Back in the late '60s and early '70s, an era when 24/7 cable networks and an "Internet" of computers weren't much further along than concepts, it'd be tough to identify a public figure more ubiquitous than New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath. The University of Alabama standout--whose Hall of Fame career would always be defined by his brash guarantee of a victory against the heavily favored Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl III-- seemed never to be long out of the media in those days, as much for his string of endorsements and notorious bachelor lifestyle as for his play in the pros.

At the height of Broadway Joe's vogue, a handful of movie producers were more than willing to roll the dice on whether his easy charisma would effectively translate to the screen. The biker flick C.C. and Company (1970), which paired him with Ann-Margret at the end of her exploitation phase, and Norwood (1970), a country music-laced comedy-drama vehicle for Glen Campbell, pretty much left critics and audiences with the consensus that Joe shouldn't quit his day job. Namath, at fourth and long with his film career, then went for it with a spaghetti western, The Last Rebel (1971).

Helmed by first -and last time - director Denys McCoy, the scenario is set in Missouri just after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, where Confederate soldiers Burnside Hollis (Namath) and Matt Graves (Jack Elam) decide that the lives of fugitives would be preferable to a Union POW camp. Their flight westward leads them into assorted escapades, including the rescue of Duncan (Woody Strode) from a lynching party. Their subsequent rescue of a runaway stage (which they had intended to rob) and its pretty young passenger (Marina Coffa) brings a cash reward from her grateful, attractive aunt (Annamaria Chio). The trio heads to the local brothel, where Hollis takes a shine to the youthful madam (Victoria George) and concocts a use for their cash stake.

It turns out that Hollis is a fair pool shot, and the group sets up a hustle for some of the bordello's regulars. Hollis entrusts Duncan with a good chunk of the proceeds, and he responds by riding off; the less-than-thrilled Graves wants his cut back, and he's not above recruiting some local Klansmen to help out. Hollis' attempts to square matters without bloodshed are pretty much doomed to failure, leading to a fiery denouement.

Three years earlier, Strode and Elam had been memorably teamed on-screen for the now-classic opening sequence of Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), as two of the gunslingers sent (unsuccessfully) to dispatch Charles Bronson; it's conceivable that, given their druthers, they'd have preferred to be killed off five minutes into The Last Rebel. Strode, the groundbreaking UCLA backfield star who became one of the NFL's first African-American players, may never join Namath in Canton, but he definitely holds the edge in terms of screen resumes. Having first appeared in Sundown (1941), Strode's sinewy presence would mark dozens of films and TV shows over a fifty-year-plus span.

Producer: Larry G. Spangler
Director: Denys McCoy
Screenplay: Lorenzo Sabatini (story and screenplay); Rea Redifer (special story material)
Cinematography: Carlo Carlini
Art Direction: Guido Josia
Music: Tony Ashton, Jon Lord
Film Editing: Fritz Müller
Cast: Joe Namath ('Captain' Hollis), Jack Elam (Matt), Woody Strode (Duncan), Ty Hardin (The Sheriff), Victoria George (Pearl), Renato Romano (Deputy Virgil), Marina Coffa (Camelia), Annamaria Chio (Madam Dupres), Mike Forrest (Cowboy), Bruce Eweka (The Black Boy)
C-90m.

by Jay S. Steinberg