There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

A charming but totally ruthless criminal is sent to a remote Arizona prison. He enlists the help of his cellmates in an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

David Newman, Robert Benton

Stars:

Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn

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

Storyline

Charm, intelligence and success in criminal career doesn't prevent Paris Pitman Jr. to start doing ten years in prison, in the middle of the Arizona desert. However, those years should pass quickly because of a $500,000 loot previously stashed away. New idealistic warden would only make Pitman think of getting his fortune even sooner. He starts to manipulate everyone to achieve his goal.

---

Plot Keywords:

arizona | prison | escape | desert | warden | 

---

Taglines:

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...

---

Genres:

Action | Comedy | Drama | Western

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zwei dreckige Halunken

Filming Locations:

Joshua Tree, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Twelve rattlesnakes were used for a key scene but failed to hiss on cue. The hissing had to be dubbed in during post-production.

---

Goofs

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.

---

Quotes

Cyrus McNutt: They're killing me by inches, Dudley!
Dudley Whinner: You'll outlive us all. You got a lot of inches.

---

Connections

Edited into La classe américaine (1993)

---

Soundtracks

"Abide with Me"
(uncredited)
Word by Hwnry Lyte (1847)
Music by William Monk 1861
Version sung by Hume Cronyn.

User Reviews

Two paths to the final is cross

A script full of subtlety in writing for four hands between David Newman and then qualified the director, Robert Benton, in which the mordant phrase, subtle, manipulative and hypocritical, have a high resonance.A forceful staging accuracy to account for the particular, and at times difficult, nineteenth-century prison conditions. A set of players chosen with the precision of an old watchmaker, so that each character has its own life and represents a very concrete specimens of our society. And a story that, however that may be set in 1883 in the Federal Criminal Yuma is not simply the faithful recreation of ambition, corruption and selfishness prevailing ultra-century after century, year after year, with large seat in government institutions. All this makes "There was a crooked man" a film worthy of greater recognition.

Here is a duel of minds (year prior to the riot of brilliant lucidity which later was "Footprint") between two men who see life from two opposite poles: Paris Pitman from crime: is caught after robbing five hundred thousand dollars! to a voyeuristic underground. And Loperman Woodward, the new prison warden, who arrives with the best wishes to improve conditions of prisoners.Both have leadership, a sharp temper, respect each other and create a sort of alliance to the prison to work with the higher altitude. As a curious detail, and worthy of reflection, we note that Pitman will attract snakes and Loperman limps with his right leg.

Among them, a significant cluster goes to present situations, and the story takes on a tinge of dry humor and surprise in the making, which makes this book a pleasant experience and a perfect demonstration of the enormous talent that always showed Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda re-created powerfully on those two symbols of human metamorphosis. And the rest of the cast, especially Meredith and Cronyn, require vigorous interpretive facility is maintained at the level of those two great players.

What had become of the Western, I wonder now without actors like Cooper, Stewart, Peck ... or Douglas and Fonda absolutely radiating surround magnetism?

I think, with "There was a crooked man" the Western that, then (70's), had already begun its slow decline, was another welcome break and deserved a piece of permanence.

The essential difference between a politician and a convict is just a matter of time, is that he is still out, while the latter is already in jail.