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.

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Plot Keywords:

arizona territory | yuma territorial prison | arizona territorial prison | prison wagon | wagon | 

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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...

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Genres:

Comedy | Western

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

19 September 1970 (France)

Also Known As:

There Was a Crooked Man...

Filming Locations:

Mojave Desert, Arizona, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hume Cronyn was diagnosed with optic cancer, which required the surgical removal of an eye. Cronyn volunteered to work past 5 p.m. and revamp his shooting schedule so he could finish up his role as soon as possible. Although the situation was very stressful for director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Cronyn handled the situation very professionally.

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Goofs

One of the escaping prisoners is shot from behind and falls on his stomach. Although there is an exit wound in his right abdomen, when he falls, there's apparently no entrance wound.

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Quotes

Paris Pittman Jr.: [at dedication of new prison dining hall] On behalf of the men, I'd like to express to the lieutenant governor, and to you, warden, and to the schoolteacher, and the other distinguished guests, and all those law-abiding citizens out there, just how much all this means to us in here. Imagine, after all we've been, all we've done to society
[lifts plate, smiling]
Paris Pittman Jr.: we get chicken - and green peas - and mashed potatoes!
[beams, then flings plate at the wall over warden's head]

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Alternate Versions

A scene was shot where Miss Jessie Brundidge runs away from the prison completely naked, after having had her clothes torn off piece by piece over the course of the prison riot. Although two images from the shooting of this scene exist, proving that it was indeed shot, it was never a part of the final, finished film for U.S. release, and nor was it ever reinstated for either the VHS or, later, DVD release of the film. Whether the scene was ever added to any of the international releases of the film, however, is unknown.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Good Guys Gone Bad in Film (2014)

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Soundtracks

There Was A Crooked Man...
By Charles Strouse and Lee Adams
Sung by Trini López

User Reviews

The Bad In Every Man

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.