El caballero del desierto

I first watched this movie because of Gary Cooper (after seeing "The Pride of the Yankees," the man could do no wrong in my book). While Coop is great in "The Westerner," it is -- lock, stock and blazing barrels -- Walter Brennan's performance as Judge Roy Bean that steals the show. What a deeply nuanced character! Here's an example of an actor making a villain a likeable, endearing character. Brennan richly deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

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!

Walter Brennan stars as Judge Roy Bean, the legendary self appointed law west of the Pecos in Texas. He uses whoever happens to be in his saloon as a jury, and the penalty of death is often dispensed for killing or stealing the animals of others.

At this time Cole Harden (Gary Cooper) is brought to the judge for stealing a horse. Cole claims he bought this horse, although he admits the person he bought it from may have stolen it from the original owner. The judge is not impressed, and he can tell neither is the jury. So while the jury deliberates, Cole makes conversation with the judge, figures out he is obsessed with British actress Lillie Langtry, and talks about the time he met her, and about the lock of her hair that he has back in El Paso. Then the jury comes back with the expected guilty verdict. The judge defers Cole's sentence until he can look into matters more, since he says that no friend of Lillie Langtry could be a horse thief. Plus Bean really wants to hear more of Cole's tales of meeting Lillie Langry, and he really wants to see that lock of hair. Later, luck would have it that the actual horse thief wanders into Judge Bean's bar. When Cole shows that he still has the sixty dollars that he paid for the horse on him, there is a shootout and Bean shoots the actual thief dead, freeing Cole.

What I just described is the best part of the film. And I really haven't spoiled anything by telling you this since the art of it is in Brennan's and Cooper's delivery and the chemistry that they had together. But because an entire feature film is needed, there is a significant subplot about the judge being pro cattleman and thus backing people who sabotage the farming homesteaders nearby. This subplot is not that compelling and neither is the romance between Cooper's Cole and one of the daughters of the homesteaders, played by Doris Davenport. Davenport wasn't a very interesting actress, and she had only one other credited role the same year this film came out before leaving acting entirely.

I'd say watch it for probably the best thing Walter Brennan ever did and the great chemistry he had with Gary Cooper, but that the rest of the film, when Cooper and Brennan are not interacting, can be a bit of a bore.

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.

"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.