{{short description|1966 film by Sergio Corbucci}} {{Infobox film | name = Navajo Joe | image = Navajo Joe (1966).jpg | alt = | caption = Italian [[film poster]] by [[Renato Casaro]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/navajo-joe-italian-2p-67-sergio-1841406679|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522082038/https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/navajo-joe-italian-2p-67-sergio-1841406679|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 22, 2019|title=Navajo Joe Italian 2p '67 Sergio Corbucci, different Casaro art of Burt Reynolds hanging|website=www.worthpoint.com|access-date=May 22, 2019}}</ref> | director = [[Sergio Corbucci]] | producer = {{plainlist| * [[Ermanno Donati]] * [[Luigi Carpentieri]]{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}}}} | writer = | screenplay = {{plainlist| * [[Piero Regnoli]] * [[Fernando di Leo]]{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}}}} | story = [[Ugo Pirro]]{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}} | based_on = <!-- {{Based on|title of the original work|creator of the original work|additional creator(s), if necessary}} --> | starring = {{plainlist| * [[Burt Reynolds]] * [[Aldo Sambrell]] * [[Nicoletta Machiavelli]] * [[Fernando Rey]] * [[Tanya Lopert]] * Franca Polesello * Lucia Modugno }} | music = [[Ennio Morricone]]{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}} | cinematography = [[Silvano Ippoliti]]{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}} | editing = Alberto Gallitti{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}} | production_companies = {{plainlist| * [[Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica]] * C.B. Films{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}}}} | distributor = | released = {{Film date|df=yes|1966|11||Italy}} | runtime = | country = {{plainlist| * Italy * Spain{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=81}}}} | language = Italian | budget = | gross = }}
'''''Navajo Joe''''' is a 1966 [[spaghetti Western]] film directed by [[Sergio Corbucci]]<ref>Hughes, p.59</ref> and starring [[Burt Reynolds]] as the titular [[Navajo people|Navajo Indian]] who opposes a group of bandits responsible for killing his tribe.<ref name=NYT/>
==Plot== Having massacred an [[Native Americans in the United States|Indian]] village with his gang, scalp hunter Duncan rides to the nearest town to discover that he is now an outlaw, as scalp hunting is now illegal. Duncan murders the sheriff and begins burning the town. In the town, Duncan meets Lynne, the town doctor, who conspires with Duncan to steal a train full of the bank's money. Three female entertainers and their manager overhear talk of the plot and ride to the next town of Esperanza to warn people. Several of Duncan's gang attempt to kill them, but their scheme is thwarted by Navajo Joe.
Joe steals the train back from Duncan's gang. He asks the townspeople of Esperanza to pay him to protect them from Duncan, demanding, "I want a dollar a head from every man in this town for every bandit I kill." The townspeople reject him, as they "don't make bargains with Indians." Lynne's wife Hannah persuades them otherwise. Joe sets a trap for Duncan, but is caught and tortured, and Lynne and Hannah are killed. Rescued by the entertainers' manager, Joe again steals the train and wipes out Duncan's gang.
A showdown occurs in an Indian cemetery, where Joe reclaims the pendant that Duncan had stolen from his wife when he murdered her. As Joe turns, Duncan shoots him with a hidden gun. Injured, Joe grabs a tomahawk and throws it, hitting Duncan square in the forehead. With Duncan dead, Joe sends his horse back to town, carrying the bank's money. The townspeople are surprised that Joe has kept his word and are relieved that their money has been returned. Estella, disappointed in the attitudes of the townspeople and grateful for what Joe has done for them, sends the horse back to be reunited with him, leaving Joe's final fate ambiguous.
== Cast == [[File:Aldo Sambrell in Navajo Joe, 1966 02.jpg|thumb|Aldo Sambrell as Duncan in ''Navajo Joe'']] * [[Burt Reynolds]] as Joe "Navajo Joe" * [[Aldo Sanbrell]] as Mervyn "Vee" Duncan * [[Nicoletta Machiavelli]] as Estella * [[Fernando Rey]] as Father Rattigan * [[Tanya Lopert]] as Maria * [[Franca Polesello]] as Barbara * Lucia Modugno as Geraldine * [[Peter Cross (actor)|Peter Cross]] as Dr. Chester Lynne * Roberto Paoletti as Sheriff Johnson * Nino Imparato as Chuck Holloway, Banjo Player * Lucio Rosato as Jeffrey Duncan * [[Valeria Sabel]] as Hannah Lynne * [[Mario Lanfranchi]] as Jefferson Clay, The Mayor of Esperanza * [[Angel Alvarez]] as Oliver Blackwood, Bank Manager * Rafael Albaicin as Mexican scalphunter * [[Lorenzo Robledo]] as Robledo, Duncan Gang Member * [[Alvaro de Luna (actor)|Álvaro de Luna]] as Sancho Ramirez, Duncan Gang Member * [[Valentino Macchi]] as Gringo Scalphunter * Maria Cristina Sani as Joe's Wife * Gianni di Stolfo as Sheriff Elmo Reagan * Simon Arriga as "Monkey", Duncan gang member * [[Cris Huerta]] as "El Gordo" * Angel Ortiz as "El Cojo" * Roderick Auguste as Ciudadano * [[Dianik Zurakowska|Dianick]] as Swedish Settler
==Production== Producer [[Dino De Laurentiis]] approached director [[Sergio Corbucci]] with a script titled ''Un dollaro a testa'' ({{literal translation|A Dollar a Head}}).{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=82}} Corbucci claimed that [[Marlon Brando]] was promised to him for the lead role in the film.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=82}} De Laurentiis cast Reynolds for the role because he felt that Reynolds resembled Brando.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=82}}
Reynolds was a friend of [[Clint Eastwood]], who had raved to Reynolds about a director named Sergio.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=83}} Eastwood introduced Reynolds to De Laurentiis, who was looking for an actor who could do his own stunts.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=83}} Reynolds went to Italy in April 1966.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=83}} He later spoke about his time in Europe, explaining that "... the only thing today for an American actor is to go to Europe for $350,000, crinkle up the film, jump up and down a couple of times and you've got it made."<ref name="stoic"/>
De Laurentiis announced that the film would be part of a six-picture deal that he had with [[United Artists]], which included films titled ''Absurd Universe'', ''[[Matchless (film)|Matchless]]'', ''A River of Dollars'' (with Reynolds and [[Henry Silva]], later filmed as ''[[The Hills Run Red (1966 film)|The Hills Run Red]]'' with [[Thomas Hunter (actor)|Thomas Hunter]] replacing Reynolds), ''The Bandit'' (with Clint Eastwood) and ''[[Waterloo (1970 film)|Waterloo]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Warners, CBS Sign Pact|last=Martin|first=Betty|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=16 March 1966|page=D16}}</ref> De Laurentiis received many script re-writes from [[Piero Regnoli]] and [[Fernando di Leo]];{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=83}}{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=84}} after the sixth draft, he approved the script. Reynolds was surprised that the cast was predominantly non-English-speaking and that the director was not [[Sergio Leone]] as he had thought, but [[Sergio Corbucci]].{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=84}} Reynolds would later state that the film had failed because he had worked with "the wrong Sergio."<ref>p. 86 Wong, Aliza S. ''Spaghetti Westerns: A Viewer's Guide'' Rowman & Littlefield, 15 Dec 2018</ref>
Reynolds has stated that the Italian crew did not know what "real Indians" looked like, saying his wig made him look like [[Natalie Wood]].{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=86}}<ref name="stoic">{{cite news|title=Burt Reynolds, Who Plays Half-Breeds Stoic About Roles|last=Clifford|first=Terry|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=6 April 1969|page=F14}}</ref> Reynolds added, "... of course when you play a half-breed you have to be stoic{{snd}}and you can't get funky{{snd}}and you have to have a deep voice. Apparently there are no Indians with high voices. And you have to shave your arms all the time. It's easy to get the left but just try and reach the right."<ref name="stoic"/> Commenting on his role in the film, Reynolds felt that the physical aspects did not worry him, but that his costumes did.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=86}}
Of his work, Corbucci declared that he made "... European Westerns the way they like them over here. Plenty of action. Little talk. And I have the privilege of changing at a moment's notice the costumes and geography."<ref>{{cite news|title=U.S. Filmmaker Keeps Balance A mid Spain's Production Whirl: A Coincidence? Hardly Spanish-Style Westerns|first=Bosley|last=Crowther|newspaper=New York Times|date=4 May 1966|page=50}}</ref>
==Release== ''Navajo Joe'' was released in Italy in November 1966{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=92}} and in the United States in 1967.{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=92}}
==Reception== In a contemporary review, [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[New York Times|The New York Times]]'' dismissed the film as "colorless" and another of the "... super-bloody 'Westerns' made by Italians and Spaniards in Spain with Italian, Spanish and American actors."<ref name=NYT>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/07/archives/screen-eye-of-the-devil-begins-rundeborah-kerr-appears-with-david.html|newspaper=[[New York Times]]|title=Screen: 'Eye of the Devil' Begins Run:Deborah Kerr Appears With David Niven 5 Other Films Arrive in Local Theaters East-West Twin Bill Local Double Bill The Casts|date=December 7, 1967|access-date=September 10, 2018|last=Crowther|first=Bosley|author-link=Bosley Crowther|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180911025717/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/12/07/archives/screen-eye-of-the-devil-begins-rundeborah-kerr-appears-with-david.html|archive-date=September 11, 2018}}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' noted that Regnoli and Di Leo's screenplay allowed for "... fast movement which Corbucci handles well enough", ultimately declaring the film to be "Lowercase western ... Okay for minor action market."<ref name="variety-book">{{cite book|title=Variety's Film Reviews 1964-1967|volume=11|publisher=R. R. Bowker|isbn=0-8352-2790-1|year=1983|at=There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "November 1, 1967"}}</ref>
In a retrospective review, Ken Tucker of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' gave the film a D rating, calling it "a dubbed Italian botch", finding it inferior to another Western that he reviewed, ''[[Man of the West]]''.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.ew.com/article/2008/05/09/navajo-joe/|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|title=Navajo Joe|last=Tucker|first=Ken|access-date=September 19, 2018|date=May 9, 2008}}</ref>
Burt Reynolds described ''Navajo Joe'' as "so awful it was only shown in prisons and airplanes because nobody could leave. I killed ten thousand guys, wore a Japanese slingshot and a fright wig."{{sfn|Hughes|2004|p=82}} When Reynolds won an Emmy in 1991 for ''[[Evening Shade]]'', he said during his acceptance speech, "All those pictures{{snd}}''Navajo Joe''{{snd}}they paid off, you know."<ref>{{cite news|title=Cheers dominates Emmys with 4 wins|work=[[The Province]]|date=26 Aug 1991|page=42}}</ref>
== References == ===Footnotes=== {{reflist}}
===Sources=== {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book |last=Hughes |first=Howard |title=Once Upon a Time in the Italian West |publisher=[[I. B. Tauris]] |isbn=1-85043-430-1 |year=2004 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781850434306 }} * {{cite book|last=Hughes|first=Howard|title=Spaghetti Westerns|publisher=Kamera Books|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84243-303-4 |location=Harpenden}} {{Refend}}
==External links== * {{IMDb title|id=0061587|title=Navajo Joe}} * {{TCMDb title|id=17674}} * [http://www.spaghetti-western.net/index.php/Navajo_Joe Navajo Joe] at the [http://www.spaghetti-western.net Spaghetti Western Database] * {{rotten-tomatoes|id=navajo_joe|title=Navajo Joe}}
{{Sergio Corbucci}}
[[Category:1966 films]] [[Category:Films directed by Sergio Corbucci]] [[Category:Spaghetti Western films]] [[Category:1966 Western (genre) films]] [[Category:Spanish Western (genre) films]] [[Category:Films scored by Ennio Morricone]] [[Category:Films about Native Americans]] [[Category:Italian films about revenge]] [[Category:Films shot in Almería]] [[Category:1966 Italian-language films]] [[Category:1966 Italian films]] [[Category:United Artists films]] [[Category:1966 Spanish films]]