Rent The Westerner (1940)

Oddball Western (spoiler) - The Westerner review by Steve

Really strange range war comedy-western which feels like several unrelated episodes stuck together. It's known by film anoraks for Walter Brennan's third Oscar in five years for best supporting actor, which led to a change in the voting rules. But he just gives his standard performance. May as well give it to Gary Cooper's horse.

It begins as a long whimsical conversation between Judge Roy Bean (Brennan), and the nonconformist saddle tramp (Cooper) he intends to wrongfully hang. This is mostly about the lawman's obsession with Lily Langtry, which apparently is factual. Then it morphs into a battle between the homesteaders and the cattlemen...

And then a weird climax where the hanging judge is gunned down in an empty auditorium where the Jersey Lily is booked to appear. It's a mainstream western, so there's a gunfight, a punch-up and a bashful romance. There's everything but a theme song by a vocal group of Irish baritones.

Cooper tried to get his role cancelled, then left the studio directly afterwards. And it shows. It's also astonishing that this mishmash was directed by the illustrious William Wyler! Still, it's a popular b&w western which passes quickly and fairly painlessly. And the anoraks may be charmed to briefly glimpse the beautiful Lilian Bond as Langtry.