Reconstructing The Good The Bad and The Ugly
The Cast and Crew from the movie “The Outlaw Josey Wales” (1976) talk about the making of this movie. If you want some ideas for a great looking Clint Eastwood man with no name cowboy outfit, then you should consider reading this article: Clint Eastwood Man with No Name Cowboy Outfit.
transcript for the video:
in 1861 the United States hadn’t yet celebrated its first centennial part of the country was filing for divorce the Civil War or the War Between the States was just that in many parts of the country the outlaw Josie Wales is about a man who becomes a tragic victim with a bloody struggle between neighboring states Josey Wales a Missouri farmer was content to work the ground and care for his family fate would change that Wales lost everything to a raiding party of red lady from Kansas his family his home all were sacrificed as spoils of war right before his eyes.
out of the ashes came in defiance Josey Wales Redlegs we’re going up there and set things aright he rode with a guerrilla unit in the Union Territory and spent the remaining days of the war trying to even the score he never did with the surrender of the Confederate armies there was a call for an end to guerrilla units on both sides but Wales and his associates refused to end their work and were the last to be hunted down the offer of amnesty was only the Redlegs bait for an ambush Wales was the only rider not to fall into the fatal trap I raise your right hand so I can take your oath.
hound this Wales to Kingdom Come with a reward on his own head the saga of the outlaw Josie Wales begins those who little of the man Josey Wales would have given him a few chances for survival as well those who knew the beginnings of this film would have given it few chances of making it to its premiere in the summer of 1976 except for the will tenacity of the instincts a man named Eastwood if you really have a story you want to tell and it’s a good story then you just tell it the best you can and no and you hope it finds an audience and he did Outsiders didn’t give the project much of a chance from the beginning the idea of doing a Western in the 70s was as one critic remarked financial leprosy as far as Hollywood was concerned the 70s wasn’t a big time for westerns as far as the Hollywood trend is concerned but it was a good time for me the screenplay came from a book sent to Merrill Paso Eastwood’s production company it was submitted as a blind submission from from Arkansas it was a call whippoorwill publishing companies and they’d published 75 copies of this book called the rebel Outlaw Josey Wales and it had such a bad cover on it that I never really read it right away I had it sitting on my desk for about two weeks the novel the rebel Outlaw Josey Wales was written by Forrest Carter the letter accompanying the book persuaded producer Robert Daly to give a 20-page look seat Daly called Eastwood and Carmel to inform him of his find I read it the next night.
I read and I just fell in love with it right away and wanted to make this wanted to make it right away with the screen right secured first draft by Eastwood story editors Sonia Chernus contain much of the books ideology and dialogue but Eastwood felt something was missing he wanted more suspense and brought in another writer Philip Kaufman for the final draft the thing that that impressed me about the book was the whole treatment of war in general and the futility of it and and and how it not only destroys a lot of people’s lives in combat but everybody around them. Kaufman’s version of the screenplay the red lights keep up the chase until the very end.
Phil McKinney played Terrell Eastwood’s archenemy and obsessed pursuer McKinney had worked with Eastwood at several films Texas is full of rebels lots of work to do down in Texas my character was a marauder he had been and probably the Civil War got in the taste of blood and rape pillage and plunder John Vernon took on the role of Eastwood’s Confederate mentor Fletcher Fletcher there’s an old saying to the victors belong the spoils there’s another little saying senator don’t piss down my back and tell me it’s raining Kaufman stripped the screenplay of much of its political ideology he retained the Pro South Andy North sentiment the Civil War was such a strange war in them to begin with it was the first war that we’ve ever had where it was Americans against Americans and and just the strictly the location of where you live dictated as to what side you were on Sam bottoms was just 20 when he signed on to be East was young Confederate sidekick Jamie Josey when I did my my research into that period in those characters I was struck how young these soldiers were a lot of these kids that joined up.
Kaufman’s treatment the rewrite of the script was important enough to Eastwood that he gave Kaufman the opportunity to direct the film
it’s a rifle down to creative differences early on caused Eastwood to once again wear two hats on a product leading actor and director that’s quite evident after the first 10 or 12 days that the original director was let go Clint stop for a few days reposition himself and directed it and came in 8 days early Eastwood’s vision of the West is not romanticized is offered cold and harsh the towns made of raw board cabins a muddy main street tawdry saloons and rough edges on everything including the town folk I’ve been brought up the Italian approach to the Western which was much more high opera than some of ours and then there was no real attempt to make it truly realistic what he sees in the story and the character is what sets him off I mean he’s looking at the character he’s gonna be my character and the thing Josey Wales it had been completely stripped of all family and it seemed and then of course they have the irony of who as he goes along he keeps building family she’s not going to Mexico with us with us from dogs to this older Indian companion I was just wondering I suppose that mangy redbone hound I got no place else to go either might as well ride along with us well everybody else’s I think he accepts him but but it’s for some reticence because he’s had so much disappointment in his life to this to this point that because of the war and losing his family etc but I think that eventually he just he feels it’s the right thing to do because most of these people are in jeopardy it’s in some form or another.
shelving teams gave her role all the authenticity he stood was searching for when I got Cassie they oh you can use Navajo you can say whatever you want knesset see today’s kids never but she was captured by the Cheyenne she was violated by one of the books of ‘yreppils it was what the character was saying trying to be real about it and natural about what would have happened to this character what would she have said Gadhafi yonder you had to bring that reality to the table I think that was the real important part about my role as as moonlight.
one of the elements about the original story that eastwood liked was the portrayal of Native Americans well I wanted the treatment of the Native American to have more than just the cliche that had been presented in the past where you have the Indian treated as a very stoic personality without out much sense of humor and and this one was the first story I had read where they were they were they were treated with humor howdy. okay I’m getting better sneaking up on you like this only an Indian can do something like this that’s what I figured
your figured only the Indian could do something like that it treated them with a certain humaneness.
I thought that the Native American characters were sensitively written gave Eastwood the opportunity in the movie to portray Native Americans in a way seldom seen he wanted to cast real Native Americans he made an extra effort to cast Dan George Will Sampson and myself is one of the first really strong heroic portrayals of American Indian people and it’s good to see that happen because you show the backbone and you saw the the honesty of these people it made them non-indians they were people the Native Americans really embrace this film as they saw themselves on the screen the performance of a canadian-born actor a one-time chief of the Salish tribe in British Columbia was the perfect ingredient to help change the Hollywood image of Native Americans it was none other than 76 year old Chief Dan George I had only seen him in one picture he was a little big man and he had he was very impressive that he had a wonderful face.
I didn’t surrender neither but they took my horse and made him surrender they have been pulling a wagon up in cancer so bad he was just the most wonderful human being to work with I mean I couldn’t see anybody else on the screen he said she said George what he was in the state he wasn’t a technical actor he was a guy who with it had a great look and a great voice and was kind of a natural and if you could get to his natural state you could get to him where he was just thinking and speaking normally he was absolutely golden but at the beginning everybody was trying to get him cue cards and all that sort of thing well you know a man in his 80s is not gonna be able to read a cue card from especially riding on a horse back. are you holding there okay I’ll come down with him there he’ll tell me when you hit the ground you tell me you know B when did she right and hard I had a friend of mine kind of grill them on a style log and just grill em grill em grill and then I’d tell him I’d say okay chief and I say forget about the dialogue now just forget about all that just tell me the story about how when the guy came over the hill and he met the lady and such and such happened I just kind of repeat the story and he didn’t just have him tell it like it is like he’s telling a story around the campfire and then he’d be brilliant.
Eastwood added a second season Native American actor Will Sampson to play his eventual blood brother ten bears he’ll be ten bears. I’m ten bears Sondra Locke and Paula Truman face the rugged locations of Utah Arizona playing the roles of settlers Laura Leigh and grandma Sarah Eastwood found the right mix in chemistry and his cast of seasoned veterans and talented young actors a movie can either be like a family or gonna be a bunch of people and conflict with one another but this movie everybody liked the script everybody liked their character and everybody worked very very hard would go down sometimes to this restaurant down from the Perry lodge and Kanab and have a big dinner together have a lot of fun Clint had very loyal people they that came to work for him time and time again the closest thing you could connect it with would be the Ford Company with John Wayne and all those people I kind of had a quality of that you know I liked it very much filming began in late autumn of 1975 this time of year is a favorite of East was for filming westerns.
well the fall part of the year is my favorite light for photographing he loves the autumn look because you have a low caste Sun in the sky and you get a lot of color the fall seems to be nice for sort of half lighting phases and and sort of backlighting people and and keeping an interesting and interesting look locations were scouted early on was shot in quite a few different parts of the country with that this particular film they were all over the place trying to get distinct looks for each of those locales by the time we reached no.1 in California it was sort of overcast and winter was setting in so that gave us a one look for the opening we did that last September early October. northern Arizona southern Utah and that gave us another look we’re in an area where they used to mine coal so the top part of the ground was all this coal dust and in the ground was just covered with this black sand and you know that wind would whip up and it would just roar through those valleys and but you were out there my part of the film took place in the fall after they filmed out at Utah and we shot it up in Northern California near Oroville. we’d had some rain the soil was nice and damp the fall leaves were on the trees and sort of winter coming in the air you could feel that crisp in the morning the smell the campfire was nice the livestock working on them on a Western that time of year there’s nothing like it the filming would last 8 and a half weeks when asked about a typical day on location Eastwood remarked to a reporter who rapidly lose shooting like Eastwood now heads back to look at dailies map out the next day’s shooting schedule and finally a run-through.
okay never buy this film and we use it for pictures we don’t have to shoot the picture you have to have your stuff together you know the night before you go in because it takes a lot of energy it takes a lot of energy a lot of concentration the process of setting up for each scene finds Eastwood working with camera operators crew members actors stunt coordinators. each knowing exactly what is expected of them some adding comment when asked others quietly learning from example action stuff it’s a lot better be handled okay is the area or the go around behind him and tie in the shop or I’m a alum and he’ll go he just says we’re gonna do this you’re gonna roll over here I’m gonna come over here with a camera and he takes his hands it’s really easy the camera just gonna tip it up here like this as you hit the floor yeah tight in just okay Jimmy what I do when I get a sequence like that is I just sort of try to think out a plan in mind and then I just start kind of working my way through it just duck out okay great fine I’ll be down here right next to the handheld guy and I’ll be in the shot
my I need the belt gun – how is this when I come around this way okay okay next man there very good good the way they handle that whole day was just incredible with the horses and the stunt man don’t get fooled by Benny he may not bite the dust right way he’s gonna reverie source a little bit these two guys on on the Left our left of Terrell will go first I had to bring myself on horseback out to the front part of the ranch he’s leaving early in the morning the plot line is then they come riding in all of those and they sort of line up and there’s only a suspended time build-up before the action sequence actually takes place.
we had that whole shootout where everybody was shooting out of the holes Eastwood makes his points clear and concise Asst director really going to show that you spell faces no offense I think days to plan but then when the cameras rolled everything just went pop pop pop. coming from the acting side of the business it becomes very easy because I understand the language I understand the securities and insecurities of being an actor he’s more of an observer he doesn’t have to use a lot of words to express this direction I talked to the actors and try to make him feel extremely comfortable and make sure they have a very good knowledge of the character they’re playing remember this scar on my face he said you’re the guy that gave me this card he just that’s all I had to say.
the big trick to being into directing films is not not to over tamper he believes he tells everybody tells me to go with your first instinct don’t have second thoughts about it go with your first instinct he taught me just just to be natural if he didn’t like it he’d do it again so you try something different but he allows you to find in yourself probably what he wanted you to do and I think that’s the mark of a great director we had quite a few actors who were in the in their 80s in this picture and sometimes they maybe have a little trouble with some of the dialogue or getting it out so I did a lot of improvisation but until that happened they were used to saying that dialogue exactly and I’d find myself in the scene with him and I’d be rooting for him so hard I’d be mouthing their dialogue and finally assistant cameraman came to me he says you know he says you’re moving your lips along with with the other actor and I said okay I said I see I’m I’m not in my character yet I haven’t thrown the switch back so I came back in and started you know get back into the end of the thing now that’s a very good pocket for you early in the shooting schedule jerilyn Keys faced one of the most challenging scenes you go have a drink and think about it.
they said oh yeah this is the scene you’re gonna get beaten in and it was I didn’t know I can know how you know how do you how do you ask I don’t know what her thoughts were on doing an accident sequence whether they thought they were really gonna beat her with a stick for real but that didn’t happen I just kind of showed her how we would do that and how we would do it in cuts if there was anything major so that you wouldn’t actually have to be brutally beaten they you know they put some padding on me and they told me how to lie on the outside of the trading post and the trader has this paddle and and just comes at me and and I remember him whispering in my ear he says I’ll try and take it easy on you and so when they yelled action that way he just he started in and it was it was a nice soft gentle blow and then all of a sudden I heard hit her harder are more more faster it was like wow sit down and Lois Charlie will get this in one thing and here we go we’re all please have to be poorer anymore. the gold thing just grit that out okay action
you’ll break some drinking sake here look around slowly. slowly look up at the man-whore stay stay looking cut I think it did the trick but for the film I mean it didn’t hurt me at all I mean I was fine took the full Corral of livestock and every available local to accomplish the scene where Josey Wales confronts ten bears in the Indian village.
okay now back off enough to where you can catch a break special effect what’s the score all this knife to tricks it’s a hole over here will eject a bleb and we just squeeze it squeeze the him in the blood cause otherwise you have to point and roll plays action. so will it be alright and so all the months of planning preparation and location finding all lead to the final steps in the production process and Eastwood continues to stay close to the project each step of the way when you’re making a film you sort of hear a sound to it the film takes on a look and it takes on a sound and the score is certainly part of that sound with the Magnificent rugged backdrops of the Southwest in Northern California the score of the film would have to match its grandeur it would also need to embellish Eastwood’s vision of the harsh western lifestyle composer Jerry fielding accomplished both I had to come back I know.
well Jerry was a terrific composer that I hadn’t worked with too many times prior to that I did subsequent to that film he never quite got the recognition that he deserved along the way he did receive an Academy Award nomination for the score of the Outlaw Josey Wales in editing he comes in there he knows the film he has a hole he knows the story concept completely all the actors and he comes right in its decisions decisions and decisions
The Outlaw Josey Wales received its premiere showing on June 29th 1976. it was the opening night of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Humanities Conference on western movies Eastwood’s efforts received ovations from all well it stands a test of time characters and situations quite unique the fact that Josie goes out of his way to help others is what makes it an incredible.
experience to watch he creates this party of individuals that all begin to care and open up to one another and care for themselves the man has been down dusts himself off and then helps his fellow friends that’s a great lesson to observe in life the honesty the simplicity the backbone of it the whole thing it’s a very straight up film and I think that film can stand on its own against any other Western has ever made well it’s meant a lot to me because it’s one of the probably more than any other film I’ve done it’s it’s it’s it’s cause more nostalgia among viewers I’ve had more viewers come up and even today as people come up and say oh yeah that’s my favorite absolute favorite Western and even with Unforgiven which was extremely successful film and I always felt that Josey Wales was released today maybe it would have had the same recognition is Unforgiven I’ve got months of this I love it
I think it became part of a political and social statement the art of spitting which one isn’t just about everything huh it can do most anything I think it’s a very nasty habit myself and I wouldn’t recommend it it puts you in a very bad mood this character because of his wartime experiences was not necessarily in a chipper mood it seemed to go well with his character and then also you could make comments on things he’d spit on a mouse or a rat or dog I just incorporated it because it was a great item out of the book there was one called day’s work a boy that was the toughest stuff in the world if you really had a rough scene and you’re sure they could only be one take or so then you could take a shot at day’s work.
if it was a scene where you needed multiple takes and you’d move back to Redman and then if it seen where you had thought you’re gonna have a lot of takes and a lot of angles and have to shoot over and over again then you stick with a Beechnut you born in a barn the adults send me a case of Beechnut now because I don’t want it I won’t do I won’t really use this stuff you’ll be wasting it.
