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Rating: 5 out of 5
If you are looking for a classic Western film to watch, look no further than The Westerner, starring Gary Cooper, Walter Brennan, and Doris Davenport. Thank the movie gods for dropping this excellent film on YouTube. It would’ve been hard to find this film because of its age. Maybe I would’ve watched Turner Classic Movies, but it miraculously showed up on YouTube.
Directed by William Wyler, The Westerner is set in the post-Civil War West Texas town of Vinegaroon. I highly doubt that place is still around but what a freakin name. The town is controlled by former Confederate soldier Roy Bean (Brennan), who is the official unofficial law in town. He is judge, jury and executioner in the town and everyone calls him “Judge” even though he is not an official one. Roy does all his kangaroo courts in his saloon and hangs anyone who goes against cattlemen. Roy makes a corrupt living, collecting fines and seizing property unlawfully. The one thing you should know about Roy is that dude has a major obsession with the English actress Lily Langtry. The saloon is covered in Lily Langtry memorabilia.
One day, Cole Harden (Cooper), a drifter riding through town, stops by the saloon for a quick drink. Cole is on his way to Cali when he is suddenly accused of stealing a horse belonging to Chickenfoot, Bean’s main sidekick. If your boy is named Chickenfoot, you might need to find a new wingman. While being interrogated, Cole can feel the bloodthirst of Roy’s men as he knows he can’t win the fake trial, and a hanging is close by. Cole tries to explain but Roy isn’t listening. Roy decides to manipulate Roy by saying he knows Lily Langtry closely. Roy cons his way into delaying the death sentence until Cole returns with a lock of Langtry’s hair, which he says is in El Paso. This delay helps Cole as the real horse thief appears. Cole punches the man when Roy shoots him dead. Roy even orders for the man to be hung as it was his ruling to hang. That is some cold-blooded gangster shit right there. Roy comes to like Cole as he thinks of his spirit as he was in his younger days, but that feeling passes when Cole tries to help homesteaders, a group led by the FOINE Jane-Ellen Mathews (Davenport), and her pops Caliphet. Which leads to Roy wanting to shoot Cole once again. Cole must figure out a way to get out of his sentence and help the ones that are struggling.
This film is entertaining to watch because you see the mini battle between Roy and Cole. After the whole fiasco with the horse thief, you think Roy and Cole become friends, and they go shot for shot with each other. They go so hard that the next morning, Cole wakes up in bed with Cole. Nothing happened, but it was funny to see, and the next morning, Cole dips because Roy is crazy. Things really come ahead with Jane and her crew. When Roy doesn’t budge on anything, the homesteaders roll up into the saloon to the max, ready to lynch Roy. Cole tries to take his place, but Roy bursts through the door like the Kool-Aid man and is prepared to shoot anyone who moves. Roy lets them go but warns them that shit will go down if anything else happens and for them to move out.
Another instance is when Cole tries his best to appeal to Roy’s good senses, but Roy is like, “fuck it, these people tried to kill me.” In turn, he burns the corn of the Mathews farms, and he straight-up kills Mr. Mathews. Cole had enough and decided it was time for Roy to face justice and go. Cole is deputized by the county sheriff and procures an arrest warrant for Roy. Roy, in turn, renames his town to Langtry in honor of the actress. Cole tries to think of a way to arrest Roy, but with all his men, it is tough.
The climax of the film was great. Cole’s luck changes when he learns that Langtry is appearing in the next town and Roy is going to it. Roy has one of his boys buy all the tickets so he can be alone in the theater with his boo-thang. Roy rolls up in his full Confederate uniform. When he enters and awaits Lily, he is met by Cole. This is where Kevin Hart comes in and says, “It’s about to go down.” Roy and Cole have a gunfight, and they shoot up the theater until Cole manages to mortally wound Roy. Cole, being a nice guy, carries Roy to meet Lily and, upon seeing her, dies peacefully. Bravo!
I want to take a second to talk about the romance between Cole and Jane-Ellen. Cole is smitten by Jane-Ellen. When the pair talk about things, homeboy literally says that she isn’t his type nor pretty enough. BITCH, that homegirl is FOINE. What are you talking about? She’s not cute. What type of woman have you been looking at? In the end, Cole and Jane-Ellen marry and rebuild the farm for a beautiful ending.
The acting of this film was one of the aspects that made this film great. Gary Cooper as Cole Harden was a highlight of this film. I read that Cooper returned to Western movies and that screenwriter Niven Busch picked Cooper’s brain about Western history. You see it come out as Cooper was cool in his role and seemed to be in his element.
Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean was another highlight, as there was great chemistry between him and Cooper in their dueling roles. Brennan made history and had the rules change with the Academy. That is how great he was in this role. Brennan won his third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor within the first five years since the category was made. We call that a dynasty. The Academy changed the ways the union voted because of it. Once again, we call this a dynasty when they have to change the rules.
The Westerner is one of those films if you don’t know about, you will be surprised at how good it is. I have seen a lot of Western films, and this one should be in the top 15 of the best Western movies ever made. Cooper and Brennan are great in their respective roles. Give this film a chance when you want to watch a classic Western film. You will not be disappointed.
