a bit more complexity on show here, and that the running time of just an hour and twenty minutes does suggest, there's half an hour of film that really should have been added here. 6/10
r96sk2022-01-18
★ 7/10
<em>'Joe Kidd'</em> is solid. It's not Clint Eastwood's best work but it's still a role that sufficiently entertains. You also have an important role for one Robert Duvall, who did <em>'The Godfather'</em> in the same year interestingly. No-one else really stands out; not even the miscast John Saxon. The plot is a simple one, which thankfully doesn't drag thanks to a short run time of around 90 minutes. There's also an amusing scene involving a choo-choo, so there is also that. Overall, it does enough for me.
Wuchak2022-08-21
★ 7/10
Eastwood’s “lost” Western with Duvall and Saxon In the Southwest in 1902 a land-grabbing tycoon (Robert Duvall) hires an ex-bounty hunter (Clint Eastwood) in order to track down a Mexican leader who objects to injustice (John Saxon) and is hiding out in the high country with his people. Don Stroud is on hand as one of the pompous gringo’s heavies. "Joe Kidd" (1972) is generally viewed as one of Eastwood’s lesser Westerns when it’s more entertaining than Sergio Leone’s overrated trilogy from 1964-1966, at least in my opinion. It has a notable cast, a superb score and great locations, not to mention being directed by John Sturges, known for great (or near-great) films like “The Law and Jake Wade” (1958), “Chino” (1973) and “The Eagle Has Landed” (1977). True, Sturges was reportedly struggling with alcoholism during shooting and the story starts to meander in the high country during the second act, but the flick works as a whole and everything ties-together for the climax. Originally, Saxon’s ‘bandit,’ Chama, was supposed to be more heroic, but this was changed when Clint was hired on and Joe Kidd became the amusingly fearless hero, the intermediary between two opposing forces. Very little is predictable, from the interesting costumes & weaponry to the bizarre plot twists to the amusing ways the protagonist gets himself into and out of trouble, like the ladder/trapdoor sequence, the swinging water jug scene, the sniper vs. sniper sequence and the whacky train ride. Stella Garcia (Helen) and Lynne Marta (Elma) are featured in the feminine department. Anyone who favors Eastwood’s other Westerns will find a lot to like here. The film runs 1 hour, 28 minutes, and was shot at Old Tucson & Sonoran Desert, Arizona, and Alabama Hills & Inyo National Forest, California. GRADE: B+