The Westerner is a 1940 film directed by William Wyler, and written by Niven Busch, Stuart N. Lake, and Jo Swerling. It stars Gary Cooper as fictional interloper Cole Harden and is often remembered for one of Walter Brennan’s best performances, as Judge Roy Bean, which led to him winning his record-setting third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. James Basevi and Stuart N. Lake also received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, black-and-white, and the Academy Award for Best Story respectively.
Synopsis
Drifter Cole Harden (Cooper) is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean (Brennan), but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star Lillie Langtry, with whom the judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Harden even claims to have a lock of her hair, so Bean goes easy on him.
Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away. Harden gets himself appointed a sheriff and obtains a warrant against Bean. When Langtry is scheduled to perform in a nearby town, Bean buys up every ticket and eagerly awaits her appearance alone in the audience, leaving his henchmen outside. Harden takes the opportunity to force a showdown. Bullets fly and Bean is fatally wounded. In the final scene, Harden carries his dying friend backstage to meet the woman he has adored for so long.
Cast
- Gary Cooper as Cole Harden. Cooper was reluctant to take the part because his character was secondary to that of the judge.
- Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean
- Doris Davenport as Jane Ellen Mathews
- Fred Stone as Caliphet Mathews
- Forrest Tucker as Wade Harper
- Paul Hurst as Chickenfoot
- Chill Wills as Southeast
- Lilian Bond as Lily Langtry
- Dana Andrews as Hod Johnson
- Charles Halton as Mort Borrow
- Trevor Bardette as Shad Wilkins
- Tom Tyler as King Evans
- Lucien Littlefield as The Stranger
