they filmed the movie joe kidd at old tucson.
where did they film the movie joe kidd?
old tucson
around this time, eastwood was offered the role of james bond following the departure of sean connery, but turned it down due to his belief that the character should be played by an english actor. eastwood next starred in the loner western "joe kidd", released in 1972. he was given the script by jennings lang, written by novelist elmore leonard. originally called "the sinola courthouse raid", it was about a character inspired by reies lopez tijerina, an ardent supporter of robert f. kennedy, known for storming a courthouse in tierra amarilla, new mexico in an incident in june 1967, taking hostages and demanding that the hispanic people be granted their ancestral lands back to them. leonard depicted tijerina in his story, a man he named luis chama, as an egomaniac, a role which went to actor john saxon. robert duvall was cast as frank harlan, a ruthless land owner who hires eastwood's character, a former frontier guide named joe kidd, to track down the culprits and scare them away. don stroud, who eastwood had starred alongside in "coogan's bluff", was cast as another sour villain who encounters joe kidd. under the director's helm of john sturges, who had directed acclaimed westerns such as "the magnificent seven" (1960), filming began in old tucson in november 1971, overlapping with another film production, john huston's "the life and times of judge roy bean", which was just wrapping up shooting. outdoor sequences to the film were shot near june lake, east of the yosemite national park. the actors were initially uncertain with the strength of the three main characters in the film and how the hero joe kidd would come across. according to writer leonard, the initial slow development between the three was probably because the cast were so initially awestruck by having sturges direct that they surrendered authority to him. eastwood was far from in perfect health during the film and suffered symptoms that relayed the possibility of a bronchial infection and suffered several panic attacks, falsely reported in the media as him having an allergy to horses. during production, the script for the finale was altered when producer bob daley jokingly said that a train should crash through the barroom in the climax and he was taken seriously by cast and crew and they thought it was a great idea. "joe kidd" received a mixed reception. for instance roger greenspunof "the new york times" thought the film overall was nothing remarkable and had foolish symbolism and what he suspected was sloppy editing, but praised eastwood's performance (see box).
clint eastwood in the 1970s
"joe kidd" was released in the united states in july 1972, and it eventually grossed $5.8 million. the film received a mixed reception from critics. roger greenspun of "the new york times" wrote, "for perhaps its first half-hour, john sturges's new western, 'joe kidd,' looks surprisingly good ... nothing remarkable, but modestly decent—a feeling that persists, with continually deminishing assurance, almost until the climax, when everything is thrown away in a flash of false theatrics, foolish symbolism and what i suspect is sloppy editing." roger ebert of the "chicago sun-times" gave the film two stars out of four and wrote, "all i can tell you about clint eastwood in 'joe kidd' is that he plays a ruthless gunman of few words. this isn't exactly a surprise; eastwood almost always plays a ruthless gunman, etc. the funny thing about 'joe kidd,' though, is that we can't keep straight whose side he's on, or why." gene siskel of the "chicago tribune" awarded the same two-star grade and said, "filled with all manner of inconsistencies, the joe kidd character is really a prop for a series of violent incidents, most of which are either lifted from other pictures or totally unbelievable. if these violent actions were in some way thrilling i suppose their source or believability wouldn't be much of an issue, but they are not, and director john sturges' listless pacing of them only intensifies their blandness." "variety" wrote, "not enough identity is given eastwood in a new mexico land struggle in which no reason is apparent for his involvement, but john sturges' direction of the elmore leonard screenplay is sufficiently compelling to keep guns popping and bodies falling." kevin thomas of the "los angeles times" called it "a concise, solidly crafted western that attests to the continuing flexibility of its durable genre." the "new york post" praised the actors' performances while criticizing the film, calling the actors "diamonds set in dung".
joe kidd