![]() His main character trait is an obsession with the actress Lillie Langtry. He finds a law book on the table, and sets himself up to be a judge. (The first tall tale of the film: he single handedly kills about 20 people). A girl gives him a gun and he returns to kill everyone in the bar. They cold cock him, drag him from a horse and leave him for dead. ![]() A wanted bank robber, he walks out of the desert into a godforsaken frontier saloon one day, and is attacked by all the dirty people within. Fast forward over this! Newman plays Judge Bean, “the Only Law West of the Pecos”. In this one, they blatantly copy the Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head sequence, with a montage scene cut to a terrible song called H oneysuckle, Molasses and Honey sung by Andy Williams. That film also showcases Newman as another western legend, also wearing a derby hat. We also see that, in the wake of Butch Cassidy, Paul Newman got the mistaken idea that he had a flair for comedy. Usually such films were rooted in verite though, whereas this one is outlandish. Also like other movies of the time, such as The King of Marvin Gardens or The Last Detail, it feels plotless and randomly episodic - experimental. For the most part Bean plays like a silly comedy, but there’s more to it. ![]() There is this idea of a flaw in the American character leading to unhappiness. (Like those aforementioned movies, Roy Beans gives its legendary story a tragic dimension. Texas Hanging Judge Roy Bean was a real historical figure, but he was also the stuff of legend. Like Jeremiah Johnson and Little Big Man and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (the latter of which had also starred Paul Newman) it plays with the idea of the tall tale and the opposite idea that this story just might be true. It’s the late John Huston ‘s birthday, and so, a little tribute to his 1972 western The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. This is a very interesting artifact, very much of a piece with the other new westerns of its time.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |