The Westerner [1940] [VHS]

Director William Wyler began his career making two-reel westerns in the late 1920s, but did not return to the genre or filming outdoors until this 1940 classic. The traditional story of the conflict between the farmers and the cattlemen is represented by Gary Cooper as Cole Hardin and Walter Brennan as "Judge" Roy Bean. Hardin is brought before the self-appointed Judge ("the only law west of the Pecos") as a horse-thief. Fortunately, Hardin notices the giant pictures of Lily Langtry behind the bar of the Jersey Lily (Langtry's nickname as well as the name of the Judge's bar). Playing upon Bean's love for the actress (better known as the mistress of Prince Edward), Hardin wins a two-week reprieve and becomes embroiled in the coming range war. Brennan deservedly won an Academy Award for his portrayal, but for me the star of the show is cinematographer Gregg Toland ("Citizen Kane" as well as Wyler's "Wuthering Heights). The only other western to really come close in terms of compositional artistry is "My Darling Clementine." The climatic showdown between Hardin and the Judge in the deserted auditorium Bean had bought out to watch Lily performed without being disturbed evidences Wylers touch as a director, but most of the film's memorable moments are Toland's photography, such as the young girl standing by her father's grave reading the scorched pages of the family's Bible. "The Westerner" is arguably the most cinematic film in the genre.

Gary Cooper may be the star, but it's Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean, "the law west of the Pecos," who drives The Westerner and makes the movie interesting. William Wyler, such a superb director, has somehow given us two movies. The first one is about, you guessed it, sodbusters, regular folks like you and me who, according to Hollywood, just want to put down roots, raise their families and build decent lives. The husbands are always pulling out tree stumps and the wives are always whomping up pies. Against them ride the cattlemen, and every cliche in the book is thrown into this part of The Westerner's story.

The second movie, however, is a sly, sometimes funny and somewhat vicious story of Judge Bean, his dictatorial character and his obsession with Lily Langtry, a beautiful singer from over the seas and a woman the Judge has idealized for years. The two stories come together when Cole Hardin (Gary Cooper) drifts into the dusty collection of ramshackle buildings close to the Mexican border where the Judge runs things. Before Hardin can wet his whistle in the Judge's bar and courtroom, he's accused of being a horse thief. It takes only a few minutes for the "jury" to find him guilty and the Judge to pronounce sentence...hanging, and right now. Hardin has enough wits to notice all the pictures of the Jersey Lily the Judge has nailed to the walls, so he makes up a story about how he knows her; he even has a memento of her hair. That's enough for the Judge to postpone the hanging. Before long Hardin and the Judge are downing whiskey together ("Don't spill none of that liquor, son. It eats right into the bar.") while the Judge listens with open mouth to the stories Hardin tells about Lily Langtry.

While all this is going on those homesteaders are building fences. The Judge doesn't take kindly to this. He's going to run them off by any means it takes. While Hardin is trying to find a middle way, he just happens to fall for the daughter of one of the sodbusters. Soon he's taking their side while trying to keep the Judge from doing anything murderous. It doesn't work. The fields and homes are burned and Hardin decides that the Judge himself needs a little justice. When the Judge hears that Miss Langtry will be performing in Fort Davis, a two day's ride away, the stage is set for a dramatic shootout between the Judge and Hardin.

What makes this entertaining is Walter Brennan as Roy Bean. The Judge is a mean, bad-tempered, poorly washed bully. His word runs things, and his guns, his noose and his followers make it happen. Justice, with the Judge, is a relative thing. But when he says, "That's my rulin'," he means it. In a tour de force performance, Brennan somehow manages to make the man both a reprobate and likable. When Brennan played Pa Clanton in My Darling Clementine, he was a mean old man to the bone. Here his deep, deep infatuation with Lily Langtry doesn't make him any more likable, but Brennan makes him just a little vulnerable. And in a nice bit of actorly sharing, Gary Cooper when he's acting with Brennan becomes much more interesting. If Cole Hardin is going to keep his neck from being stretched, he has to find ways to keep the Judge on the hook. Then, when Cole Hardin is trying to keep the Judge from ripping into the homesteaders, he has to find a way to appeal to the Judge's vanity. Cooper with the homesteaders is Cooper as usual. Cooper with Brennan is shrewd and a little sly; it's a fine performance. The conclusion in the music hall at Fort Davis, when Cooper and Brennan finally shoot it out, and when the Judge at last meets the Jersey Lily, is not only exciting, it's moving as all get out.

The Westerner has developed a fine reputation over the years, but I suppose it's largely because the movie is so seldom seen. We keep hearing about a DVD release happening any day, but it hasn't shown up yet. If it ever does, I'm sure Walter Brennan's performance will continue to get all the acclaim it deserves. I'm sure the chemistry between Brennan and Cooper will be examined and praised. As for the rest of the movie, I'm not so sure.