MovieChat Forums > The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) Discussion > Favorite Minor Character

Favorite Minor Character

posted 15 years ago by IamTenBears
32 replies | jump to latest

Not including the main supporting roles played by Cheif Dan George and John Vernon, just wanted to hear what some of your favorite minor performances were in the film?

My favorite minor roles are Sim Carstairs: the ferry scene is so realistic one almost forgets they are watching a movie, or the duo of Yoke and Al, the slimy traders at the post that Wales executes the border role on, some great dialogue in that scene. The best is when Al I think it is spits the whisky out and tells Zukie "This is what you give those Indians, now where's the real stuff." That weasle Limmer tried to pawn his rot-gut whisky off on the wrong fella lol.

[–] ggjohn 15 years ago

Howya doin' TB? I have to go with Ten Spot. Royal Dano was one of the best character actors to ever grace the silver screen. His story to the rangers about Josey's demise was cinematic perfection. He lied just convincingly enough for them to almost believe him and he signed the paper. What a hero.

[–] IamTenBears 15 years ago

Yeah, he has a great, albeit brief, role in the movie.

[–] ggjohn 15 years ago

BUT. .. . "I don't believe no five pistoleros could gun down Josey Wales. What do you think, Mr. Wilson?"

[–] rainbird131162 15 years ago

Abe & Lige, hands down. Those two were hilarious in the brief screentime they had. The grandmother who blocks Josey from spitting on the property (funny moment where you can hear Josey gulp on the soundtrack!) is very amusing as well. I also liked the kid (Sam Bottoms) that Josey rides along with for awhile. His death scene has always seemed to me unexpectedly moving & the follow up where Josey delivers a few words as best he can & then sends the horse with the kid's body tied to it off to the enemy camp, & Fielding's music swells, never fails to move me. The Carpetbagger was a great foil for Josey too ('How's it with stains?') & that lovable 'mangy redbone hound' was pretty good too.

Mai Yamane! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD83P-vn5JI&feature=related

[–] IamTenBears 15 years ago

Old granny has some funny lines, particularly when she says "...and thank you lord for bringing us Josey Wales, who you turned from a murderin' bushwacker on the side of Satan..." the look on Wales' face when she says that is priceless. And, you are right, the banter between Abe and Lige is classic.

[–] Dances_with_Weasels 15 years ago

The bounty hunter really struck me. Just in the brief interchange with Josey I perceived this man's whole life. Hard times led to bounty hunting. He knew he was most likely outclassed by Josey but trapped in the life he had chosen. As Josey was trying to create a new life, this man felt trapped by destiny. It struck me as really sad because in a different situation they might have been friends, and I may be projecting this, but seemed to pick that up in the nuances of the performances by Clint and John.

Are you going to pull those pistols or whistle "Dixie"?

[–] IamTenBears 15 years ago

Yes, well put Dances, one can clearly sense each man's regret at having to engage in this unfortunate, yet inevitable, confrontation.

[–] rwsmith29456 15 years ago

Abe and Lige and "It's Mister Chained Blue Lightni'n himself" The guy in the trading post that Josey pulled the flip-gun trick on.

[–] Traianus 15 years ago

Sim Carstairs and Carpetbagger are two of my favorites. Both very realistic and very well done. There indeed were guys like Carpetbagger all throughout the West trying to sell snake-oil crap like that and do anything for a buck. Liked Granny Hawkins, too.

I have to give a shout-out to Lemuel (the guy pulling the rope on the ferry). Pretty funny, even if all he did was moan and groan and kind of laugh.

Kelly, the bartender, as well. I especially liked that he played the bartender in Back to the Future III - there again with some good dialogue with "Mr. Eastwood." : )

I'll also throw in props to the "Hoosier" shopkeeper who has to put up with Granny and later claims that he knew Josey "quite well." Pretty funny. Interesting how many of the side characters are so self-serving ... not much different from most people in real life, actually.

As you can tell, I liked just about everyone in this film. : )

[–] IamTenBears 15 years ago

Unlike many other films, there isn't a wasted performance in this movie.

[–] Mississippi20 15 years ago

It really is amazing how many exceptional, memorable "minor" characters there are in this movie. Many of the actors appeared in other Eastwood films.

[–] Arisuta 14 years ago

GOt to agree with Mississippi20, this film is amazing in the number of excellent performances by the actors in minor roles. I liked the way that Clint Eastwood retained a crew of actors that appeared in his film. The carpetbagger and Timothy Bottoms were both in Bronco Billy.

"Which it will be ready when it's READY!" Preserved Killick, Master and Commander

[–] bonzaroot 14 years ago

Granny Hawkins: I say that big talk's worth doodly-squat.

Get off your arse lieutenant, there's a war going on!

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Hancock_the_Superb 13 years ago

Chandler was a fine character actor and his scene in this film is excellent. He did a lot of great work with Sam Peckinpah too - I'll always remember his racist Confederate trooper in Major Dundee, picking a fight with Brock Peters.

"That's what the elves call Justice of the Unicorn!"

[–] Mississippi20 14 years ago

Sim Carstairs takes the cake for me......William O'Connel made all his appearances memorable in all the Eastood films he appeared in.

The ferry scene is one of the best parts of the movie.

[–] doug-balch 14 years ago

Nice post. The great variety of characters in "Wales" is definitely one the things that makes the movie great.

Hard to choose, but I have to go with John Davis Chandler, the first bounty hunter. Watch for him in "Return of the Gunfighter" a 1967 movie starring Robert Taylor. Not the greatest movie, but he plays the central henchman. Looked a lot of Steve Buscemi when he was young.

Hate to say this, but I'm another anti-fan of Sandra Locke. Wish Clint had got himself a girlfriend who was a better actress....and sexier too.

John Vernon contributed a lot to this movie.

Ironically, it was the supporting cast area that caused me to mark "Wales" down a bit. Didn't like Locke, but more importantly I thought Captain Terrill was under characterized. I would like to have seen a better actor in that part and have given him a greater role.

We don't get as much catharsis as we should when Josie kills Terrill because we don't really know Terrill.

Nonetheless, I have it ranked second all time behind "The Searchers".

[–] turtletommy 14 years ago

doug-balch, I agree Sondra Locke wasn't the greatest in talent or looks and was the one minor weak point in the film. But this was a film that had a pretty darn big supporting cast that I believe did a uniformly excellent job. You make a good observation about the Captain Terrill character, he was under-characterized as the seemingly main antagonist of Wales and his death wasn't as satisfying as it should have been. Maybe part of that feeling of unsatisfaction was that we, like Wales, were by that point in the saga never going to get actual catharsis in seeing our enemy dead. He was getting tired of his bloodlust and seeking of retribution.

[–] doug-balch 14 years ago

Good points. I would hate to suggest cutting any of the wonderful minor characters created in this film.

However, I would have strongly suggested making the movie 20 minutes longer in order to more deeply characterize Terrill. I would have also used a more charismatic actor.

The movie is over before it starts for me, so I doubt there was any danger of it seeming too long.

I understand your point about theme not demanding intense catharsis at the end. That would be more appropriate to a smaller, tighter story with more drama. "Wales" is an epic.

Still, "The Searchers" was an epic and the catharsis scene where Ethan picks up Debbie is one of the great scenes in cinematic history, so I think it still would have worked and made the movie better.

Just published my full review of "Wales". You might want to check it out.

[–] turtletommy 14 years ago

I agree I would have had NO problem whatsoever having TOJW longer, and a more fleshed-out Terrill. His dispatching by Wales was a bit disappointing when it's all said and done. I love The Searchers it's a great film and also consider The Outlaw Josey Wales one of the best westerns ever made. I'll gladly check out your review of Wales....

...okay just read it, not much to comment on since we both like the movie a lot. I was fine with the filming locations chosen, they were out west which is always good, fit the story locations well enough, and maybe he feels that the "grand western landscape" shots have been done to death to the point of cliche. From interviews he seems without doubt to have respect and admiration for the great western directors that have preceded him and he's a great student of the genre. But he has chosen a slightly more gritty, modern, yet still at times handsome and/or interestingly-composed scene. It works well enough when you have a good S-T-O-R-Y! (just a bit important). Which is why so many of the CGI-fests can be such soulless visual wonders...
The story arc is broad, lots of different characters and while the movie can be called an epic it doesn't have the typically big epic feel to its look, length and soundtrack- and I'm not complaining at all, vive la difference. Works for me!

Man, from a browsing of your western reviews you dis a lot of the ones I really like! I don't know how we both came to like this particular film, lol. Good luck with your 100 western reviews I can't think of more than 25-30 I would want to see let alone review. (-:

[–] pathfinder616 12 years ago

i disagree. i thought Captain Terrill's death by his own sword was perfect all around; acting-wise, realism, and quite appropriate for his character's demise. well done Bill, we'll miss you.

McKinney's as the Mountain Man in Deliverance may be one of the best performances of a villain on film. i will never forget his scene with Ned Beatty.

"McKinney supported himself as an arborist, trimming and taking down trees, a job he continued into the 1970s, when he was appearing in major films. McKinney has had a life-long love affair with trees since he was a child."

"only one food for the rest of my life? That's easy, cherry-flavored Pez. No question about it."

[–] Caractacus23 14 years ago

I must admit to having a soft spot for Rose. That lady was built.

Been making IMDB board posts since the 90s, yet can't bring up any from before December of 2004.