Clint Eastwood plays Joe Kidd in the 1972 Western Sinola and that very film is on TV today. That alone should be reason enough for a recommendation, but there’s more: Sinola comes from a real master director and the screenwriter doesn’t come from bad parents either.
Today on TV: That’s what the Eastwood western Sinola is about
The story of Sinola primarily revolves around the land claims of some Mexican small farmers. Because the farmers rebel against large landowners and the construction of the railway, a bounty is placed on their head, Chama. That’s what attracts them most unpleasant contemporaries of the wild west especially Frank Harlan (Robert Duvall), who gathers a whole troop of bounty hunters around him.
In the middle of it all is the cattle rancher Joe Kidd (Clint Eastwood), who, however, is in trouble for poaching. At first he joins the bounty hunters, only to later switch sides, shocked by their evil. There is a wild hunt with lots of them Shooting in the beautiful mountains and a showdown that involves driving a locomotive at full steam across a saloon.
Art house
In John Sturges’ Sinola, Clint Eastwood also shoots with relatively modern weapons.
Not only does Sinola have Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall, but it also comes from John Sturges
Sinola lives primarily from the magnificent scenery of the High Sierras and of course from the two western superstars Robert Duvall and Clint Eastwood. The latter in particular shines with exaggerated coolness and a surprising amount of humor. But there was even more celebrity at work here. The script comes from Elmore Leonard, to whom we owe the originals for Death Train to Yuma, Snap Shorty, Jackie Brown and Out of Sight, among others.
And then there’s director John Sturges. He has The Magnificent Seven not just one of the most influential westerns ever but is also responsible for other masterpieces such as Broken Chains aka The Great Escape or City in Fear (in the original Bad Day at Black Rock). Let’s put it this way: The man is an expert and knows his craft.
TV or stream: When and where is Sinola coming?
The western will be shown twice in the next few days on Arte. Once today, March 17, 2024 at 8:15 p.m at prime time and then again as a repeat on Friday, March 22, 2024 at 2:15 p.m.
If you can’t make both dates, it will be difficult to stream the film somewhere else. It looks like Sinola is currently not available on any streaming provider. The only alternative is to use physical media. Sinola is available on Blu-ray and DVD.
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