Editor Reviews:

Product Description:
Studio: Tcfhe/mgm Release Date: 05/13/2008 Run time: 100 minutes Rating: Nr

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Having created an instant classic the previous year with their superlative production of Wuthering Heights, producer Samuel Goldwyn, director William Wyler, and cinematographer Gregg Toland reunited for this classic Western from 1940, which earned Walter Brennan his record-setting third Academy Award. Gary Cooper reportedly hesitated to take his role, knowing that Brennan would likely steal the show with his splendid portrayal of "hanging" lawman Judge Roy Bean, but Wyler persisted and Cooper signed on as the drifter who faces Judge Bean under the false accusation of stealing a horse. Cooper smooth-talks his way out of his hanging by claiming to be a close friend of stage star Lily Langtry, with whom the judge is unabashedly smitten, but tensions rise when Cooper comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders that Brennan is trying to drive away. This leads, of course, to a classic showdown in true Western tradition, and under Wyler's able direction The Westerner takes its place among the finest examples of the genre. And while Brennan does indeed steal the show, Cooper needn't have worried--he's every bit the hero in a battle with one of the silver screen's most memorable villains. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - The Westerner
Although some of the historical facts were bent a little in this portrail of Judge Roy Bean, the story was a good one, and believeable. Gary Cooper was I think one of the best actors of his time, along with Walter Brennan. The two made the movie well worth watching. Its a shame that Hollywood can't remember how to make movies like this anymore. This is a movie that wasn't just a western, but like the others Starring Gary Cooper with Walter Brennan they were very entertaining not just a shoot'm up, but movies with moral charactor, and Fiber.