The Westerner

Just over two years ago -- good lord, I'm getting old -- I wrote a review of the 1972 revisionist western The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. Based ever so loosely on the life of Judge Roy Bean, it's a mess of a movie if a quasi-interesting one. Some 30 years earlier though, an earlier film delved into the life of the infamous western figure. Interesting, but like its predecessor, still flawed. And away we go with 1940's The Westerner.

As settlers and homesteaders move into the wilds of Texas in the years following the Civil War, one man maintains his iron rule on his own territory. That man is Judge Roy Bean (Walter Brennan), a self-appointed judge who lives and rules by a very strict set of rules and laws. His typical verdict is simple no matter the crime; hanging. One day, the Judge meets a prisoner that he can't quite bring to send to the hanging tree. That man is Cole Harden (Gary Cooper), an amiable enough, fast talking cowboy making his way from job to job. Cole is accused of stealing a man's horse, and if there was ever a crime worthy of hanging in the old west, it would be horse thieving. The drifting cowboy is able to save himself from the noose, and he makes a fast friend in Judge Roy Bean. Their friendship though is threatened by an escalating range war, the cowboys readying to fight the homesteaders.

I liked a lot about this 1940 western from director William Wyler. For starters, the black and white look is perfect from the start. The outdoor scenes were filmed in the desert around Tucson, Arizona, adding a sense of realism to the story. The indoor scenes are mostly relegated to Bean's saloon-turned-courthouse in the Texas border country, almost like a play. I won't mention each of the names involved with the script -- there's 6 different names according to IMDB -- but the final product is full of darkly funny scenes that mix well with some great dialogue between Brennan and Cooper. A very natural back and forth makes any scene the duo is in that much more entertaining.

Having already won two Best Supporting Actor awards (1936 and 1938), Brennan made it a third win with his performance here as Judge Roy Bean. It is by far the best thing going for this Wyler-directed western. He makes a pretty nasty character always interesting to watch, if not particularly likable. He lives and rules by his own special laws which are steadfast....until they don't benefit him, in which case he tweaks the rules. Bean is stringent in that once he's ruled, the ruling is done. At one point, the Judge even hangs a man....a man who's already dead. Bean also has one obsession; his love for stage actress Lilly Langtry (Lilian Bond). His saloon is decorated with posters and cards and postcards of the lovely actress. He's never seen her, never met her, but he's desperately and madly in love. It's an oddly human (if not quite endearing) trait to one nasty dude.

For about 45 minutes, I loved this movie. We're introduced to Bean, his town and his posse of 'Yes Men' gunfighters (Paul Hurst and Chill Wills among them), and then Cooper's Cole (no relation to the real-life Cole Hardin) appears on the scene seemingly a sure thing for the hangman's noose. It is an extended scene with its intro and fallout that lasts more than 30 minutes. Bean in all his self-righteous judgment and Cole in his desperation to save his own skin are perfect with some surprisingly funny exchanges. Cooper was worried heading into the movie that Brennan would overshadow his secondary part, and he's right to a point, but he does a solid job (as expected) as the laconic but quick-thinking Cole. The running scene has several sight gags, some interesting twists and a great payoff. If only the rest of the movie could have kept up that energy, but unfortunately, it just doesn't.

The last half of the movie follows Cole and the Judge on opposite sides of a range war. No one seems to be able to convince Bean of anything, but he respects Cole (while also wanting one of the cowboy's prize possessions) enough to listen to him. Well, sort of. The range war feels forced, especially the slamming of a love interest -- Doris Davenport as Jane Ellen, the daughter of a farmer (Fred Stone) --  smack dab right into a story that just didn't need it. The range war offers a couple surprising twists, but the second half just never maintains the energy or momentum of the first half of the movie. Still a worthwhile movie for Brennan and Cooper throughout, but it's a mixed bag in the end because of the disappointing second half. Also look for Forrest Tucker and Dana Andrews.

The Westerner (1940): ** 1/2 /****