Joshua (1976)

Director:

Larry G. Spangler

Writer:

Fred Williamson (story)

Release Date:

1 March 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Western

Plot:

A black soldier returns from fighting for the Union in the Civil War only to find out that his mother has been murdered by a gang of white thugs. He becomes a bounty hunter, determined to track down and kill the men who killed his mother. |

Plot Keywords:

One Man Army | Revenge | Tough Girl | Rape | Horse

Cast

Fred Williamson	...	Joshua
Cal Bartlett	...	Jed (as Calvin Bartlett)
Brenda Venus	...	Sam's Wife
Isela Vega	...	Mexican Woman
Bud Stout	...	Rex (as Budd Stout)
Henry Kendrick	...	Sam
Ralph Willingham	...	Weasle
Kathryn Jackson	...	Martha, Josh's Mom
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stonewall Jackson	...	Pete, Raider (uncredited)
Stacey Newton	...	5th Raider (uncredited)
Neil Summers	...	Sheriff (uncredited)

Directed by
Larry G. Spangler		(as Larry Spangler)

Writing credits
Fred Williamson		(story and screenplay)

Produced by
Larry G. Spangler	....	producer (as Larry Spangler)
Lee B. Winkler	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Mike Irwin

Film Editing by
James E. Nownes

Production Management
Bob Manning	....	production manager

Art Department
Steve Willenberg	....	props

Sound Department
Craig Felburg	....	sound mixer (as Creigh Felburg)
Don Widdows	....	boom operator

Stunts
Tom Morga	....	stunt coordinator
Neil Summers	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Phil Eaplan	....	second camera operator
Hank Grattan	....	key grip
Robert Hopkins	....	camera operator
Bobbie Isenbers	....	camera assistant
Al York	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Chip Graramella	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Dusty Bryan	....	production assistant
Ali Hassan	....	auditor
Christine M. Loss	....	script supervisor (as Christine Loss)
Larry G. Spangler	....	presenter (as Larry Spangler)

Production Companies

• Po' Boy Productions

Distributors

• Lone Star (1976) (USA) (theatrical)
• Astral Films (1977) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Rhino Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (1996) (USA) (VHS)
• Allumination Filmworks (2001) (USA) (DVD)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Reel Media International (2005) (worldwide) (TV)
• Code Red DVD (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (worldwide) (all media)

Other Companies

• Consolidated Film Industries (CFI)  titles: opticals and color (as CFI)
• Echo Film Services  sound effects

Also Known As:

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:PG (re-rating) (1977) | USA:R (original rating)

Filming Locations:

Monument Valley, Utah, USA

Company:

Po' Boy Productions

Quotes:

Joshua:Five? I killed nearly twice that many in the war.

Not very well made... or presented

I remember seeing this movie years ago, and my memories of it were that it was a pretty decent western. So when I got the chance to see it again I took the opportunity. Sadly, time had faded the negative things about this movie.

To be sure, there are a few positive things I can say. Williamson is an imposing figure, dressed in black. The scenery, often covered in packs of snow, is impressive. Combining the scenery with the musical score makes for some haunting sequences.

But most of the movie doesn't work. To begin with, the characters. Williamson's character isn't well developed; he doesn't have that many chances to speak, or have an opportunity to make a character. The bad guys are even thinner characters, all of them seemingly alike.

There is also a lot of poor direction. Take the scene with the rattlesnake, for instance. There should be some tension and suspense with such a deadly animal, but there is NO feeling at all! It's presented in the dullest way possible, a feeling that keeps coming up in the rest of the movie.

Although some of the music is haunting, the low budget of the movie means that the same bars of music are played over and over, which becomes annoying. But a bigger problem (and the main problem I had with the movie) is that this movie is VERY slow and padded. Although it runs only about 82 minutes, a good chunk of this could easily been taken out with a snappier pace and some wise editing. Though this would probably resulted in a running time not qualifying for a feature-length movie.

One last thing I would like to bring up: The pan-and-scanning of this widescreen movie is TERRIBLE. You can't properly read the opening and closing credits, and when there is more than one character on screen, one of them is often cut off (sometimes ALL of the characters are chopped offscreen!) This movie needs to be seen in its full widescreen glory, but since the movie is now in the public domain, it seems very unlikely anyone would spend the expense to release this movie on DVD restored.