Stay Away, Joe
| Stay Away, Joe | |
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Theatrical release poster by Robert McGinnis
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| Directed by | Peter Tewksbury |
| Produced by | Douglas Laurence |
| Written by |
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| Based on |
Stay Away, Joe by Dan Cushman |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Jack Marshall |
| Cinematography | Fred J. Koenekamp |
| Edited by | George W. Brooks |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release date
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Running time
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102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $1,500,000 (US/ Canada) |
Stay Away, Joe is a 1968 Western-comedy film, with musical interludes, set in modern times and starring Elvis Presley, Burgess Meredith, Katy Jurado and Joan Blondell. The film was based on the 1953 novel by Dan Cushman, a satirical farce. The film reached number 65 on the Variety weekly national box office chart in 1968.
Elvis Presley stars as Native American rodeo rider Joe Lightcloud, a Navajo whose family still lives on the reservation. He returns to the reservation in a white Cadillac convertible with which he proceeds to drive cattle.
Joe persuades his Congressman (Douglas Henderson) to give him 20 heifers and a prize bull so he and his father (Burgess Meredith) can prove that the Navajos can successfully raise cattle on the reservation. If their experiment is successful, then the government will help all the Navajo people. But Joe's friend, Bronc Hoverty (L.Q. Jones) accidentally barbecues the prize bull, while Joe sells the heifers to buy plumbing and other home improvements for his stepmother, Annie Lightcloud (Katy Jurado).
Joe is able to borrow a bull, Dominick, but the bull is lackadaisical and shows no interest in the heifers. Mamie Callahan (Quentin Dean), the daughter of shot gun-toting tavern owner Glenda Callahan (Joan Blondell) can't seem to stay away from the girl-chasing Joe. Joe also trades in his horse at a used car dealership for a red convertible automobile from which he sells the parts off to obtain cash from a salvage yard. After almost all of the usable car parts are sold, he rides around in a beat-up motorcycle.
In order to raise money, Joe organizes a contest in which riders have to stay on Dominick, the unresponsive bull he procured from his friend as a replacement. In addition, Joe himself has to ride Dominick and stay on in order to win the prize money. Joe wins the contest and receives the prize money. In a fight at his father's house, Joe and his friends are involved in a large fight that destroys the house they have been building.
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Wikipedia