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The Westerner

  • 1940
  • Approved
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
7.3K
YOUR RATING
Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, and Doris Davenport in The Westerner (1940)
Classical WesternDramaWestern

Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.Judge Roy Bean, a self-appointed hanging judge in Vinegarroon, Texas, befriends saddle tramp Cole Harden, who opposes Bean's policy against homesteaders.

  • Director
    • William Wyler
  • Writers
    • Jo Swerling
    • Niven Busch
    • Stuart N. Lake
  • Stars
    • Gary Cooper
    • Walter Brennan
    • Doris Davenport
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.2/10
    7.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • Jo Swerling
      • Niven Busch
      • Stuart N. Lake
    • Stars
      • Gary Cooper
      • Walter Brennan
      • Doris Davenport
    • 83User reviews
    • 34Critic reviews
    • 78Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Oscar
      • 5 wins & 2 nominations total

    Photos66

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    Top cast47

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    Gary Cooper
    Gary Cooper
    • Cole Harden
    Walter Brennan
    Walter Brennan
    • Judge Roy Bean
    Doris Davenport
    Doris Davenport
    • Jane Ellen Mathews
    Fred Stone
    Fred Stone
    • Caliphet Mathews
    Forrest Tucker
    Forrest Tucker
    • Wade Harper
    Paul Hurst
    Paul Hurst
    • Chickenfoot
    Chill Wills
    Chill Wills
    • Southeast
    Lilian Bond
    Lilian Bond
    • Lily Langtry
    Dana Andrews
    Dana Andrews
    • Hod Johnson
    Charles Halton
    Charles Halton
    • Mort Borrow
    Trevor Bardette
    Trevor Bardette
    • Shad Wilkins
    Tom Tyler
    Tom Tyler
    • King Evans
    Lucien Littlefield
    Lucien Littlefield
    • The Stranger
    C.E. Anderson
    C.E. Anderson
    • Hezekiah Willever
    • (uncredited)
    Stanley Andrews
    Stanley Andrews
    • Sheriff
    • (uncredited)
    Arthur Aylesworth
    Arthur Aylesworth
    • Mr. Dixon
    • (uncredited)
    Bill Beauman
    • Man Getting Haircut
    • (uncredited)
    Hank Bell
    Hank Bell
    • Deputy
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • William Wyler
    • Writers
      • Jo Swerling
      • Niven Busch
      • Stuart N. Lake
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews83

    7.27.3K
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    Featured reviews

    8oldblackandwhite

    Top Notch Western from Hollywoods' Golden Era May be Coop's Best

    The Westerner will seldom make it on anyone's top ten westerns list, even one compiled by those of us who haven't succumbed to the garlicky charms of the Man with No Name. But this is one of the top notch hay-consumers of all time, make no mistake.

    What can you say about Gary Cooper that has not already been voiced over and over. His beautifully understated acting style, the subtle twitches and raised eyebrows. His bearing. The way he sits a horse, as only someone who grew up on a Montana ranch can. The sure enough Western accent. Had he discovered the ear-pull yet, I didn't notice it in this one. Until watching this movie on a newly restored DVD tonight, I had not seen it in 20 years, and had come to think of it as more of a Walter Brennan movie. I was wrong. Brennan was there with all his fine tools, all right, and he royally deserved his best-supporting award, but that is what his role was. When it's a Gary Cooper movie, it's a Gary Cooper movie. Never having been a fan of High Noon, I had thought maybe Dallas or Vera Cruz were Coop's best westerns. But The Westerner gives us the definitive Gary Cooper.

    The movie is handsomely turned out in the sensuously luminous black and white cinematography, fluid editing and silky-smooth scene changes we have come to accept as standard for top studio productions of the late 'thirties, 'forties era, and every cinematic effect is enhanced by a stirring Dimitri Tiomin score. The sets and costumes are superb with a much more authentic look and feel for the old west than most westerns before or since. The clothes of both the men and women, both the cowboys and the farmers, the gun leather, and the buildings, are all unusually accurate to the time and place. Refreshingly, the heroine of our piece, sensitively and strongly played by the beautiful but obscure Doris Davenport, wears a long, feminine dress and uses a wagon for transportation, rather than wearing men's jeans and riding astraddle a horse with her Tangee lipstick blaring as we see in so many great and small westerns. All the other characters, both male and female, come off like real 19th century men and women, not products of the time in which the film was made. William Wyler's direction is virtually flawless with just the right blend of action, tension, and humor. But considering the acting talent, the cinematographers, lighting specialists, art directors, and other technical help any director in the awesomely efficient big studio systems of the time had available, maybe he just knew how to stay out of the way.
    8kenjha

    Bravo, Brennan!

    This film focuses on the relationship between Judge Roy Bean and a stranger who rides into his town against the backdrop of conflict between homesteaders and cattle men. While Cooper has one of his best roles, Brennan steals the film in a marvelous performance as Bean that brought him his third Oscar in four years. Cooper and Brennan have great chemistry, and the film is at its best during the earlier parts when the two are engaged in witty banter about Lily Langtry, the actress than Bean is obsessed with. Davenport, who would make only one other film before retiring at age 23, is fine as Cooper's love interest. As usual, Wyler's direction is impeccable.
    7bkoganbing

    "That's My Ruling."

    Samuel Goldwyn's The Westerner would be considered a good western about that old familiar topic in westerns, the cattlemen versus the homesteaders. Gary Cooper is his usual tall in the saddle hero whose presence brings about a general righting of wrongs.

    Except that Mr. Goldwyn had the presence of mind to cast Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean, local head honcho of the area around Vinegarroon, Texas. With William Wyler directing Brennan etches an unforgettable film portrayal of a man who's both ruthless in enforcing his will on the territory and a likable sort of cuss once you get to know him.

    Brennan has one weakness, as the legends have it in the west, he's crushing out big time of famed English actress Lily Langtry. When Gary Cooper is brought into Brennan's courtroom which in off hours is also a saloon, a little quick thinking on his part upon seeing Langtry's portrait over the bar saves his life.

    Despite Cooper's friendship with the judge, he's also taken an interest in homesteader Fred Stone's daughter, Doris Davenport. It's inevitable that Cooper and Brennan come to a parting of the ways.

    Wyler who is not a director of westerns per se has directed a couple of good ones and this is one of them. There are some good action scenes here, there are some scenes laced with humor when Brennan is around, and the romance is nicely handled.

    Dana Andrews and Forrest Tucker got their first notice in The Westerner as well in small parts. But it's Brennan's show.

    Walter Brennan won his third Best Supporting Actor Oscar with this film. This was the fifth year the Supporting Player categories were being awarded by the Academy and Brennan won numbers one and three previously.

    Western fans will like The Westerner in any event and others will watch it to see a master craftsman in Walter Brennan at his job.
    8adrian290357

    Wily Western by William Wyler

    This intelligent Western contains many a wily comment on the savage mindset of frontier times. Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean thoroughly deserved his Academy award though it beats me why he picked up a supporting Oscar instead of a full one. After all, his part is about as long as Gary Cooper's. That aside, Gregg Toland's photography is a gem and the dialog well ahead of its time. The best thing about it all, though, is Wyler's disciplined direction. Yes, some would argue that the film does not accurately reflect history, that Judge Roy Bean died much later and not in a shootout but frankly there is enough prejudice, malice, and quirky humor in this film for one to know outright that Wyler never intended it as a historical account but, rather, as a comment on the difficulties of bringing law to the West. Some of it might be dated but Brennan will startle you, Cooper is darned slick, and it will keep you riveted. Don't miss it!
    7ma-cortes

    Classic Western about a range war with drifter Cooper defending homesteaders against judge Brennan

    This is an outdoor epic about land war in which director William Wyler offers us a solid, absorbent and entertaining film . "The Westerner" is an intense and rewarding western , which is filmed on location in Arizona. Nominated for 3 Oscars (actor cast, art direction and original screenplay), won one (for Walter Brennan who sparkles as judge who dispenses frontier justice in the days of wild west). The film explores the tensions and fights faced by the old farmers and new settlers landowners engaged in the operation of small farms, erected through the efforts of their work . It focuses on the conflicting interests of the two groups, their diverse working methods , struggles and different visions of the country and world . Within this scenario is the showdown among two two antagonists , a drifter addicted to freedom named "Cole Harden¨ (featured by an unforgettable Cooper), a sly , soft spoken cowboy who champions Texas border homesteaders in a range war , Cole is a former outlaw and become socially integrated while legendary Judge Roy Bean (Brennan's Academy Award was his third playing a shrew piece of villainy) known as ¨The law west of the Pecos ¨ sentences Hardin hang as a horse thief . Cole then falls for damsel Jane Ellen (Doris Davenport) and stays in the area advocating for the rights of homesteaders ; Cole has to have an ending confrontation with the judge . With these characters, the film explores the misery and the greatness of the human condition. Gary Cooper was 39 years when he played in this movie and he was a very famous player . The film gave Cooper one of the best of his laconic , strong characters as the cowboy caught among opposing factions ; in other hand Walter Brennan composing the reply and gives a role of cruel judge but that is nice , capable at the same time, being brutal and relentlessly hanging whatever suspect . The film describes the institutional and administrative instability that prevails in wide zones of western border, underscores the friendship, companionship, honesty, sense of adventure, enterprise and justice sentence drills by unscrupulous and dishonest people.The narrative is vivid and vibrant. The story is presented polished, stylish and free of nonessential items. The dialogues are sharp and funny, peppered with humor. The film includes spectacular scenes, fast-paced and iconography amalgam of the old silent westerns with romantic references characteristic of modern western.It's also a comedy, Brennan and Cooper have a fun relationship during the first half hour of the movie, you think we will soon lead to a happy ending, which ultimately will result but one of the two dead. Furthermore, movie debuts of actors Dana Andrews and Forrest Tucker. William Wyler exceed film genres and built an excellent film from the first minutes the feeling of coherence and emphasis that produces the majority of which went over his career.

    Amazing cinematography by Cregg Toland (citizen Kane) places an emphasis on the realism of the action and splendid frames , which is one of the best things of the movie, with spectacular scenes as the fire. Emotive and stirring musical score by the classic Dimitri Tiomkin . Wyler looking camera concealed positions that sees without being seen observed with curiosity and interest and look for the pleasure of seeing. The film, made by a young Wyler (37 years) is solid, absorbing and entertaining.There are moments, like burning down crops that technically is wonderful . Some rides from Cooper or fighting in the middle of the country , so are scenes impossible to forget.

    The Bean 's role is based on actual events as Roy Bean (1825-1903) was a near-illiterate frontier justice of the peace who ran a combined court-saloon in the tiny railroad hamlet of Langtry in the West Texas desert between the River Pecos and the Rio Grande . He was known as the ¨Lay west of the Pecos¨ . He was running a saloon in a tent-town for railroad builders called Vinegaroon . Ben , backed by the Texas Rangers and the railroad , was appointed Justice of the peace , although he had never studied law . He managed to keep the peace with a strange brand of common and rough sense , often basing his ruling on a single law book . The stories about him are legion, most apocryphal . The fines usually stayed in his pocket and he acquitted accused on condition that he buy a round of drinks for the boys . The law of the Pecos was a law unto himself . He got himself elected Langtry's justice of the peace , holding court in his crude saloon called the ¨Jersey Lily¨ where he lived till his death in 1903 . In 1896 he brought fame to Langtry by staging the Fitzsmmons-Peter Maher heavyweight-boxing championship. He also performed marriages , ending the short ceremony with the worlds ¨I Roy Bean , justice of the peace , hereby pronounce man and wife . May God have mercy on your souls¨. Bean's ¨Jersey Lily¨ has been preserved by the Texas Highway Department and is now a tourist attraction.

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    Related interests

    Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952)
    Classical Western
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama
    John Wayne and Harry Carey Jr. in The Searchers (1956)
    Western

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Gary Cooper never liked the film and said, "You can't make a western without a gunfight." He walked off the film and refused to start work on it. It was only after long battles with Samuel Goldwyn that he started work on it but always said that he wished he'd never made it.
    • Goofs
      The town was named for George Langtry, an engineer and foreman who had supervised a Chinese work crew building the railroad, and not for the actress Lillie Langtry.
    • Quotes

      Judge Roy 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.

    • Crazy credits
      Opening credits: "After the Civil War, America, in the throes of rebirth, set its face West where the land was free. First came the cattlemen and with them "Judge" Roy Bean, who took the law into his own hands, administering justice according to his lights. That he left his impress on the history of Texas is tribute to his greatness. Then into his stronghold moved another army, the homesteaders, who ploughed the soil, fenced in fields, to bring security to their wives and children. War was inevitable, a war out of which grew the Texas of today."
    • Connections
      Featured in Hollywood: The Great Stars (1963)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • September 20, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • El caballero del desierto
    • Filming locations
      • Santa Rita Mountains, Arizona, USA
    • Production company
      • The Samuel Goldwyn Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $2,000,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 40m(100 min)
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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