Live and Let Die (1973)

"You got to give the other fella hell!" Paul McCartney and Wings on Live and Let Die.

What is the greatest movie title theme song of all time, a song that may be more famous than the film itself? Some may argue for Stanley Donen's SINGING IN THE RAIN (1952) sung by Gene Kelly or Sydney Pollack's THE WAY WE WERE (1973) sung by Barbara Streisand or Gordon Parks' SHAFT (1971) sung by Isaac Hayes. For CrazyFilmGuy, my vote goes to Paul McCartney and Wings for LIVE AND LET DIE (1971) the title song for the 8th film in the James Bond series.  It's high marks for McCartney and company as the Bond series has had some great theme songs: Shirley Bassey belting out GOLDFINGER (1964) or later Carly Simon singing Nobody Does It Better (from 1977's THE SPY WHO LOVED ME).

Besides a rocking theme song from the former Beatle and his new band at the time, LIVE AND LET DIE is an interesting bridge for the James Bond series. It's the first appearance by Roger Moore as James Bond after seven appearances by Sean Connery and one appearance by George Lazenby. It brings back the team of director Guy Hamilton and screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz who breathed some new life into the franchise with the previous DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER (1971).  LIVE AND LET DIE is a grittier Bond film, influenced by the blaxploitation films of the 70s like SHAFT and Gordon Parks SUPER FLY (1972) as well as William Friedkin's THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971). The fate of the world is not at stake in LIVE AND LET DIE but the villain's diabolical plot is more topical and realistic than some previous Bond plot lines.

The murders of three British agents at the United Nations in New York, New Orleans, and the Caribbean island of San Monique (actually Jamaica) all have connections to a foreign diplomat from San Monique named Dr. Kananga (Yaphet Kotto) accompanied by his tarot card reading mistress Solitaire (Jane Seymour in her first feature film). James Bond (Roger Moore) is ordered by M (Bernard Lee) to fly to New York to investigate. Working with CIA Agent Felix Leiter (this time played by THE FLY'S David Hedison), Bond has barely landed in New York when he's almost killed by the heavyset Whisper (Earl Jolly Brown). A lead takes him to a restaurant in Harlem called Fillet of Soul where local crime lord Mr. Big (also Yaphet Kotto) orders Bond killed. Bond manages to thwart his would be killers with some assistance from Leiter's operative Strutter (Lon Satton).  Kananga and Solitaire return to San Monique and Bond's on the next flight to the tropical island in pursuit.

Bond teams up with rookie CIA Agent Rosie Carver (Gloria Hendry) to learn what Kananga with the support of voodoo entertainer Baron Samedi (Geoffrey Holder) are protecting on the island. An upside down Queen of Cups card reveals to Bond that Rosie's a double agent working for Kananga. Rosie's killed by Kananga while trying to flee Bond. Bond hires a boat captained by Quarrel Jr (Roy Stewart) to take a look at Solitaire's cliffside mansion. Later that night, Bond hang glides into the compound. He tricks Solitaire into believing via the tarot cards that they're destined to be lovers. With her virginity gone, Solitaire fears she has lost her clairvoyant powers. Bond with Solitaire in tow discover what Kananga is hiding on the island: poppy fields that can be converted into heroin. After a harrowing chase involving Kananga's gun toting men and a double-decker bus, Bond and Solitaire return to Quarrel Jr's boat and catch a plane to New Orleans to follow the trail.

Once again, Kananga's men are waiting for Bond in New Orleans including Kananga's toughest assassin Tee Hee (Julius W. Harris) complete with artificial arm and claw. Kananga reveals to Bond his plans to flood U.S. cities with free heroin to drive out his competitors then jack up the price when all the addicts need more. Kananga sends Bond off to the Farm -- an alligator farm and location of his heroin processing plant. Tee Hee leaves Bond to be eaten by gators but once again, 007 manages to survive. Bond burns the heroin factory and hijacks a speed boat where he's chased by Kananga's goons on the water and pursued by a local Louisiana sheriff J.W. Pepper (Clifton James) on land in the film's penultimate action sequence.

Felix Leiter manages to pluck Bond away from the local authorities after he eludes Kananga's death squad.  Kananga escapes and takes Solitiare back to San Miguel. Baron Samedi hosts a voodoo ritual with Solitaire as the intended sacrifice. Bond blows up the poppy fields and rescues Solitaire.  They discover Kananga's underground lair in a nearby cemetery. Kananga, Tee Hee, and Whisper await the British agent. Bond and Kananga have their final confrontation as sharks (a favorite device for Bond villains) swim in a nearby pool to devour the loser.

LIVE AND LET DIE is a daring film in the James Bond canon and not just because of its amazing stunts. Besides Roger Moore, Jane Seymour, and David Hedison, the majority of the cast are black, not a common sight in big commercial productions. The Black Panthers and racial tensions were still fresh in America's psyche from the late 60s. But the blaxploitation film movement was emerging in the early 70s. The Bond filmmakers do not flinch with this direction of the series. Bond has an interracial love scene with his black CIA operative Rosie Carver that was still fairly taboo at the time. The main villain Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big is black. Kananga's right hand (or I should say claw) man is tall, bald, grinning, and black. Kananga's minions are black.  The majority of extras in New Orleans and Jamaica and Harlem are black.  Geoffrey Holder who plays Baron Samedi is also the movie's choreographer. He's black.  And most importantly, producers Albert "Cubby" Broccoli and Harry Saltzman hired the Black Stuntman's Association to perform a great deal of the film's stunts because of the large black cast (for years, movies had to use white stuntmen made up to look black for stunts involving black actors as there were no black stunt men and women in the movie business). Unlike the real world, LIVE AND LET DIE doesn't judge whether your white or black.  In the Bond world, you're either on the good side or the megalomaniac bad side.

LIVE AND LET DIE is the classic fish out of water scenario and the results are wonderful. Watching the suave Englishman Bond out of his element in Harlem and the bayous of Louisiana is pure bliss. Bond stands out like a sore thumb whether he's having a drink in an all black Fillet of Soul bar or tangling with alligators on the bayou. Bond doesn't blink an eye that he's the only white guy clamoring around a burnt out ghetto. To Bond, it's perfectly normal to drive a speed boat across a Louisiana highway.  "What are you?  Some kinda doomsday machine, boy?" red neck Sheriff J.W. Pepper screams at Bond. The humor in LIVE AND LET DIE comes from many of these situations.

Roger Moore was a different look for James Bond after audiences had become comfortable with Sean Connery. Even one hit wonder George Lazenby who played Bond in ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969) looked a bit like Connery with his jet black hair. Moore had sandy brown hair. Moore's more urbane than Connery who had a blue collar undercurrent to him. The filmmakers try to steer Moore away from becoming a carbon copy of Connery's Bond. Moore does not order the same cocktails that Connery did.  There are no requests for martinis shaken not stirred. Moore's Bond favors cigars. Although some fans may disagree, I find Moore a bit more cold-hearted than Connery when it came to dealing with hitmen or traitorous women like Rosie. But Moore could turn on the charm and make a quip to ease the tension just as fast.

Producers Broccoli and Saltzman originally offered the role of Bond to Roger Moore back in the early 60s but Moore was busy with TVs THE SAINT from 1962 to 1969. Connery accepted and the rest is history. When Connery said he was done with Bond after YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967), Moore was again offered the role for ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE but he still wasn't available and Lazenby stepped in for his one shot. Ironically, Moore did play James Bond for a comedy skit on a British TV show called MAINLY MILLICENT starring Millicent Martin in 1964 (you can view it on the LIVE AND LET DIE Special Features DVD). Moore finally free by 1973 and accepted the LIVE AND LET DIE offer. The producers had found their next Bond. Moore would make seven films as James Bond from 1973 to 1985. I like four of the Moore Bond films very much but by the end of his run as Bond in A VIEW TO A KILL (1985), Moore and the series began to look old and tired.

Besides a breath of fresh air with new Bond Roger Moore, new screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz (DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER) also brought some interesting ideas and humor to the series taking over for stalwart screenwriter Richard Maibaum who had been involved with most of the Connery films. Mankiewicz liked taking Bond in a new direction with LIVE AND LET DIE'S plot and new locations (Harlem, New Orleans). But Hamilton and Mankiewicz show reverence for previous Bond films.  LIVE AND LET DIE is a return to Jamaica where DR. NO (1962) was filmed. And the character of Quarrel Jr in LIVE AND LET DIE also a references DR. NO as Quarrel Sr helped Bond locate Dr. No's hideout before meeting a fiery demise. Mankiewicz's brings back the multiple endings that he used in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and first appeared in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (1963). After Kananga's demise, Bond and Solitaire hop on a train for some R&R. This should be the end of the film but Tee Hee climbs on board. Bond and Tee Hee battle inside the train compartment (shades of Bond and Red Grant in FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE). Once Tee Hee's dispatched, the final credits roll.

Director Guy Hamilton had directed probably the best Bond film with GOLDFINGER (1964) and his steady hand and understanding of all things Bond helped guide the series in the early 70s with DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, LIVE AND LET DIE, and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974). With all its humor, LIVE AND LET DIE has a brutality to it. Kananga orders Tee Hee to snap Bond's fingers off if Solitaire's premonitions are wrong in one scene.  And Rosie Carver is just a pawn to both Bond and Kananga, her death a tragic casualty in the spy game. If there is one sour discord, it's that the Bond gadgets are a little weak in LIVE AND LET DIE. Q the gadget man (normally Desmond Llewelyn) is no where to be found.

Lately, the Bond filmmakers have chosen Academy Award winning actors to play the arch villain such as Javier Bardem in SKYFALL and Christoph Waltz in SPECTRE. With LIVE AND LET DIE, they cast a relatively unknown black actor named Yaphet Kotto as Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big. When you think about it, how many well known black actors were there in the early 70s except for Sidney Poitier? Born in New York (of Cameroon descent), Kotto brings an authenticity to Kananga/Mr. Big. He's refined and cultured as diplomat Kananga and gritty and streetwise as alter ego drug kingpin Mr. Big. Kotto would have a good run in the late 70s appearing in Paul Schrader's BLUE COLLAR (1978) and Ridley Scott's ALIEN (1979).

Kotto and many of the other black actors in the film would also appear in some of the blaxploitation films that were the rage in the early 70s and influenced LIVE AND LET DIE.  Kotto starred in TRUCK TURNER (1974) starring Isaac Hayes as a bounty hunter.  Bond love interest Gloria Hendry would star in BLACK CAESAR (1973) with Fred Williamson and SLAUGHTER'S BIG RIP OFF (also 1973) with Jim Brown.  Lastly, Julius W. Harris who played Tee Hee in LIVE AND LET DIE appeared in SHAFT'S BIG SCORE! (1972) with Richard Roundtree and SUPER FLY with Ron O'Neal. Geoffrey Holder who plays Kananga's voodoo ally Baron Samedi did not appear in any black exploitation films.  Holder was a renowned choreographer from Trinidad and Tobago. Most Americans might remember Holder for his deep baritone laugh when he was the spokesman for the soft drink 7-Up.

Like Kotto, Jane Seymour was a relative newcomer when she was cast as Kananga's seductive soothsayer Solitaire. And like Kotto, she turned her Bond girl role into a long successful career with films like Jeannot Szwarc's SOMEWHERE IN TIME (1980) and the TV series DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN (1993 to 1998). Solitaire in an interesting Bond girl. She's a virgin, kept that way by Kananga to harness her fortune telling powers, who's seduced (naturally) by Bond. Solitaire's alliances waiver between Kananga and Bond throughout the film. Seymour is lovely and makes Solitaire a sympathetic, vulnerable young Bond Girl.

Seymour almost steals the film with her beauty but the real scene stealer is Clifton James as Sheriff J.W. Pepper (Geoffrey Holder's Baron Samedi is a close second). James is only in the film for about ten minutes but he chews up his scenes like a bulldog. Pepper gives us the first honest impression of what someone who's not a secret agent, an assassin, or a super villain experiences when they come into contact with James Bond. He's apoplectic. James (who's not even a southerner) appeared in Stuart Rosenberg's COOL HAND LUKE (1967). He made such an impression with fans and the Producers that he actually has a small cameo in Bond's next film THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (1974) as J.W. Pepper again, this time on vacation in Thailand.

A shout out to David Hedison as CIA agent Felix Leiter. Hedison was familiar to audiences from the horror classic THE FLY (1958) and TVs VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA (1964 to 1968). A good friend of Roger Moore, Hedison is the only actor to play Felix Leiter twice, the second time in LICENCE TO KILL (1989) with Timothy Dalton playing James Bond.

LIVE AND LET DIE has a Beatles connection. Paul McCartney and Wings sing the title song of LIVE AND LET DIE. Beatles record producer George Martin composed the score for the film (which might explain McCartney's involvement). Martin was an integral part in producing and shaping many of the Beatles singles and albums in the 60s. In LIVE AND LET DIE, Martin often uses pieces of the theme song in other scenes like the double-decker bus chase or as a bridge from one scene to another.  A black lounge singer (Brenda Arnau) even sings Live and Let Die as Bond and Felix sit in a New Orleans Fillet of Soul lounge.

LIVE AND LET DIE ushered in a new dawn for the James Bond series.  It's the debut for Roger Moore as the world's most famous secret agent 007 James Bond as he took over for the widely popular Sean Connery. It completely turns the franchise on its head with a grittier plot and casting a large array of black actors in a big commercial film. It raises the bar on stunts for future films with its incredible speed boat chase that's part on water; part on asphalt. LIVE AND LET DIE could have all gone horribly wrong and finished the series.  Producers Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman knew what they were doing, trusting veteran Bond director Guy Hamilton and new Bond screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz to lead the series into the future.  Bond has never looked back since.

The Westerner (1940)

Hollywood loves movies about historical people. Abraham Lincoln has been depicted in at least 11 feature films. Julius Caesar has appeared 6 times. Amelia Earhart has been portrayed in 3 movies.  All famous real people. So it might be surprising to learn that Judge Roy Bean, an eccentric justice of peace from 19th Century Texas has had two motion pictures about him made by two prestigious directors.  I first heard the name Judge Roy Bean when director John Huston (THE MALTESE FALCON, THE AFRICAN QUEEN) made THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN (1972) with an impressive cast including Paul Newman as Roy Bean and Ava Gardner as Lily Langtry.  I remember seeing the newspaper ads for the film as a young boy.  I finally watched the film last year on television.  THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN is an unmitigated disaster, a rambling, uneven film made during a down period for acclaimed director Huston.  But THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN isn't the first film featuring the judge.  That honor would go to William Wyler's THE WESTERNER (1940).

One reason filmmakers might like using a lesser known historical figure like Judge Roy Bean is they can play with what's fact and what's fiction a little more. In THE WESTERNER'S opening credits, there's a sentence that states the film is "legend founded on fact."  A slight wink that this tale may be more fun than factual.  THE WESTERNER is a fun film, a smart western comedy with some serious overtones. Director William Wyler was better known for sweeping dramas like WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939), THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946), and BEN HUR (1959) but he also could handle comedy as he demonstrates in THE WESTERNER and later ROMAN HOLIDAY (1953) starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn.

THE WESTERNER was written by Jo Swerling and Niven Busch (with some uncredited help from Hollywood and literary heavyweights W.R. Burnett, Lillian Hellman, and Dudley Nichols) based on a story by Stuart N. Lake.  Cole Harden (Gary Cooper) is on his way to California when he crosses paths with the hanging Judge Roy Bean (Walter Brennan), "the Law West of the Pecos," who holds court over the town of Vinegarroon, Texas (with Arizona standing in for Texas). Cole is accused of stealing a horse named Pete that belongs to Chickenfoot (Paul Hurst), one of Roy Bean's jurors and card playing cronies. Faced with the prospect of hanging, Cole is saved by two random things. Perky homesteader Jane Ellen Mathews (Doris Davenport) marches into Bean's bar accusing him and his men of stampeding their crops. This interruption gives Cole time to notice Roy Bean's infatuation with the world renowned musical star Lily Langtry (Lilian Bond), "the Jersey Lily" whose posters are plastered all over Bean's bar and room. When Cole mentions that he's met Lily Langtry and carries with him a lock of her hair (he's lying), Bean suspends Cole's hanging for two weeks.

King Evans (Tom Tyler), the man who stole Chickenfoot's horse and sold it to Cole walks into Bean's bar. Cole recognizes King. After some fisticuffs between Cole and King, King's shot dead by Bean. Bean still has plans to hang Cole but he's intrigued by the drifter. Cole and Bean get drunk.  The next morning, Cole rides off with Pete the Horse (having won Pete back in a card game with Chickenfoot). Bean chases after him. Bean tells Cole he's not a free man until he sees that lock of Lily Langtry's hair. Cole rides off with Bean's revolver. Cole continues his journey to California when he rides into the Mathews homestead. Their hired help (including a young Dana Andrews) has just quit, tired of dealing with Bean and his gang. Jane's father Caliphet Mathews (Fred Stone) watches as Cole thanks Jane for sticking up for him back in town. The Mathews invite Cole for dinner. Afterward, Mr. Mathews asks Jane to convince Cole to stay and help them husk the corn in their field. Taken by the frontier beauty, Cole reluctantly agrees.

The next morning as the Mathews and Cole finish husking the corn, the Mathews neighbor Wade Harper (Forrest Tucker) and other homesteaders ride off for Vinegarroon to lynch Judge Roy Bean, weary of Bean's constant harassment. Cole rides off to stop them, arriving before Wade and his party to warn Bean. Cole manages to diffuse the situation, telling both sides to "make peace instead of war." Cole promises Bean Lily's lock of hair if Bean and his men will help him round up the homesteader's stray cattle. Cole returns to the Mathews homestead where he cajoles Jane to let him cut off a lock of her hair.  Cole seems to keep Bean in line when he presents the judge with "Lily's" blonde lock.

Cole and Jane's courtship and first kiss coincides with the blessing of the homesteader's crops. But THE WESTERNER takes a dark turn as Bean's men torch the crops during the celebration. In the process, Jane's house is burned to the ground and her father accidentally killed. Jane blames Cole for the tragedy. Cole confronts Bean who confesses he was behind it.  He has no regrets. Bean changes the name of the town from Vinegarroon to Langtry, Texas as his idol Lily Langtry is performing in nearby Fort Davis.  Determined to stop Bean, Cole travels to Fort Davis where he's sworn in as a deputy. Bean arrives in Fort Davis where his crony Southeast (Chill Wills) has bought up all the tickets in the theater.  Bean enters, the only audience member.  But when the curtain goes up, it's Cole not Lily Langtry waiting for Judge Roy Bean on the stage for a final showdown.

Cooper's Cole Harden is the classic wandering loner, the "Hero with a Thousand Faces" as author Joseph Campbell would write. Cole is like Clint Eastwood's 'The Man With No Name" or one of Kurosawa's lone samurai or Mad Max in George Miller's THE ROAD WARRIOR (1981).  Cole stumbles into a situation that will require unique skills. In THE WESTERNER, Cole uses his wits to stay alive when he first gets into trouble, capitalizing on Bean's fondness/adoration for Langtry to keep the hangman's noose off his neck. Cole placates both sides (Bean and his men and Jane and the homesteaders),  trying not to rile either one.  It's only when Bean's men burn the crops and kill Jane's father that Cole takes a stand, allying with the homesteaders.

The legend of Roy Bean is much more colorful than the factual Roy Bean but the real Bean was an eccentric character. Although Judge Roy Bean was often called the "hanging judge" in film and literature, the real Judge Roy Bean only sentenced two men to hang and one of them escaped. The real Bean did have an infatuation for English stage star Lily Langtry after seeing a drawing of her in a magazine. Films like THE WESTERNER like to place Bean and Langtry in the same theater or actually meeting each other as in THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN. But in reality, they never did meet although the real Lily Langtry did visit the town of Langtry, Texas ten months after Bean's death in 1903.

William Wyler is one of the premiere directors from the Golden Age of Hollywood, directing hit films from the 30s all the way to the late 60s.  Not normally known as a comedy director, THE WESTERNER has some great comic moments. After a night of drinking a deadly alcohol called "Rub of the Brush", Cole wakes up the next morning...in Bean's bed...with Bean snoring next to him. When Cole shakes Bean to try to wake him, an ace of hearts card falls out of Bean's sleeve. The saga of Pete the Horse is another funny bit.  After almost hanging for having bought a stolen horse belonging to Bean's acquaintance Chickenfoot, Cole wins Pete the horse from Chickenfoot in a card game. THE WESTERNER has a light touch for two thirds of the film, the interaction between Cole and Bean priceless.

Like Wyler, Gary Cooper was more recognized for dramas and adventure films like William Wellman's BEAU GESTE (1939), Howard Hawks SERGEANT YORK (1941), Sam Wood's THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942), or Fred Zinnemann's HIGH NOON (1952) than comedies.  Yet Cooper possesses a sly comic touch in THE WESTERNER. Cooper's Cole has a twinkle in his eye whether he's trying to outfox Bean or convince Jane to let him cut off a lock of her hair. Cooper did appear in comedies like Frank Capra's MR DEEDS COMES TO TOWN (1936) and Howard Hawks BALL OF FIRE (1941) but he played simpler or absent minded characters in those comedies. Cooper's Cole is a quiet observer but quick witted when he needs to be. Besides surprising me with his comedic timing, Cooper may be the second best actor on horseback next to the one and only John Wayne. Cooper can really ride. Brennan may play the real life Roy Bean in THE WESTERNER but Cooper had his chance a few years earlier, playing Wild Bill Hickok (another actual real life western legend) in Cecil B. DeMille's THE PLAINSMAN (1936).

Walter Brennan who plays Judge Roy Bean may be one of the best supporting actors you never heard of.  Brennan holds the distinction of having won three Best Supporting Actor Academy Awards. His first two wins were for COME AND GET IT (1936) and KENTUCKY (1938). THE WESTERNER would be his third and last win.  Brennan normally played eccentric good guys but two of his most memorable roles are as villains like Old Man Clanton in John Ford's MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946) and as Judge Roy Bean in THE WESTERNER. Bean is more comic than evil but he's responsible for stampeding the homesteaders crops and trying to starve them out. Brennan and Cooper were old friends from the silent film days who would go to casting calls together when talkies took over. Brennan and Cooper would make five films together including SERGEANT YORK and Frank Capra's MEET JOHN DOE (1941). There was no mistaking Brennan's unique, quivering voice. Just watch Brennan's mastery of the character role as Stumpy in Howard Hawks RIO BRAVO (1959) to realize what a fine, scene stealing actor he was.

Director Wyler introduces us not only to the irascible Judge Roy Bean at the beginning of THE WESTERNER but to a colorful array of supporting characters that hang out with Bean. This brotherhood echoes the male camaraderie that Howard Hawks loved in many of his films like ONLY ANGELS HAVE WINGS (1939) or RED RIVER (1948) except these gents are slightly shadier. Chickenfoot, Southeast, and undertaker Mort Borrow (Charles Halton) make up the motley crew that follow Bean and his brand of law and order. They serve as Bean's jury to convict cattle rustlers and horse thieves but they're also Bean's drinking and card playing pals.  After a strong showcasing early in THE WESTERNER, the group mostly disappear once the film's plot focuses on Cole and Bean.

The female lead Doris Davenport who plays Cole's love interest Jane in THE WESTERNER may be one of those actresses you never heard of.  I had never seen her before although she resembles one of my favorite actresses Donna Reed (IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY). Davenport holds her own with stars Cooper and Brennan as the strong willed Jane Ellen Mathews. Sadly, right after THE WESTERNER was released, Davenport was in a car accident that crushed her legs.  She had to use a cane for the rest of her life and retired from movies shortly after, explaining why I wasn't familiar with her body of work.  There wasn't much.

Besides such talent as director William Wyler and his star studded group of writers, THE WESTERNER boasts camerawork by the legendary Gregg Toland who shot Wyler's WUTHERING HEIGHTS a year earlier and also photographed John Ford's THE GRAPES OF WRATH (1940) and Orson Welles CITIZEN KANE (1941). Toland's black and white cinematography and deep focus is renowned. In THE WESTERNER, Toland has to deal with some tricky fire special effects that look very realistic. And Wyler and Toland's parallel tracking shots of racing wagons and horses foreshadows Wyler's incredible chariot race sequence from BEN HUR. Sadly, Gregg Toland would die unexpectedly early at the age of 44 in 1948. THE WESTERNER'S music is by composer Dimitri Tiomkin (HIGH NOON, DIAL M FOR MURDER). I've never been a big fan of Tiomkin's film music but his folksy score for THE WESTERNER is just right.

THE WESTERNER came out around a time when the Western was beginning to make a comeback. Westerns were popular during the silent era with stars like Tom Mix but had not found their footing quite in the talking 30s. When they did emerge in the late 30s, the Western was usually a comedy like George Marshall's DESTRY RIDES AGAIN (1939) starring Marlene Dietrich and James Stewart. John Ford's STAGECOACH would ignite the genre for the next 30 years.  THE WESTERNER is mostly comedy with some dramatic beats. The plot of a land war between cattlemen and homesteaders is new. The wandering hero Cole is an archetype we will see in various forms to come. The eccentric Judge Roy Bean (based on an actual person) adds some authenticity to the tale. Bean is a comic villain that you empathize with especially in the finale when he finally meets his idol Lily Langtry under unfortunate circumstances.  THE WESTERNER will move you in ways you might not expect a Western to touch you.