'' is a
1976 Revisionist Western Movie set at the end of the
American Civil War starring
Clint Eastwood (as the title character),
Chief Dan George ,
Sondra Locke ,
Bill McKinney ,
John Vernon ,
Paula Trueman ,
Sam Bottoms ,
Geraldine Keams ,
Woodrow Parfrey ,
Joyce Jameson ,
Sheb Wooley , and
Royal Dano .
The movie was adapted by
Sonia Chernus and
Philip Kaufman from the novel ''Gone to Texas'' by
Forrest Carter .
Josey Wales, a peaceful
Missouri farmsteader, is driven to revenge by the savage and brutal slaying of his family by pro-
Union Jayhawkers from
Kansas . Josey joins up with a group of pro-
Confederate Missouri guerillas (
Bushwacker s or "
Border Ruffians ") lead by
"Bloody Bill" Anderson . At the end of the war, his fellow guerillas attempt to surrender to Union forces but are instead gunned down in a botched execution by the same Jayhawkers who burned Josey's farm (who are now part of the regular Union army).
Josey, who had refused to surrender to Union forces, begins a life on the run from Union troops and bounty hunters, while still seeking vengeance and a chance for a new beginning in Texas. Along the way, he accumulates a diverse group of whites and Indians, despite all indications that he would like to be left alone.
It should be noted that Josey Wales' circumstances in the film somewhat mirror those of notorious outlaw
Jesse James , although James was much younger at the time of the Civil War than what Wales appear to be in the film.
It was nominated for the
Academy Award For Original Music Score . The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the
Library Of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry . It was also one of the few Westerns movies to receive critical and commercial success in the 1970s at a time when the Western was thought to be dying as a major genre in Hollywood.
Clint Eastwood has stated in interviews that this is his favorite of all his films.
