The Westerner (1940) :
Brief Review -
Remarkably unlike any western from the early days with Walter Brennan's iconic role and record-setting Oscar win. Don't think any Western flick from the early days has gotten so serious and generous with its writing while exploring a character based on true events and a bit of a fictionalised history of Texas. The place, which later became the biggest... Well, the kiss stopped Cooper right there, but we know the sentence he was going to say. Walter Brennan played Justice Bean, a character from history whose tyrannical judgements destroyed many people's houses and made them lose their lands and crops. What he has done needs no further description, but just one. He deserved every single moment of that record-setting third Oscar win as the best supporting actor. This film is slightly eccentric in that way. The topic is serious, but the film is quite funny. That serious nature is hardly there for the 10 minutes in the ending. Those funny banters between Cole and Bean were cute. Whenever they spoke about Lillie Langtry, the moment was sealed in your heart. Especially that moment when Cole gives him that hair lock and he is desperately moving his fingers. That eagerness was so adorable. Brennan has done a wonderful job here, and so has Gary Cooper. It was one of his early main roles in a significant western, right? Well, he surely made me fall for him. Those lovely expressions by Doris Davenport during the cute romantic scenes with Gary took my heart away. William Miller had many great movies by that time, but making a great western was a different task altogether. The master knew it, and he gave full justice to his own and the genre's standards by reflecting on a major revolution in history through a mainstream entertainer.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Remarkably unlike any western from the early days with Walter Brennan's iconic role and record-setting Oscar win. Don't think any Western flick from the early days has gotten so serious and generous with its writing while exploring a character based on true events and a bit of a fictionalised history of Texas. The place, which later became the biggest... Well, the kiss stopped Cooper right there, but we know the sentence he was going to say. Walter Brennan played Justice Bean, a character from history whose tyrannical judgements destroyed many people's houses and made them lose their lands and crops. What he has done needs no further description, but just one. He deserved every single moment of that record-setting third Oscar win as the best supporting actor. This film is slightly eccentric in that way. The topic is serious, but the film is quite funny. That serious nature is hardly there for the 10 minutes in the ending. Those funny banters between Cole and Bean were cute. Whenever they spoke about Lillie Langtry, the moment was sealed in your heart. Especially that moment when Cole gives him that hair lock and he is desperately moving his fingers. That eagerness was so adorable. Brennan has done a wonderful job here, and so has Gary Cooper. It was one of his early main roles in a significant western, right? Well, he surely made me fall for him. Those lovely expressions by Doris Davenport during the cute romantic scenes with Gary took my heart away. William Miller had many great movies by that time, but making a great western was a different task altogether. The master knew it, and he gave full justice to his own and the genre's standards by reflecting on a major revolution in history through a mainstream entertainer.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.