The Westerner

The humor quickly runs thin. Even Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan can't save it

This western isn't full of slam-bang action,but manages something completely different.It's a character study of a powerful man who thinks himself above the law.Judge Roy Bean, in the person of Walter Brennan, is a dangerous person in his belief that he is the only one qualified with righteousness to pass judgment on lawbreakers.Especially if he can make a buck as well. This westerns story frame is also about the old conflict of settlers vs. cattlemen. Gary Cooper gives a lot of warmth to his lone cowboy who serves as a catalyst for the movie's action.Future stars Forrest Tucker and Dana Andrews are seen as two of the farmers.But this movie completely belongs to Walter Brennan's clever performance.I enjoyed this western very much.Another gem by director William Wyler.

the 7 vote i gave the westerner was due to its welterweight content. the execution of it gets a 10. the hero was given a dirty face and stubble. southeast and chickenfoot deserve awards for improbability. paul hurst in dirty apron and derby is a priceless picture. the horse pete taking the witness stand; the threatened gunplay in the saloon; the windswept surrender of the precious lock of hair; the 'boudoir' morning after scene with cooper trying to find a clean spot on the continuous towel; the dusty brawl with jane ellen's boyfriend. every scene had a wonderful flavor that i've enjoyed over and again for fifty years, yet it's still fresh.

Texas, post-Civil War. Judge Roy Bean is the notorious hanging judge of Vinegarroon - "The Law West of the Pecos". An accused horse thief, Cole Harden, is brought before him one day who, to everyone's surprise, manages to smooth talk himself out of being hanged. Meanwhile tensions are running high between cattle ranchers and new settlers, crop farmers - "Homesteaders". This is a lopsided battle in that Bean tends to side with the ranchers. The basic plot seems interesting enough in that it focuses on an actual historic figure - Judge Roy Bean - and his brand of justice. Also, having seen the 1972 film 'The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean' (directed by John Huston and starring Paul Newman as the Judge), I was intrigued to see another take on the man. Not that Bean, played by Walter Brennan, is the main character. That honour goes to Cole Harden, played by the legendary Gary Cooper. Having legends like Cooper and Brennan in the movie, plus the fact that it is directed by William Wyler, made me think this this should be well worth the watch. Well, sort of, and no. Brennan is great as Bean and Cooper is okay as Harden. The initial few scenes are quite interesting, often funny, as we see Harden's clever manoeuvring of himself out of being hanged. However, from then on the plot becomes disjointed with many sub-plots that don't really go anywhere, a main plot that changes direction randomly, plus limited character depth and thus limited engagement. It all seems so start-stop and discontinuous. Interesting enough to keep me watching but overall it is reasonably disappointing.

Westerner, The (1940) *** 1/2 (out of 4) William Wyler directed this film that shows the friendship between a cowboy (Gary Cooper) and Judge Roy Bean (Walter Brennan). I really wasn't sure what to expect from this film but it turned out to be a really good movie with some terrific performances and a classic comedy scene that is among the best I've ever seen. Needless to say, both Cooper and Brennan are wonderful in the film and really turn this western into a near comic masterpiece. The opening scenes, when Cooper is on trial for his life, the way he and Brennan discuss Lily Langtry is pure genius from the acting and directing standpoint. The way the two actors play off each others lines and facial gestures makes for plenty of laugh out loud moments. Wyler's comic timing in the editing and directing is top notch and really makes this scene something beautiful to watch. Wyler's direction during the fire sequence is also top notch and makes for a rather suspenseful scene. The film is a tad bit odd in how over the top it is in laughs and at the same time so serious in the way Bean acts. Doris Davenport is equally good as the tough as nail homesteader and I was shocked to see she only did one movie after this.

At least, that's the rumor behind the making of THE WESTERNER--and it certainly looks as though it could be true, since WALTER BRENNAN is in full throttle as Judge Roy Bean--the sort of role he'd already been playing in numerous pictures and inexplicably won a third Supporting Role Oscar for it. For me, the surprise of the film was DORIS DAVENPORT as the homesteader gal that GARY COOPER shares a tender romance with, refreshingly natural and charming as the film's romantic lead. Unfortunately, she retired from the screen shortly after making this film but she certainly showed promise as an actress. As for GARY COOPER, he's at home in a role he could have played blind-folded by now and under William Wyler's direction gives another one of his warm and affable portrayals as a man who finds himself in the unusual predicament of having to justify himself before the very biased judge who has no sympathy for ranchers or homesteaders--and only reaches some kind of kinship with Cooper when they share a mutual admiration for actress Lily Langtry (a forgettable LILIAN BOND), about whom the judge is obsessed. Has some interesting action scenes in western tradition, but enjoyment of this one depends on how much of Walter Brennan you can take, since he monopolizes the screen most of the time with a bigger than life demonstration of his acting technique. Trivia note: DANA ANDREWS (whom Wyler would later entrust with a big role in THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES) has a one-line bit part and FORREST TUCKER makes his screen debut as a man who fights Cooper.

This western film features several top elements that help make it a classic in its genre. Director Wyler was regarded by many people as one of the all time greats. Cinematographer Toland was also a well-respected presence in his field. Producer Goldwyn was famed for his attention to quality. (This trio had, in fact, just made "Wuthering Heights together the year before.) Then, of course, there is the delightful (and Oscar-winning) presence of famed character actor Brennan as Judge Roy Bean. This is not in any way discounting the work of Cooper who is highly effective and appealing here as well. Cooper plays the title character, a drifter who has the unlucky prospect of having to appear before the notorious "hangin' judge" Brennan. Once his case is settled, he forms an uneasy alliance with Brennan, while also sticking around long enough to help damsel in distress Davenport. Before long, he's in the middle of a range war between cattle ranchers and farmers all being unfairly presided over by Brennan (who has an undue fascination with the actress Lily Langtry.) Cooper is gorgeous in this film and gives a strong performance (despite his documented disinterest in it due to the knowledge that Brennan had the best part.) Brennan predictably steals most every scene he's in in a part that is more co-starring than supporting. Still, his rapport with Cooper is what gives his role meaning. Although riddled with what are now cliches, the script is full of neat touches between the two men. It's not every day a viewer catches Gary Cooper waking up drunk in a twin bed with Walter Brennan's arm around him! This sequence (as well as one earlier when the two men square off over "a drink") is priceless. There's also a memorable showdown in an opera house. Davenport makes a lovely, if unusual heroine (earthier and less slender than many leading ladies of her day.) She would retire shortly after this film. Tucker will be almost unrecognizable to his fans from "F Troop" and other later works of his. Andrews is given very little to do. The film might have been better off with a more apt title as it's less the story of "The Westerner" than it is an observation of the relationship between these two men.

The Westerner enjoys a big reputation, due to two persons: Gregg Toland and Gary Cooper. I am a great admirer of Walter Brennan, but what he did in The Westerner was the same thing he had been doing for years, without adding anything which could have justified a new Oscar for him. Nobody can believe the first sequence in which Cooper escapes being hanged by the infamous Judge Roy Bean by making believe he is a friend of Lily Langtry. This could have worked, had Wyler treated the whole picture as a parody, which in a certain way it is. The climax, in the empty theater is still more unbelievable than the first sequence. I have read somewhere that Cooper did not want to make this picture, and it was Wyler that convinced him. The trouble is that Wyler does not appear to have been convinced himself, except in the dramatic even tragic sequences: the spectacular fire, for example. It is a pity that the charming Doris Davenport retired after three films; she showed promise in The Westerner. Anyhow, it has the wonderful photography one always expected from Gregg Toland, and is terrifically entertaining.

This was the original version of "The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean." The latter, a Paul Newman-starring picture made in the early '70s, was very entertaining and this older film was, too. Both are winners and worth owning. Walter Brennan won his Oscar here for his role as the title Judge. He is fun to watch, as is Gary Cooper, who plays his normal type of likable character. Doris Davenport was not much for the female lead, and one reason why her name is so unfamiliar. The other drawbacks are Brennan's overuse of the phrase "My gobs" (trying to get away without saying "My God") and the cinematography which would have looked a lot better in color.

The Westerner will seldom make it on anyone's top ten westerns list, even one compiled by those of us who haven't succumbed to the garlicky charms of the Man with No Name. But this is one of the top notch hay-consumers of all time, make no mistake. What can you say about Gary Cooper that has not already been voiced over and over. His beautifully understated acting style, the subtle twitches and raised eyebrows. His bearing. The way he sits a horse, as only someone who grew up on a Montana ranch can. The sure enough Western accent. Had he discovered the ear-pull yet, I didn't notice it in this one. Until watching this movie on a newly restored DVD tonight, I had not seen it in 20 years, and had come to think of it as more of a Walter Brennan movie. I was wrong. Brennan was there with all his fine tools, all right, and he royally deserved his best-supporting award, but that is what his role was. When it's a Gary Cooper movie, it's a Gary Cooper movie. Never having been a fan of High Noon, I had thought maybe Dallas or Vera Cruz were Coop's best westerns. But The Westerner gives us the definitive Gary Cooper. The movie is handsomely turned out in the sensuously luminous black and white cinematography, fluid editing and silky-smooth scene changes we have come to accept as standard for top studio productions of the late 'thirties, 'forties era, and every cinematic effect is enhanced by a stirring Dimitri Tiomin score. The sets and costumes are superb with a much more authentic look and feel for the old west than most westerns before or since. The clothes of both the men and women, both the cowboys and the farmers, the gun leather, and the buildings, are all unusually accurate to the time and place. Refreshingly, the heroine of our piece, sensitively and strongly played by the beautiful but obscure Doris Davenport, wears a long, feminine dress and uses a wagon for transportation, rather than wearing men's jeans and riding astraddle a horse with her Tangee lipstick blaring as we see in so many great and small westerns. All the other characters, both male and female, come off like real 19th century men and women, not products of the time in which the film was made. William Wyler's direction is virtually flawless with just the right blend of action, tension, and humor. But considering the acting talent, the cinematographers, lighting specialists, art directors, and other technical help any director in the awesomely efficient big studio systems of the time had available, maybe he just knew how to stay out of the way.