AniInterview
Sorry, this movie sucks
Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
Acensbart
Excellent but underrated film
midant777
I have watched many Westerns in my time: Great, Good, Mediocre and Poor. I must say that "The Westerner" is great, for me one of the best westerns of all time. Cooper and Brennan together were incredible!
John T. Ryan
WHILE TAKING A GREAT many liberties and just plain "Making it up", This is one great film. Although it is a highly fictionalized telling of the story of a real aberration in our nation's march west.THE PRODUCTION OPTS for a sort of round about sympathetic evaluation of self-styled hanging 'Judge' Roy Bean. To be sure, the characterization of the town and the seedy, bucket-of-blood Saloon that doubled as a Court Room for "His Honor" is nasty, crude and ever so down to earth. There is definitely no romanticizing here.THE BUSINESS OF 'Judge' Bean's obsession with a lady he never met, Miss Lily Langtree, singer, is perhaps the one agent of the plot line that humanizes an otherwise monster of a human being. It is this bizarre and intense case of extreme loneliness and longing that actually makes the audience pity this person; rather than despise him. Walter Brennan assayed an outstanding characterization here, right down to the bitter end.AS FAR AS the use of star, Gary Cooper, there is no better example of his great technique and intuitive construction of an on screen persona. Born in England, but raised in the West, the great "Yup" man was an outstanding horseman. This combined with his great talent made for the great understated Western that it was.OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS leading to the successful creation of this production included the supporting cast. Included are: Forrest Tucker, Dana Andrews, Paul Hurst, Chill Wills and, in possibly his best role in a major picture, we have "B" Western & Serial Star, Tom Tyler.BEAUTIFUL OUTDOOR SCENES are used as the backdrop for the highly tense but somehow subtly played drama that unfolds.REMEMBER, AS THE great man once said: "Less is More."
moonspinner55
It's "Judge" Roy Bean and his bloodthirsty cattlemen against the hard-working homesteaders in post-Civil War Texas, with drifting 'saddle bum' Gary Cooper caught between the warring sides. William Wyler's cloudy, dusty, majestic western suffers a bit from an unresolved unhappiness at its core (and a conflicting attitude towards Walter Brennan's hang-'em-high Judge, who happily wields a cold-blooded sense of immorality yet is built up in the film's preamble to be something of a hero!). Cooper, barely twitching a facial muscle, is supposed to be a crafty, quick-thinking sonuvabitch, but Cooper just doesn't exude that type of personality; he's rugged when he needs to be, and stalwart with the one eligible woman in town, but he's disappointingly one-dimensional. Brennan got the critical kudos (and a Supporting Oscar) for his work, although his Bean is hardly a dandy villain--and the brutalities suffered by the homesteaders leaves behind a bad taste for the film. Gregg Toland's fine cinematography and Dimitri Tiomkin's solid score are certainly helpful, as are the terrific supporting performances from Fred Stone and Doris Davenport (a curious choice for the female lead, but ultimately a good one). **1/2 from ****
dougdoepke
The heart of the movie is the developing relationship between Bean (Brennan) and Harden (Cooper), and it's one of the more affecting ones in Hollywood filmdom. The two actors play off one another in subtle and convincing fashion. Credit too, a clever screenplay that creates the troubled friendship in unforgettable fashion. Bean, of course, represents the lawless first wave of frontier settlement by ranchers, and Brennan's almost scary as the hangin' judge. He's aggressive, foul-tempered, and allows no second-guessing. And when Harden's accused of being a horse thief, it's almost certain he's a "gonner". Except the saddle tramp has quick wits about him, claiming he knows the object of Bean's near worship— songstress Lilly Langtry. That's enough to get his hanging postponed. Note, however, that neither we nor Bean are told at any time whether Harden has made-up the story or not. With the lock of hair, though, it appears he has.The dramatic high point, of course, is the crop burning by the ranchers. It's an attempt to drive out the second wave of settlers, namely the farmers who've taken over good grazing land. It's a great effect that stands up even today, the vast fields of corn going up like a roaring inferno. I don't know how the movie makers did it, but it's definitely an A-movie effect. Throughout it all, Cooper is his usual tight-lipped, unsmiling movie self, a distinct contrast to the talkative Bean, and a perfect casting choice.I can't help thinking that the judge's obsession with Langtry represents his soft side that he's had to channel away from the hard side as keeper of law and order on the frontier. That final sequence is so well thought out. It's almost a 'male weepie' and a perfect culmination of the wavering relationship between the two men. Then too, what a great glimpse of earthly heaven right before the slow fadeout.All in all, the 100-minutes is an unforgettable western, thanks mainly to Brennan's sharp- edged judge, richly deserving of the Oscar he received.
