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01
- The sole survivor of a bloody massacre vows revenge on his attackers
and on the men who killed his wife (IMDB)
02
- Navajo Joe is a 1966 Italian/Spanish Spaghetti Western, directed
by Sergio Corbucci. It was filmed in Spain.
Navajo Joe
stars Burt Reynolds in his first feature film, as the titular
character, a Navajo Indian opposing a group of bandits responsible
for killing his tribe.
The film's
score was composed by Ennio Morricone.
Having massacred
an Indian village, outlaw Duncan finds his men falling victim
to a solitary rider, Navajo Joe. Joe saves two prostitutes who
have overheard Duncan plot with Lynne, the town doctor, to steal
a train full of money belonging to the bank. Joe steals the train
back from Duncan's gang. He asks the townspeople of Esperanza
to pay him to protect them from Duncan, but they reject him, as
they "don't make bargains with Indians." Lynne's wife
Honor persuades them otherwise. Joe sets a trap for Duncan but
is caught and tortured; Lynne and Honor are killed. Rescued by
an old man from the saloon, Joe again steals the train and eradicates
Duncan's gang. There is then a showdown in an Indian cemetery,
where Joe reclaims the pendant which Duncan stole from his wife
when he murdered her. Both expire.(here)
03
- Navajo Joe
The Film:
Sergio Leone is the director most closely associated with the
European-produced westerns popularly referred to as "spaghetti
westerns." Leone's classics Dollars trilogy starring Clint
Eastwood--A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The
Good, the Bad & the Ugly--are arguably the most popular and
well known spaghetti westerns, and helped establish the director
as the genre's preeminent filmmaker. And while Leone is popularly
thought of as the director who gave life to the spaghetti western,
it would be the other Sergio--director Sergio Corbucci--that gave
the genre its soul.
There was somewhere close to 600 spaghetti westerns produced in
the 1960s and 1970s; but despite that incredible number, only
a small are worth remembering, let alone any good. Of the westerns
produced some of the best the genre has to offer were directed
by Corbucci. Among his best work you will find such classics as
Django, Companeros, The Great Silence and The Hellbenders, all
of which went a long way to helping spaghetti westerns create
their own unique, stylish vision. One of his earlier westerns
was 1966's Navajo Joe, a film not among Corbucci's best, but still
better than many of the other genre entries.
Burt Reynolds
stars as Joe, a Navajo warrior out for revenge when a gang of
sadistic outlaws slaughters his woman and tribe. The gang, led
by the ridiculously nefarious Duncan (Aldo Sambrell), a half-breed
with hatred for the entire human race coursing through his veins,
has been butchering Indians for their scalps, which are then sold
for a dollar each. This, of course, leads Duncan and his men to
the bad side of Joe, who begins systematically hunting the evil
bastards. When Duncan and his men make plans to rob a train headed
for the peace-loving town of Esperanza, Joe manages to thwart
their plan. From there, Joe convinces the townspeople to pay him
a bounty of Duncan and his gang--one dollar from each person in
town, for every outlaw Joe scalps--which leads to an inevitable
massacre of not-so epic proportions.
Sergio Leone
had struck gold when he recruited American television star Clint
Eastwood to star in his film A Fistful of Dollars. Eastwood was
the star of Rawhide, and was looking to make a transition to film.
Because of the tremendous success of Leone and Eastwood's pairing,
other Italian filmmakers tried to recapture the magic with films
like Navajo Joe. At the time, Reynolds was a television actor,
best known for his recurring role on the popular series Gunsmoke,
and trying to recreate the miracle of Eastwood must have seemed
like a no-brainer. Unfortunately, Reynolds was working with a
director who had yet to find his vision, in a movie that was destined
to be mediocre at best.
The key to
truly appreciating and understanding Navajo Joe is appreciating
and understanding the spaghetti western genre. By and large, these
were films that were put together very quickly, with little regard
for quality or story. The best of the genre are the ones with
compelling stories, told with distinct visual style, in a manner
that makes sense to people outside the working class audiences
of southern Italy. These films are few and far between. After
the truly good films, there comes the films that are just plain
okay--at least within the context of other spaghetti westerns.
That is to say that these are the films that are nearly as bad
as the vast majority of genre entries, but they certainly don't
stand up to much discerning scrutiny outside of the genre. Navajo
Joe is one of these films. It is a better-than-average spaghetti
western, but it certainly is not one of Corbucci's better films,
nor is it really all that good (unless you're comparing it to
something ridiculously bad like Django Kills Silently).
The problems
with Navajo Joe are plenty, and typical of the genre. First and
foremost is a script that is just plain bad. There's no getting
around it, or making excuses for it--the script is simply bad.
But making matters worse is Reynolds' performance, which registers
almost no charisma whatsoever. Reynolds looks like the last thing
he wants to do is be starring in some Italian-produced film being
shot in Spain, in which he stars as murderous Indian. And that
lack of enthusiasm shows during the thankfully few times he opens
his mouth to deliver the already banal and lackluster dialog.
Where Navajo
Joe succeeds is in the visual flair of Corbucci's direction. Again,
this is far from his best film, but he is clearly laying the groundwork
and developing the style that would make films like Django (made
the same year as Navajo Joe) and Companeros among the very best
of the genre. Cinematographer Silvano Ippoliti also shot Corbucci's
The Great Silence, and it is easy to see the chemistry between
the two during the scenes that actually work. You can also see
early signs of some of the recurring themes that pop up in his
films, including nontraditional protagonists--in addition to Joe,
the film's other "heroes" include an aging musician
and his show girl companions. Corbucci is also fond of torturing
his heroes, often to the point of near death, only to resurrect
them in time to vanquish evil (the notable exception being the
seminal filmThe Great Silence, one of the most bleak movies of
all time). Ennio Morricone, who composed the scores for close
to 40 spaghetti westerns, including all of Leone's and several
of Corbucci's better films, provides one of his most distinctive
and memorable soundtracks with Navajo Joe.
Not a great
film by any stretch of the imagination, Navajo Joe is a movie
that will appeal to true fans of the spaghetti western, But anyone
looking for a film that can be considered "good" in
the more traditional sense of the word, will most likely be disappointed
by this uneven film, You'll be better off watching Corbucci's
Companeros, The Great Silence or Django, all of which are infinitely
better films.
Video:
Navajo Joe is presented in 2.35:1 widescreen. The picture quality
ranges from very good to fair, and it looks like the DVD was mastered
from several different sources. Overall, the print is clean, with
no visible scratches, but there is noticeable color difference
between some scenes, and some sequences look as if they have a
more grainy quality. There is also a bit of hesitation during
some chapter transitions. Overall, the video quality is disappointing,
especially given the quality of the spaghetti westerns released
by Anchor Bay and Blue Underground.
Audio:
Navajo Joe is presented in mono. The sound levels are all good,
with a quality mix that remains consistent throughout. Most important,
Ennio Morricone's bizarre musical score--featuring a chorus chanting,
"Na-VA-hoe Joe, Na-VA-hoe Joe, Na-VA-hoe Joe-ooooh!"--sounds
great.
Bonus Material:
There are no bonus materials. You would think MGM could have at
least put the trailers for the Leone/Eastwood films on the disc,
or maybe even the Sabata films starring Lee Van Cleef, all of
which they put out, but no such luck.
Final Thoughts:
Die hard spaghetti western fans will want to add this one to their
collection, but everyone else would be better off renting Navajo
Joe.(here)
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04
- NAVAJO JOE (1966)
Director: Sergio Corbucci
MGM/Fox
Before moaning, “Oh no, Burt Reynolds as an Indian!”, understand
that NAVAJO JOE is a highly recommended Spaghetti Western directed
by the prolific Sergio Corbucci, the man behind DJANGO and THE
GREAT SILENCE. The legend is that Reynolds agreed to star in the
production as he was under the impression that Sergio Leone would
be directing (he must have saw what Leone did for Clint Eastwood’s
career) but it was too late to back out after learning Corbucci
would be at the helm. Well, Reynolds did not become a household
name because of Italian-made westerns, but he would still go on
to be one of the biggest movie stars of all time, and although
he often publicly denounced this film as his worst, its far from
that and extremely entertaining.
A band of downright merciless bandits led by Duncan (Aldo Sambrell)
kill peaceful native Indians in cold blood, retaining their scalps
for profit. One of the poor women they happen to mutilate is the
mate of a Navajo Indian named Joe (Burt Reynolds), who hastily
makes it his mission to get revenge. When Duncan and his small
army are told that the scalps are no longer collected by authorities,
they make a deal with the corrupt Dr. Chester Lynne (Pierre Cressoy)
to steal a large amount of money on its way to the town of Esperanza
via a passenger train. Joe is able to thwart the heist (after
Duncan and company massacre everyone on the train, sans a small
child), but when the town realizes these destructive killers will
soon be attacking, they make a deal with the brave Indian to protect
them and their precious loot.
The plot is
simple enough; a loved one is murdered, a robbery is attempted,
a town is threatened and a brave hero must come forth to face
up to the bad guys. But that’s just fine, because NAVAJO JOE works
well in its action-packed 92 minutes, shot mostly outdoors among
beautiful Spanish landscapes and boasting some truly scrumptious
cinematography. It doesn’t waste much time with a romantic subplot,
though there is a rather half-baked relationship between Joe and
the pleasant servant Estella (played by stunning Italian-born
brunette Nicoletta Machiavelli). This is basically old fashioned
“good guys vs. bad guys” (though the good guys are mainly Joe,
Estella, a banjo player and a trio of showgirls), with an extremely
high body count and a surprising amount of violence for the mid
1960s (scalpings, stabbings, forehead carvings, gunshots in the
face, etc.).
Tan-painted and wearing a black long-banged wig that almost makes
him look like he should be playing with a 1960s Garage band, Burt
Reynolds suitably deadpans through the role of Joe in traditional
no-nonsense cinematic tough guy mode; athletic and smart enough
to outwit his many adversaries. He may not have had fun making
the film (reportedly, he left the set at one point to do a TV
commercial) but it certainly looks like he did. Aldo Sambrell,
an actor you’ve seen dozens of times, usually in the background
of Sergio Leone westerns, is great as the cold-blooded Duncan,
exemplifying pure evil in his facial expressions alone. Fernando
Rey (THE FRENCH CONNECTION) is pretty much wasted as a priest,
but has at least one memorable scene with Sambrell. For fans of
Euro exploitation, the crew is actually more interesting than
the cast, as director Fernando Di Leo (SLAUGHTER HOTEL) served
as one of the writers, future cannibal movie maven Ruggero Deodato
was an assistant director and Ennio Morricone supplied the distinct
score (“Navajo Joe” is even given a vocal theme) under the pseudonym
“Leo Nichols.” As one of the film’s biggest champions, Quentin
Tarantino would later use some of the music for his KILL BILL
VOLUME 2 soundtrack.
Originally
released theatrically in the U.S. by United Artists, MGM thankfully
continues to extract from its extensive film library by granting
us NAVAJO JOE on DVD. Previously available as a pan and scan VHS
cassette, as well as a non-anamorphic Japanese disc released several
years ago, this new DVD has the film looking better than ever
before. Presented in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio with anamorphic
enhancement, this is a handsome transfer with crisp detail, nice
colors and natural fleshtones, all wrapped up in a blemish-free
image that proves the immaculateness of the film’s original elements.
There’s only one audio option, a clean-sounding English mono track
(which carries Reynolds’ real voice) as well as optional English,
Spanish and French subtitles. (George R. Reis)(here)
05
- Burt Reynolds in the title role takes out revenge on Aldo Sanbrell
and his gang in this extremely violent and unsympathetic Spaghetti
Western. This film shows off Reynolds' great physique and athletic
prowess (circa 1966) under Sergio Corbucci's direction. Ennio
Morricone (Leo Nichols) composed a rather over the top pseudo-American
Indian score which is just wild. The final confrontation between
Reynolds and Sanbrell is so incredible it has to be seen.
Burt Reynolds
(before his frantic car chase days)plays a Native-American Man-With-No-Name
in an Italian western straight out of the mid-1960s, when these
things were a fad. Burt is tight-lipped and stoic as he trails
a band of killers who murdered his wife and other innocent victims
in a "scalphunter" raid. The outlaw gang looks like
a reunion of Sergio Leone extras. The plot is one long search
and destroy as "Joe" (a/k/a Burt Reynolds) wreaks havoc
on the bad guys. One definite strength of the film is the exciting
background music, by Ennio Morricone. (The same composer who did
the Clint Eastwood Italian westerns). Anyway, don't expect a John
Ford classic western. The desolate Spanish countryside is no comparison
to Monument Valley. There is no poetry and art here. Only brutal,
fast, and violent action, which takes place with very little fake
blood spilling all over the screen. The final showdown in the
Indian grave-yard has an air of mystery and tragedy as our hero
fights to the death among his ancestors. The last scene of the
riderless Indian pony manages some slight poignancy. European
westerns, much as Japanese science-fiction movies, are not for
everybody. Those with the acquired taste should find this one
a likable time-waster. Love that crazy drumbeat and human voice
combination in the theme music(here)
06
- User Comments: One of the better known spaghetti westerns, directed
by Sergio Corbucci, probably the most prolific director of spaghettis.
While it was Sergio Leone who made the masterpieces, Corbucci
carved out his own little niche and made several important contributions
to the genre. Navajo Joe is also known for featuring the up-and-coming
Burt Reynolds in one of his earliest roles.
Unlike Sergio
Leone, Corbucci seems to have had a really passionate agenda for
making what he saw as inflammatory anti-westerns. Here his mission
is to restore the balance of treatment of Native Americans in
the Hollywood western. He wasn't being quite as radical as it
at first appears though, seeing as Robert Aldrich had done the
same thing ten years earlier with Apache, starring cinema's other
famous Burt (Lancaster). Joe is an interesting character compared
to the usual spaghetti anti-hero though, as his extortion and
cynicism are continually influenced by this higher purpose he
has of seeking justice.
Italian westerns
were really becoming big business by this point, and Navajo Joe
has somewhat bigger production values than Corbucci's earlier
films. The dubbing is of a much higher quality than that in Django,
although it's still not great. Nothing can cover the weakness
of the plot - aside from the Native American angle it's a fairly
basic train robbery story. There's a half-hearted attempt at injecting
some mystery and suspense into it with the Doctor Lynn character
doing an inside job, but this never really gets off the ground.
The actual dialogue is terrible too.
Corbucci showed
promise as a director in Django, but in Navajo Joe the direction
is nothing special. Whereas as Django made great use of interiors
and dark spaces, Navajo Joe is in 'scope and mostly set outdoors,
but Corbucci really has no feel for landscapes. He gives a great
rough and ready feel to the action scenes, but overall there are
just too many zooms and pointless camera moves.
Although he
would later become a big star back home, Burt Reynolds isn't particularly
good here. He moves fairly well, and gives Joe just the right
note of self-absorbed nonchalance, but when he opens his mouth
terrible things happen. He puts in these little pauses, as if
trying to deliver lines like John Wayne, except he falls well
short. He actually manages to do the seemingly impossible and
do an unconvincing job of dubbing himself. The only acting performance
really worth noting is that of Aldo Sanbrell. Sanbrell was one
of the most prolific spaghetti character actors, playing third-bad-guy-on-the-left
in dozens of pictures. Here is a rare chance to seem him in a
lead role, and he's actually not bad. Not good, but not bad either.
Burt Reynolds
once stated that this was the worst film he ever made. It's probably
not, (as anyone who's seen the Smokey and the Bandit sequels will
testify) but it is a fairly bad one, and if Reynolds wasn't familiar
with exploitation cinema he no doubt wondered what the hell he
was doing. Corbucci had already made one of the best loved spaghettis
(Django) and would go on to make some real classics (The Mercenary,
The Great Silence), but Navajo Joe was a real step backwards in
his career. (IMDB)
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