Monday, December 26, 2011

Navajo Joe and "the other Sergio"

Sergio Corbucci, "the other Sergio," is one of my favorite directors.  His movies remind me of the great Gold Medal westerns put out by Fawcett books in the 50's and 60's--violent and gritty and with anvil-jawed heroes and beautiful women spilling out of their corsets.  Corbucci doesn't have the style and polish of Leoni, but he was awash in grit.  I say "awash" because in most of his movies there's a lot of mud.  (See the DJANGO flicks.)  He's also the director of possibly my favorite western movie of all time (or right up there)--THE GREAT SILENCE.

NAVAJO JOE isn't as good as SILENCE, but I love it just the same.  Burt Reynolds plays an Indian in this flick he went into thinking he was going to work with the great Leoni until he got to Italy and found himself with the other Sergio.  Burt has always said this was his worst film, but I'll be danged if I don't like it a lot.  He's very odd in it as an Indian, but I believe him as Navajo Joe, and this has got violence galore.  And some nice looking European women spilling out of their corsets.

I highly recommend it when you're sitting around waiting for a new HELL ON WHEELS, as I am...
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4 comments:

  1. Duane SpurlockDecember 26, 2011 at 8:07 PM

    Thanks for the recommendation!

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  2. Steve MDecember 27, 2011 at 2:03 AM

    A film I've always wanted to see, I have some of the music but have gotten around to tracking down a copy. Time to go on a hunt me thinks... :)

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  3. Peter BrandvoldDecember 27, 2011 at 8:24 AM

    Quentin Tarrentino pays homage to Navajo Joe by using the Morricone theme music in one of the Kill Bill movies. I think. Or was it Inglorious Bastards? Anyway, he uses it in one of his flicks.

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  4. Duane SpurlockDecember 27, 2011 at 4:50 PM

    The continuing influence of these gritty flicks sometimes surprises me. For example, a couple of movies I've recently watched: Sukiyaki Western Django, and a Korean movie that has to be seen to be believed: The Good, The Bad, and the Weird.

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