The Outrage (1964)

The Outrage
Directed by Martin Ritt
Written by Michael Kanin from the play by Michael and Fay Kanin and the screenplay for “Rashomon” by Akira Kurosawa based on the story by Shinobu Hashimoto
1964/USA
Martin Ritt Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Preacher: Is truth the luxury of the rich?[/box]

The story worked so well for Kurosawa.  All the greatness got lost in the translation.

This is an almost exact attempt to recreate the Rashomon story in an Old West setting.  Three strangers, a prospector (Howard Da Silva), a preacher (William Shatner) and a con man (Edward G. Robinson), are stranded at a derelict train station.  The prospector and the preacher are still stunned from participating in the trial of Mexican bandit Juan Carrasco (Paul Newman) for the rape of a Woman (Claire Bloom) and murder of her Husband (Laurence Harvey).

What shocks the men so much is that three completely different versions of the events come out.  Only one could possibly be true.  Before the end of the movie we will get a fourth version.  Will it be the truth?

What worked for John Sturges in The Magnificent Seven and Sergio Leone in A Fistful of Dollars flops for Martin Ritt here.  Everything about the story rang completely false to me.  Worst of all is the performance of Paul Newman.  His depiction of a Mexican borders on caricature.  The supernatural elements of the story fall flat.  The message is way too simplistic.  Really the only outstanding thing about the film is the performance of Robinson, who never failed me yet.