The Westerner
Directed by William Wyler
Written by Jo Swerling and Nevin Busch from the story by Stuart N. Lake
1940/USA
The Samuel Goldwyn Company
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Judge Roy W. Bean: Mr. Harden, it’s my duty to inform you that the larceny of an equine is a capital offense punishable by death, but you can rest assured that in this court a horse thief always gets a fair trial before he’s hung.[/box]
I enjoyed this rather off-beat Western, chiefly due to its Oscar-winning performance by Walter Brennan. Wyler’s direction and Gregg Toland’s lighting didn’t hurt either.
Roy Bean (Brennan) is a saloon keeper and self-appointed hanging judge with a worship of British beauty Lily Langtry, to whom his bar is a shrine. His other allegiance is to the cattlemen of his part of Texas who are in a brutal range war with homesteaders in the area. One day, stranger Cole Harden (Gary Cooper) is hauled in for riding a stolen horse. Though Cole claims he bought the nag, the “jury” is soon deliberating over a few drinks. Cole’s fortune changes when he begins admiring all the photos of Langtry and telling tales of how he met her and has a lock of her hair. Bean immediately decides to delay execution so Harden can send away for the tresses. Immediately thereafter, the man who sold Harden the horse is caught.
Bean and Harden form a bond over their mutual admiration of the actress but their ways part when Harden falls for a homesteader’s daughter and is sickened by the persecution of the farmers. The rest of the story is devoted to Harden’s efforts to get real justice for these people. With Fred Stone as a homesteader and Dana Andrews in a tiny role for one of his very first screen appearances
Brennan has as much, or more, screen time as Cooper. This is classic Brennan, complete with all his tics, but is a joy to watch. Somehow he manages to keep the character both endearing and despicable at the same time. It’s a good looking film, too, with a wonderful score by Dmitri Tiomkin. Recommended.
Walter Brennan won his third and final Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his work on The Westerner. The film was also nominated in the categories of Best Original Story and Best Black-and-White Art Direction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sfFFNF2-iM
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