The Outlaw Josey Wales  

By David Chute

Clint Eastwood fired the original director, Philip Kaufman (The Right Stuff), and took over the reins of this project himself. He may have had a point: this brutal, thoughtful western, a near-tragedy about a Civil War veteran whose past comes looking for him, is probably Eastwood's most mature frontier drama prior to the Oscar winning Unforgiven. Hoping to build a quiet life in a cooperative community of settlers, Eastwood's Wales blames himself when his enemies attack the homestead, and he has to revert to his warrior instincts to help fend off the threat. The jittery intensity of Sondra Locke (who would be Mrs. Eastwood, at least for a while), and the screen-filling charisma of the late Chief Dan George harmonize beautifully with Eastwood, who had finally figured out how to add depth and texture to his stock-in-trade Man of Steel persona. This one may be too short on action to satisfy fans of Eastwood's Dirty Harry films, or of the Italian westerns he made with Sergio Leone, but it's an honorable effort.

Academy Awards

The Outlaw Josey Wales received an Academy Awards nomination for Music Scoring Awards (Best Original Score; Jerry Fielding).

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"I will say this, it was one of the best westerns I have seen. There is a depth of characters , and of a loner, and outlaw's return to redemption. Even in the horrors of war, there is still compassion in Wales hardend heart. Makes you want to say "Thank you Mr. Eastwood, for delivering a fine performance,and giving Native Americans a voice, to show that they weren't the savages that the white man said they were."" --Anonymous

"This, with apologies to John Wayne and True Grit, is the finest western movie ever made. It has everything any real fan of the genre could ask for: cowboys, indians, The Civil War, carpetbaggers, and a "Missoura boat ride". This movie is replete with excellent one-liners as well. Evidenced beautifully when Josie asks a bounty-hunter about his profession; "It's a living." the bounty hunter quips. "Dyin' ain't much of a livin', boy." replies the ever stoic Josey. Man, that's classic!" --Anonymous