The Westerner (B- or 2.5/4 stars)
Gary Cooper plays laconic Cole Harden in 'The Westerner' (directed by William Wyler & adapted from a famed Wyatt Earp story), a true-ish story about cattlemen resenting homesteaders in the post-Civil War west. Cole is a drifter cowboy brought to trial in Vinegaroon, Texas, (later to be renamed 'Langtry' after a famous female singer) before the despotic Judge Bean (3-time Oscar winner(!) Walter Brennan) on charges of horse stealing; the sentence would be death by hanging if found guilty in the judge's barroom, which acts as a mock courtroom. When Cole finds out that the slightly-nutty cattle baron judge is foolishly obsessed with beautiful British stage actress Lily Langtry, he claims to have known her & that she gave him a lock of her hair.
That's good enough of an arse savin' to get Cole a suspended sentence in the judge's eyes. Before long, the plot machinates for Cole to meet & be wooed-by attractive homesteader, Jane Ellen (pretty, but doomed actress, Doris Davenport) & siding with the homesteaders. Jane is the daughter of friendly farmer Caliphet Mathews (Fred Stone), who gets trampled to death in an orchestrated stampede while trying to save his ranch that is horribly set on fire by the Judge Bean's vile henchmen; trying to drive the homesteaders off 'his' land. It all leads to a climax that has the judge sitting alone in an opera theater awaiting a performance by Lily Langtry and, as the curtain rises, we see Cole standing there with his guns fixed on the ruthless judge. Needless to say, a classic shootout {ripe for parody} ensues.
You know, I struggled with this one. I disliked the frenetic opening of the film {in which a horse sure looked like it got hurt}. I found some scenes to be too slow-paced & verbose. But then I appreciate some of the performances & the craft of the film (beautiful black-&-white cinematography by Gregg Toland & good sets, not to mention a fantastic fire sequence) enough to make me forgive its weaknesses. The story? Eh, it's alright. So-so; a bit cliché; nothing unique; somewhat pleasantly offbeat; a little melodramatic; a little humorous; a little irksome. As you can see, I teeter-totter with 'The Westerner'.
I teeter-totter with the characterizations, too. Gary Cooper is the good guy {duh}. It's hard not to like him. He plays his usual manly, noble-minded hero. Having said that, the 'villain' of this story is the more interesting/arresting subject. How Walter Brennan got nominated/won in the 'Supporting' category at the Academy Awards is beyond me. The story is mostly about him (he's the catalyst for a lot of what happens) & he's onscreen an awful lot. Furthermore, I found the Brennan character problematic because I just couldn't stand Judge Bean; a murderous despot in sheep's clothing. So yeah, there are colorful characters, a bit of action, some light humor, & a dash of romance {gag me with the abrupt, too-sweet ending}. It's a harmless film. I was just annoyed by some intangible elements of it.
That's good enough of an arse savin' to get Cole a suspended sentence in the judge's eyes. Before long, the plot machinates for Cole to meet & be wooed-by attractive homesteader, Jane Ellen (pretty, but doomed actress, Doris Davenport) & siding with the homesteaders. Jane is the daughter of friendly farmer Caliphet Mathews (Fred Stone), who gets trampled to death in an orchestrated stampede while trying to save his ranch that is horribly set on fire by the Judge Bean's vile henchmen; trying to drive the homesteaders off 'his' land. It all leads to a climax that has the judge sitting alone in an opera theater awaiting a performance by Lily Langtry and, as the curtain rises, we see Cole standing there with his guns fixed on the ruthless judge. Needless to say, a classic shootout {ripe for parody} ensues.
You know, I struggled with this one. I disliked the frenetic opening of the film {in which a horse sure looked like it got hurt}. I found some scenes to be too slow-paced & verbose. But then I appreciate some of the performances & the craft of the film (beautiful black-&-white cinematography by Gregg Toland & good sets, not to mention a fantastic fire sequence) enough to make me forgive its weaknesses. The story? Eh, it's alright. So-so; a bit cliché; nothing unique; somewhat pleasantly offbeat; a little melodramatic; a little humorous; a little irksome. As you can see, I teeter-totter with 'The Westerner'.
I teeter-totter with the characterizations, too. Gary Cooper is the good guy {duh}. It's hard not to like him. He plays his usual manly, noble-minded hero. Having said that, the 'villain' of this story is the more interesting/arresting subject. How Walter Brennan got nominated/won in the 'Supporting' category at the Academy Awards is beyond me. The story is mostly about him (he's the catalyst for a lot of what happens) & he's onscreen an awful lot. Furthermore, I found the Brennan character problematic because I just couldn't stand Judge Bean; a murderous despot in sheep's clothing. So yeah, there are colorful characters, a bit of action, some light humor, & a dash of romance {gag me with the abrupt, too-sweet ending}. It's a harmless film. I was just annoyed by some intangible elements of it.