IMDb RATING
7.3/10
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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.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 2 nominations total
C.E. Anderson
- Hezekiah Willever
- (uncredited)
Stanley Andrews
- Sheriff
- (uncredited)
Arthur Aylesworth
- Mr. Dixon
- (uncredited)
Bill Beauman
- Man Getting Haircut
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaGary 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.
- GoofsThe 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
Cole Harden: [to Bean] When I was a kid, I had a pet rattlesnake. I was fond of it, but I wouldn't turn my back on it.
- Crazy creditsOpening 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."
- ConnectionsFeatured in Hollywood: The Great Stars (1963)
Featured review
A Perfect Representation of the American Psyche in 1940
"The Westerner" (1940): Directed by William Wyler, starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennen. On one level, this is a classic tale of the Old West as it struggled through a transition of re-settlement. Depicted as such, it is a beautifully photographed, well acted, gritty, weird, funny, and emotional story. But, this film was also made in 1940. The Germans had begun their sweep across Europe, they were breaking treaties as fast as necessary, and non-militarized countries could not withstand the armed renegade country bent on following no rules but its own. To think that this was not on the minds of "The Westerner's" writers, directors, and audience, would be naïve. It's a perfect representation of current events in Europe, England, and America as of 1940. (1941 would change that.) I found it fascinating from this perspective watching it with something of the same gut level understanding that people in that time would have certainly felt. Cooper was the outsider who had no real attachments and wanted to remain isolated keeping his freedom and avoiding entanglements. The town, run by despot Judge Roy Bean, made their own laws, convicted everyone in their way, and hung them without a second thought. The farmers were seen as an impediment to their expanding ideas which required more and more land and water. Cooper was drawn into the battle of ideologies, and attempted to become the ambassador aiming for peace, not war. He moved slowly, and lost the trust of everyone until it was made very clear to him that the aggressors had no intention of honoring promises. It was time to take sides. It is PERFECT representation of that, and our (we, the Westerners), time.
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- futures-1
- May 11, 2008
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $2,000,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 40 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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