The Westerner (1940)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

William Wyler

Writers:

Niven Busch (screenplay)
Stuart N. Lake (story)

Release Date:

20 September 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

THE RAW UNTAMED ADVENTUROUS WEST...LIVES AGAIN! (original print media ad - all caps)

Plot:

Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinergaroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Lily Langtry | Hanging | Horse Thief | Actress

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Gary Cooper	...	Cole Harden
Walter Brennan	...	Judge Roy Bean
Doris Davenport	...	Jane Ellen Mathews
Fred Stone	...	Caliphet Mathews
Forrest Tucker	...	Wade Harper
Paul Hurst	...	Chickenfoot
Chill Wills	...	Southeast
Lilian Bond	...	Lily Langtry
Dana Andrews	...	Hod Johnson
Charles Halton	...	Mort Borrow
Trevor Bardette	...	Shad Wilkins
Tom Tyler	...	King Evans
Lucien Littlefield	...	The Stranger

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | Portugal:M/12 | West Germany:12 (f) | Norway:16 | USA:Approved (PCA #5959) | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

near, Tucson, Arizona, USA

Company:

Samuel Goldwyn Company, The

Trivia:

This film is the first of five roles for Walter Brennan in support of Gary Cooper. The last was Task Force (1949) in 1949.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The town was named for George Langtry, an engineer and foreman who had supervised a Chinese work crew building the railroad, and not for the actress Lillie Langtry.

Quotes:

Judge Roy W. Bean: Shad Wilkins, you've been tried and found guilty of the most serious crime west of the Pecos, to wit: shooting a steer. Do you got anything to say for yourself before the sentence of the court is executed?
Shad Wilkins: I told you they shot at me first. I didn't mean to kill that steer on purpose. I was aiming at the man.
Judge Roy W. Bean: It's your bad luck you missed him. That's the trouble with you sodbusters...you can't shoot straight. Shad, may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Golden Saddles, Silver Spurs (2000) (TV)

Forgotten Classic

I saw the film again after a gap of 25 years recently, and it really is as good as i remembered it. So good in fact it almost made it into my list of top ten westerns. Everything about is top notch-the performances, the photography, the humour and the screenplay. It is only let down by the contrived ending. The fight scene between Cooper and Tucker is as realistic as you will see anywhere, and the scene where Cooper cuts off a lock of Davenports hair is erotically charged. Of course the two main plusses are the performances of Brennan and Cooper-each fills the frame with their presence even when they have no lines, and Brennans portrayal of Judge Roy Bean results in one of the more memorable characters in westerns. In the hand of another actor the result could have been a caricature but Brennan treads the very thin line between parody and homage perfectly.