PAUL NEWMAN JACQUELINE BISSET TAB HUNTER JOHN HUSTON
STACEY KEACH RODDY McDOWELL ANTHONY HOPKINS
VICTORIA PRINCIPAL ANTHONY ZERBE and AVA GARDNER
star in
A film by John Huston
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN
If this story ain't true......it shoulda been!
Maybe this isn't the way it was - it's the way it should have been!
VHS - PAL - NEW - Never played!! - M-rated - Colour - 1972-release - 118-minutes - Comedy, Drama, Romance - Original VHS release in Australia - Large box
It's the turn of the nineteenth into twentieth centuries in Vinegaroon, Texas, west of the Rio Pecos, an area known for its general lawlessness.
Due largely to an incident which nearly kills him, outlaw Roy Bean appoints himself the judge for the region, he setting up his residence and court in what was previously the saloon and whorehouse in town.
He figures he has the moral authority and knowledge of the laws of Texas to become a judge in what was his flagrant disregard of those laws up to this point.
He presides over court with a book of Texas statutes in front of him and his fan worship of actress Lillie Langtry in the form of large posters of her behind him.
He also appoints a band of fellow outlaws as his marshals, who work solely under his direction.
Standing by him through these proceedings is a young Mexican woman named Maria Elena, who saved him from that near death incident, she, in what is to look proper, living in the small shack next to the saloon instead of with him in the saloon.
He becomes renowned for brandishing his form of largely illegal justice, which usually ends in the person on trial being convicted on loose judgments and hanged outside the saloon.
As an odd and interesting assortment of people (and some non-humans) pass through Vinegaroon and Roy's life, he is able to build the town largely in his vision.
But as he has many detractors, the question becomes how long he will last before someone hits the big target that is on his back.
This underrated / underseen Huston film is definitely worth a look.
Newman is wonderful as Roy Bean, and the large supporting cast is amazing, especially Anthony Perkins as a travelling padre, Stacy Keach as Bad Bob, Roddy McDowell as a wormy lawyer, Ned Beatty as the outlaw who'd rather be a bartender, and John Huston himself as Grizzly Adams.
This is not a perfect picture at all. It falls apart by the last third or so, has a terrible day-for-night process shot that doesn't really work, and a unnecessary and embarrassing "raindrops keep falling on my head"-type musical montage, but the rest of it is great fun.
This is the crazy kind of script Milius used to write in the 70s, like Apocalypse Now and especially 1941.
The tone is very odd, but if you like your comedy dark and your westerns satirical you'll find lots to like about this one.
A very broad and dark performance by Newman, who manages to find the pathos and integrity of this western charicature.
It's a nice companion / contrast to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Kind of what Rami must have been going for in The Quick and the Dead (minus the Spaghetti Western style), and the examination of the mythic hero that Roderiguez tried for in Desperado, but much better achieved by Huston (duh). Fun stuff.