The Outlaw Josey Wales on VHS. Starring Clint Eastwood. With Sondra Locke, Chief Dan George. Directed by Clint Eastwood. 1976.
From the box:
As The Outlaw Josey Wales, Clint Eastwood gives a hard-hitting portrayal reminiscent of his “Man With No Name” from A Fistful of Dollars, the role that brought him international acclaim. But unlike that other mythic outlaw, Josey Wales is a man with a name… and heart.
That heart becomes increasingly evident as the story unfolds. After avenging his family’s brutal murder, Wales is on the lam, pursued by a pack of killers. He prefers to travel alone, but a ragtag group of outcasts (engagingly played by an excellent support cast that includes Sondra Locke and Chief Dan George) is drawn to him — and Wales can’t bring himself to leave his motley surrogate family unprotected.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is Clint Eastwood’s 26th feature film, the fourth in which he stars and directs. But those career milestones, and all that followed, might never have happened if he had failed to venture into the so-called “Spaghetti Westerns” his business manager called a “bad step.” “I went along with his advice for a few days,” Eastwood recalls, “and then I asked myself ‘Who the hell is running my life?'”
Undoubtedly, Eastwood is. That bad step became Sergio Leone’s A Fistful of Dollars, and it boosted Clint Eastwood to international stardom.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a worthy successor to that unforgettable milestone. Selected by Time as one of 1976’s 10 Best Films, it’s as enthralling an entertainment as will ever gallop by!
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