Navajo Joe (Sergio Corbucci, 1966)

There is an offer in ebay for this Navajo Joe poster, if you are interested. :wink:
Itā€™s a bit expensive, but original.

Pretty much ebay, yeah

Ah, okay! I knew I was somewhere in the ballpark. ;D

I watched Kochā€™s bluray, good looking version for beautiful looking film. Landscapes are impressive as well as the cinematography. Otherwise this has never been my favorite, Reynolds is ok but doesnā€™t have the charisma of Eastwood or some other american sw stars and Iā€™m probably only one who doesnā€™t like Sambrell that much. Corbucci shows his great talent for action in few scenes but some scenes doesnā€™t work that well like the train raid. Film also drags a bit in some parts but has a good ending, last shot of Joeā€™s galloping horse is a beauty. And of course, Morriconeā€™s score is classic.

My rating: 6/10

Rewatched this last night courtesy of the ā€˜newā€™ Koch Media blu-ray release.

Well, this movie has got one of, in my book, the most classic spaghetti western scores which I have listened to a lot of times so was a bit worried that this would be (yet) another case of the movie dragging the soundtrack down. Long time since I watched it last and couldnā€™t really remember what I thought of it the first time around, but this is an allright movie. Things move along at a fine pace, not a dull moment and the score fits the movie so thumbs up.

May not be Corbucciā€™s best movie but bad it certainly aint. Recommended movie, and the Koch Media bluray looked ok and contains some extras that I will have to watch at a later time. Watched it via the Italian dub and German subtitles as I didnā€™t think Reynolds prescence warranted me watching it with the English dub.

To quote Immortan Joe: ā€œMediocreā€.

Couple of notes:

  • I absolutely agree that treatments of female characters in his movies was one of Corbucciā€™s signatures and best things about them. But here it shows more in minor characters, while Nicoletta Machiavelli is underused in main female role. Too bad, as I doubt anybody here would mind to see here in twice as much minutes as she got.
  • Aldo Sambrell played very convicing villain, steals the show and shows he could be trusted for more important roles than the ones he usually got.
  • It seems that the opinions on Morriconeā€™s score are divided. To me it is great, one of his most piercing and memorable ones for a spaghetti western.

I can now rate my Corbuccis, let me just find that other topicā€¦

Really? I thought the score was generally well-liked.

By the way, did you watch a version with the score in the right place during the intro? It makes quite a big difference in terms of effect.

I have only seen one version, so I donā€™t know if itā€™s right or not :slight_smile:

I wonder who added the word balloon: ā€œLook at this idiot with the crazy hair laughing, little does he know this movie is the end of his career.ā€ Reynolds? (Source: featurette An Indian Named Joe on the 2009 Koch Media DVD of Navajo Joe); another, slightly different photograph of Reynolds and Corbucci posted there.)

Incidentally, the Native American woman shot dead and scalped at the beginning of the film ā€“ presumably Navajo Joeā€™s wife ā€“ is played by enigmatic actress Cristina Iosani, whose short career ended in 1971 after less than ten films. In Navajo Joe she is credited as Maria Cristina Sani. Her most notable character she portrayed in Maurizio Lucidiā€™s Due once di piombo (also unknown as Il mio nome ĆØ Pecos) opposite Robert Woods. Iosani had small parts in Fernando Ciceroā€™s Il tempo degli avvoltoi, Vincenzo Musolinoā€™s Chiedi perdono a Dio ā€¦ non a me, Rafael Romero Marchentā€™s Un par de asesinos and Mario Costaā€™s La belva, her final appearance in a Western.

Iosani in Navajo Joe

2 Likes

I read with interest all of the remarks on this topic and reviews and welcome comments but on a slightly different note I deed help/location hunters need helpā€¦ anyone up for a bit of support ā€¦ Thank you and a interruption on this topic

ESPERANZA in the film Navajo Joe 1966.We know many scenes were filmed on and near location to Guadix Station.
There is a lot of information on social media and internet that ESPERANZA was close to Guadix station but living not that far away from Guadix station it is impossible as Guadix geographically is lower down than ESPERANZA being on a higher plain (altiplano) Take a look at the photos/filming.
Now the plot thickens from here. Was station ESPERANZA For 5 years myself and a few others have been trying to resolve the mystery of railway station especially built for the film set ( I think not) as the film Navajo joe was on a real tight budget as records show but again maybe it was built for the film. Then we have more mystery to throw into the cauldron it appears that ESPERANZA station has two tracks which may indicate it was filmed on a mainline. Guadix to Almeria has single track. Guadix to Baza has single track then the landscape changes beyond.
Another thing bugging us location hunters is what appears to be a double track line could actually be a change over line to allow trains to pass each other on a single line track( this is the normal action on single line track)
A lot of filming was done near Colmenar near to Madrid where lots of filming/films we,re made. Nicoletta Machiavelli in the film was contacted by an amigo but alas she could not remember other than she thought it was approx an hour away but she was not sure.So ive checked out all stations within 1 hour but nothing came to light. So getting to the point. Are any members on SWDB FORUM OR OTHER living near Colmenar the old western town. Can you help.I,m not on twitter but how about someone trying the younger part of the cast. Thanks for reading Pedro

Great still of Reynolds thereā€¦what a smile !

Iā€™ve made no secret of always placing NAVAJO JOEā€™ in my top 15ā€¦cool film, great hair-piece (Reynoldā€™s)ā€¦a superlative bad guy played by the ever reliable Aldo Sambrellā€¦ and the icing on the top with the iconic-like ā€˜Morriconeā€™ scoreā€¦ā€˜AHHHHHHHā€¦ā€™

1 Like

Watched this as a SpagvemberFest film and liked it more this time than the first time. Good opening and good film for Aldo Sambrell and Nicoletta Machiavelli.

Still it, in my opinion, it falls short of what it could have been. The casting of Reynolds as Navajo Joe is not fortunate, neither of them seems happy with the other. The score is left hand work by Morricone. It suffers from sloppy work in the writing department (a story that doesnā€™t take it all out and also seems to have been used for target practicing and a poor script).

I have to agree. I was disappointed with the film, perhaps even more so because it is knocking on the door of the top 20 on the database and had high expectations, but it doesnā€™t feature anywhere near for me.

Just to avoid any misunderstandings: the alias is Josani/Iosani, not vice versa.

1 Like

The short biography provided as description of a stock image of Sani on Alamy.com is quite funny ā€“ ā€œVultures in Time,ā€ ā€œGod Forgive Me Notā€ and ā€œNavajo Ioniā€ are listed as films she appeared in.

But I hope this widescreen print has the correct audio. What I mean by that is on the Fullscreen VHS copy, (In the opening scene) The Indian-howling heard at the beginning of Morriconeā€™s title track is extended by about 5 seconds. Perfectly matching the opening guitar-lick to the main title of the movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7r_anfH31M

is that ^ how it should go?

The Morricone music is in my opinion the best with this SW, and the mystery of exactly WHERE the ESPERANZA train station was located is the most fascinating thingā€¦

Providing itā€™s timed correctly during the intro sequenceā€¦

I donā€™t know who this Morricone guy is, but Leo Nichols did an excellent job on this soundtrack IMO

Just gave my LP a much needed cleaning and giving it a play now

4 Likes