Clint Eastwood once proclaimed that his performance inThe Outlaw Josey Waleswas “…maybe as good as I can do it.” TheDollarstrilogy by Sergio Leone launched Eastwood’s career, and he became one of the last stars to make his name starring in Westerns before the genre faded in popularity.Clint Eastwood’s Westernswere notable for having a darker, more violent edge than Hollywood’s Golden Age “Oaters,” and the star himself signed off on the genre with 1992’s acclaimedUnforgiven.
Westerns likeThe Good, the Bad, and the UglyorUnforgiventend to soak up all the attention on Eastwood’s filmography, thoughhis anti-war epicThe Outlaw Josey Walesis another classic on that list. Clint both directed and starred in this 1976 adventure, and follows a farmer turned gunslinger looking to avenge his family’s murder during the Civil War. It has all the action and cool one-liners audiences could want from Clint, but it’s also a movie that’s surprisingly emotional and warm, as Josey gradually learns to become a human being again through the surrogate family he forms.
Clint Eastwood Believes The Outlaw Josey Wales Features His Greatest Performance
Clint called Dirty Harry and The Outlaw Josey Wales his best acting work
During an interview with journalist Paul Nelson (later collected inConversations with Clint: Paul Nelson’s Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979-1983), Eastwood is asked what he thinks are his best performances.Eastwood responded with “I think Dirty Harry and Josey Wales would be my two best performances,“and quickly added “Josey Wales maybe is as good as I can do it.”
It’s rare for Eastwood to comment on his work or offer any best/worst assessment on either his movies or performances. That’s what makes his comments to Nelson so interesting, as he not only singles out his turn inThe Outlaw Josey Wales, he goes into specifics as to why he feels his performances worked so well. In particular,Clint feels he mapped the character’s entire emotional journey - from world-weary cynic to a man who opens himself up to living again - with hardly any dialogueor exposition.
For that kind of character, I told a lot about a guy without telling a lot about a guy. Using a minimal amount of exposition, the picture of a man and the changing of a man as he went along, through the experiences with meeting other people, were shown without having to stop and do explanatory scenes.
Josey Wales is deeply wounded when the movie opens, and appears to be fighting because he’s not sure what else to do. It’s only when he’s forced to go on the run and encounters the likes of Lone Watie (Chief Dan George) or Laura Lee (Sondra Locke) that he begins to see a life beyond killing. It’s true Josey isn’t all that verbose (though he speaksa littlemore than the average stoic Clint Eastwood cowboy), butit’s an impressive performance because Eastwood is conveying Josey’s evolution almost entirely through facial expression or body language.
Josey’s showdown with Captain Terrill (Bill McKinney), the man responsible for slaughtering his family, is a great example of Eastwood’s non-verbal performance. Following the final shootout, Josey tracks Terrill down and torments the trapped Captain by dry-firing his empty revolvers. Finally, Josey kills Terrill by stabbing him with his own sword, andEastwood’s face cycles through several emotions, from relief to shock and finally acceptance that his quest to avenge his family is finally done.
Clint Eastwood Is A Better Actor Than He’s Often Given Credit For
There is more to Eastwood than a squint
It’s worth remembering that Eastwood claimedThe Outlaw Josey Waleswas his best performance over 40 years ago, so his opinion may have changed in the decades since. He’s not an actor who toots his own horn about how great his work is, but it’s clear Josey Wales is a character he really invested in.Critics might see Eastwood as an auteur now, but he was never given much credit as either an actor or directorwhen he started out.
From The Beguiled to Honkytonk Man or The Bridges of Madison County, Clint has always shown a willingness to break away from his own typecasting…
Clint’s famous drawl and squint are always effectively deployed in projects liketheDirty Harrymovies, but that has led to a narrow view of his acting prowess. InBronco Billy(Eastwood’s favorite Western of hisown), he plays an overgrown dreamer who wants to live out his fantasy of being a cowboy. It’s a warm, optimistic performance, and much funnier than people might expect. On the opposite end of the spectrum is 2004’sMillion Dollar Baby, where he plays a cranky boxing trainer who becomes a surrogate father to Hilary Swank’s promising amateur boxer.
Nobody plays a loveable grump quite like Eastwood, but it’s a much more complex role than that. Like Josey Wales,Million Dollar Baby’sFrankie is a cynic who gets rejuvenated thanks to his time with Swank’s Maggie - which makes the tragic third act all the harder to bear.Frankie’s emotional final scene with Maggie might be some of the best acting Eastwood has ever done, and it features a lot of dialogue instead of playing out on his face.
There are plenty of roles Clint wouldn’t be suited for, but looking across his body of work, he’s a much more versatile performer than he’s given credit for. FromThe BeguiledtoHonkytonk ManorThe Bridges of Madison County, he’s shown a willingness to break away from his own typecasting - even if he openly embraced his own screen image too - and try out different kinds of roles.
The Outlaw Josey Wales Is Still Clint Eastwood’s Most Underrated Western
The Outlaw Josey Wales is one of Eastwood’s best movies
TheDollarstrilogy offered a thrilling reinvention of the Western, whileUnforgivenwas a melancholy deconstruction of the myth of the Old West. It’s obvious why those Westerns loom large on Eastwood’s CV, and whileThe Outlaw Josey Waleshas always been well-regarded and was a box office hit (grossing over $31 million on a budget of $3.7 million, according toBox Office Mojo), it doesn’t get the acclaim that the likes ofUnforgivendoes. This is despite the fact thatJosey Walesis one of Eastwood’s best movies, period.
Clint Eastwood replacedThe Outlaw Josey Wales' original director, Philip Kaufman, after creative disagreements on the set. This later resulted in the DGA passing what’s known as the “Eastwood Rule,” whereby an actor is not allowed to fire a director and then take over the director’s chair themselves.
It’s filled with great performances (including Chief Dan George and John Vernon) and dialogue, it’sone of Clint’s most visually appealing Westerns and features some fantastic setpieces. There’s Eastwood’s performance fronting it, too, which only underlines why he became such a screen icon. It’s also a great introduction to the genre for people unfamiliar with Westerns, as it features all the classic tropes and clichés while offering fresh spins on them.
Clint Eastwood Was Replaced For The Outlaw Josey Wales' Sequel
The Return of Josey Wales is almost totally forgotten
Eastwood is generally allergic to sequels, so while he mulled adaptingThe Vengeance Trail of Josey Walesnovel, he ultimately moved on to other projects. Instead, famed character actorMichael Parks (Red State) took over from Eastwood as both director and star of the 1986 sequel,The Return of Josey Wales. This saw the supposedly deceased outlaw come out of retirement to avenge some murdered friends, but the movie itself is a total bust.
1964–1966
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The Every Which Way… Movies
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There’s little information on the production itself, but it was clearly shot on a low budget and is lacking the sweep and action ofThe Outlaw Josey Wales. Parks is never less than charismatic, but the sequel makes it plain that he’s no Clint Eastwood either. The sequel arrived in the middle of the great Western dearth of the 1980s and was quickly forgotten; given how weak it is when compared to the original, perhaps that’s for the best.
Source: Conversations with Clint: Paul Nelson’s Lost Interviews with Clint Eastwood, 1979-1983,Box Office Mojo
The Outlaw Josey Wales
Cast
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 Western film directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Set during and after the American Civil War, the film follows Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer seeking revenge for the murder of his family by Union soldiers. As he becomes an outlaw, Wales forms an unlikely band of outcasts and confronts various adversaries while struggling with his quest for vengeance and a chance at redemption.
The Return of Josey Wales
The Return of Josey Wales is a 1986 Western film about the gunman Josey Wales, who seeks vengeance after his friends are murdered by rurales. Led by Commandante Escobar, the rurales kidnap Ten Spot. Josey embarks on a perilous journey to rescue his friend and exact retribution.
