JOE KIDD (1972)

   Clint Eastwood, Robert Duvall, John Sturges (director)

   Robert Duvall played the classic evil land baron (Frank Harlan) out to dispossess Latinos from old Spanish land grants. Kidd (Eastwood) joins Harlan but quickly realizes that the evil Chama (John Saxon), leader of the Mexicans, is less evil than Harlan. This antimyth Western is a perfect mix-up of good and bad. Ultimately, no one except Chama’s girl Helen (Stella Garcia) is normative. None have values or ideals beyond personal gain. Joe Kidd’s values in particular are ambiguous. But that is the point. The Latino villagers are utterly helpless, utterly weak—totally passive. Harlan says he will kill five villagers in the morning and five in the afternoon and continue doing so until Chama shows up. (Chama plans to let Harlan kill them.) So Harlan’s men, including Kidd, call out the villagers and tell five to come forward. Five walk out and stand stupidly waiting to be shot, listening as the bad guys take bets on whether they can hit a certain button on one of their shirts. The scene is probably intended to be symbolic, but what does it symbolize? If it is intended to be realistic, it is not. More likely, it is a messy plot point that Sturges or screenwriter Elmore Leonard did not consider important, perhaps reflecting some unexamined racism.