Joe Kidd (1972)

83% of critics liked it
(6 reviews)
49% of users liked it
(7,747 ratings)

In John Sturges'sAmericanized version of Sergio Leone's Man-With-No-Name films, Clint Eastwood is Joe Kidd, a cryptic stranger who arrives in the New Mexican town of Sinola, where Mexican bandito/revolutionary Luis Chama (John Saxon) has organized a peasant revolt against the local landowners, who… More In John Sturges'sAmericanized version of Sergio Leone's Man-With-No-Name films, Clint Eastwood is Joe Kidd, a cryptic stranger who arrives in the New Mexican town of Sinola, where Mexican bandito/revolutionary Luis Chama (John Saxon) has organized a peasant revolt against the local landowners, who are throwing the poor off land that rightfully belongs to them. When a posse -- financed by wealthy landowner Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall) -- is formed to capture Luis, Kidd is invited to join but prefers to remain neutral. Harlan keeps badgering Kidd to join up, and Kidd finally relents when he finds that Luis's band has raided his own ranch and one of his ranch hands has been injured. The bloodthirsty posse rounds up five Mexicans hostages and threaten to kill them unless Luis surrenders to them. One of the hostages is the attractive Stella Garcia (Helen Sanchez), and Kidd falls in love with her. Harlan notices this and throws Kidd in jail to prevent him from helping Stella and the Mexicans. Kidd decides the position himself as the voice of reason in this nest of disorder. He escapes and saves the Mexican hostages, determined to capture Luis himself and see that he gets a fair trial. But when Kidd captures Luis and delivers him to Sheriff Mitchell (Gregory Walcott), Harlan is in town waiting for him. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 27 min.
Directed By: John Sturges
Written By: Elmore Leonard
Genres: Western, Drama, Action & Adventure, Classics

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1972 Wide
On DVD: Aug 18, 1998

Critic Reviews

Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
It's still a prime example of a good, sturdy bread-and-butter Western.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Entertaining but senseless.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

jay n

Ordinary western has good actors and nice scenery but nothing you have seen many times before. Still if you like Clint and westerns this will work fine for you.
Conner R

No, it's not one of the best westerns ever made, but it's really fun. Clint Eastwood gives a great performance and really plays a different western hero than usual. It's also sort've odd to see Robert Duvall as such a scumbag. It's got a really great style… More
No, it's not one of the best westerns ever made, but it's really fun. Clint Eastwood gives a great performance and really plays a different western hero than usual. It's also sort've odd to see Robert Duvall as such a scumbag. It's got a really great style that makes up for the uneven plot.
xGary X

Bizarrely sloppy by-the-numbers Clint Eastwood western, particularly considering the talent involved. There seems to be little logic involved in any of it; only Clints charisma and the loosely associated bouts of screen violence demand attention; the "plot" is… More
Bizarrely sloppy by-the-numbers Clint Eastwood western, particularly considering the talent involved. There seems to be little logic involved in any of it; only Clints charisma and the loosely associated bouts of screen violence demand attention; the "plot" is inconsequential.
Dean M

Average western film, but I'm such a fan of Clint Eastwood.
Jim W

Joe Kidd has Clint Eastwood as a moody cowboy who's a man of few words yet again. He's on no ones side but his own, but he has morals. So when a rancher played by Robert Duvall threatens to kill 5 innocent people every hour until a rebel (John Saxon) hands himself in, that… More
Joe Kidd has Clint Eastwood as a moody cowboy who's a man of few words yet again. He's on no ones side but his own, but he has morals. So when a rancher played by Robert Duvall threatens to kill 5 innocent people every hour until a rebel (John Saxon) hands himself in, that doesn't sit well with Joe Kidd. Eastwood is good of course even if he basically gives the same bad-ass performance in every western he has done. But the name Joe Kidd is just a ridiculous name for him. It works better when he's just a mysterious guy with no name. Still the movie has some decent action and it did keep my attention. It's not the best Eastwood western, but it's not bad either.
Henrik S

Clint Eastwood is one of those magic ingredients that make any movie worth watching. His stoic screen presence is nearly unmatched and although he can act, he usually does not need do. Thus is the case in Joe Kidd, the story of a righteous but broody gunman who gets mixed up in a war… More
Clint Eastwood is one of those magic ingredients that make any movie worth watching. His stoic screen presence is nearly unmatched and although he can act, he usually does not need do. Thus is the case in Joe Kidd, the story of a righteous but broody gunman who gets mixed up in a war for land rights in US borderland. It all comes down to a suave showdown and Clint taking center stage once more. Robert Duvall adds some much needed depth into the supporting cast, but all in all, the movie is not much more than a pulp western story.