IMDb >
There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)
Watch It
Buy it at Amazon
Rent it at Blockbuster.com
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
BETA
Discuss in Boards More at IMDb Pro Add to My Movies Update Data
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotesOverview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv scheduleAwards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage boardPlot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotesFun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQOther Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDeskPromotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo galleryExternal Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clipsThere Was a Crooked Man... (1970) More at IMDbPro »
| Photos (see all 13 | slideshow) | Videos |
         |
|
Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
25 December 1970 (USA)
more
Tagline:
Once upon a time, there was a crooked man. When he was good, he was very, very good. And when he was bad, it was murder...
Plot:
Charm, intelligence and success in criminal career doesn't prevent Paris Pitman Jr. to start doing ten years in prison...
more
| add synopsis
NewsDesk:
User Comments:
The Bad In Every Man
more (20 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Kirk Douglas | ... | Paris Pitman, Jr. |
 | Henry Fonda | ... | Woodward W. Lopeman |
 | Hume Cronyn | ... | Dudley Whinner |
 | Warren Oates | ... | Floyd Moon |
| Burgess Meredith | ... | The Missouri Kid |
 | John Randolph | ... | Cyrus McNutt |
| Lee Grant | ... | Mrs. Bullard |
| Arthur O'Connell | ... | Mr. Lomax |
 | Martin Gabel | ... | Warden LeGoff |
| Michael Blodgett | ... | Coy Cavendish |
| C.K. Yang | ... | Ah-Ping |
| Alan Hale Jr. | ... | Tobaccy (as Alan Hale) |
| Victor French | ... | Whiskey |
| Claudia McNeil | ... | Madam |
| Bert Freed | ... | Skinner |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
126 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Singapore:NC-16 |
UK:15 (video) |
UK:AA (original rating) |
Portugal:17 (cut version) |
Finland:K-16 |
Sweden:15 |
USA:R
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The "enormous" dressing trailer for star Kirk Douglas stood just outside the location's prison set. Reportedly, it had a white picket fence, a mail box, two flower boxes, and a green lawn planted in front with a water fountain and lounge chairs.
more
Goofs:
Continuity: After escaping from prison, Pitman visits the widow Bullard and leaves the prison mule in her corral and takes a horse. After being bitten by the snake and dying, the warden takes his body back on the horse he rode, which now is a mule again.
more
Quotes:
Woodward Lopeman:
Don't tell me you can't make speeches; you could talk a coyote out of a chicken.
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Continental Divide (1981)
more
Soundtrack:
There Was A Crooked Man...
more
FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (20 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Fun question | zawora |
| It is on Encore Western Channel on 9-7-08! | wtl471629 |
| How Much Warren Oates? | samariley |
| dvd | smrfldemployee |
| Pitman and Warden LeGoff | bullit2513 |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
Show more recommendations
|
|
|
|
|
| Nevada Smith | Brubaker | Cool Hand Luke | The Ballad of Cable Hogue | Let's Go to Prison |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
For his next to last film Joseph Mankiewicz did his only western and it ain't the west of John Ford or Howard Hawks. There Was A Crooked Man starts with the proposition that every man if given sufficient reason will turn dishonest.
Kirk Douglas has never been afraid to appear as evil, but next to his performance in The List of Adrian Messenger, the screen's never seen him as diabolically evil as Paris Pittman, Jr. in There Was A Crooked Man. And it's clear from the start just how bad he is when he shoots the only other gang member after robbing miserly Arthur O'Connell of his half a million dollar fortune that he keeps in the house because of distrust of banks.
So nothing that he does after this should surprise us. But Kirk Douglas is a player of incredible charm, never more so when used for evil intentions. Eventually he's caught and sent to Territorial prison from where he collects a gang of sorts and plots an escape.
A year after the Stonewall Riots homosexuality finally comes to the west and its depicted in two ways. First John Randolph and Hume Cronyn are a pair of aging gay con men who've pulled one con too many and are in the prison with Douglas in the same cell. Randolph's the flighty one, but Cronyn as it turns out has more talent and more common sense than just about everyone else in the film. That fact saves their lives.
And that's quite a look of lust that repressed prison guard Bert Freed has for young Michael Blodgett who admittedly is quite something to lust after. Blodgett is scheduled to hang at an undetermined date, but Freed's willing to give him some special consideration for special favors. Which Blodgett is unwilling to give him.
Blodgett's story is the most tragic one of the lot. He's a 17 year old kid who's caught by a most flirtatious girl's father who cries rape. As the father aims his shotgun, Blodgett throws a billiard ball and the blow is a fatal one. I've always thought if the kid had a good lawyer he could have gotten off, it was self defense. He's really the only innocent in this film.
The great moral figure in this is Henry Fonda, who's a lawman shot in the performance of his duty and now given the job of prison warden. He's another repressed individual, doesn't smoke or drink, and looks with particular disdain on sexual promiscuity.
Without giving away exactly what Fonda does in the end, it seems he has no other choice. Douglas in pulling off the jail break has made a total fool of him. They'll be all kinds of inquiries so for Fonda the self righteous his duty is clear unless he wants to kill himself. Which in some cultures would have been the answer.
But There Was A Crooked Man should be seen for what happens to Kirk Douglas. It is one of the most priceless comeuppances ever delivered on screen.
Besides Douglas, Fonda, and others I've mentioned look also for good performances from Warren Oates and Burgess Meredith as another two convicts that Douglas takes into his confidence.
Just as man can rise to noble heights on some occasions, with a little temptation he can fall. That's the unvarnished message of There Was A Crooked Man.