- Actors: Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith
- Directors: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
- Writers: David Newman, Robert Benton
- Producers: Joseph L. Mankiewicz, C.O. Erickson
- Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC, Import
- Language: English
- Subtitles: English
- Region: (US and Canada This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in other countries. Read more about DVD formats.)
- Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
- Number of discs: 1
- MPAA Rating:
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- Release Date: Dec 19 2006
- Run Time: 126 minutes
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000HRLWWQ
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Shelved for more than a year and released as an un-holiday-like afterthought at Christmas 1970, this sardonic comedy-cum-Western-cum-prison movie immediately dropped off the radar and has scarcely been heard of since. We can understand that. By their own admission, hotshot screenwriters David Newman and Robert Benton (just off Bonnie and Clyde) and veteran director Joe Mankiewicz (more typically associated with the likes of All About Eve) never found the right focus for their mix of sociopolitical satire, frontier bawdiness, and brutal Western action. Still, the very unevenness makes for fascinating tensions, and the myriad insights and moods created by a cast comprising Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Hume Cronyn, John Randolph, Warren Oates, and Burgess Meredith more than repay a visit.
Douglas plays one of those charming bastards at which he excelled--here, Paris Pittman Jr., a bandit capable of seducing virtually anyone into doing his will. Pittman has a fortune in gold stashed somewhere. Inconveniently, he himself has been stashed in the territorial penitentiary in the middle of the desert, so he begins conniving to escape. This means betraying everyone in range, including the liberal-minded warden (Fonda) who's determined to redeem him. The stellar adversaries are ideally cast, with Fonda cannily subverting his own image (as he recently had in Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West). Cronyn and Randolph are priceless as "an old married couple," and Oates is heartbreaking as a congenital loner who thinks that, in Paris Pittman, he has at last found a friend. --Richard T. Jameson
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Raunchy, rowdy and fun.,
By
This review is from: There Was a Crooked Man (VHS Tape)
A purposefully crass, low-brow, yet engaging Western comedy-drama featuring Kirk Douglas as a ne'er-do-well, debonnaire robber whose half-million dollar heist lands him in a miserable desert prison, which, of course, he is determined to break out of. Henry Fonda shows up as the newly-appointed, socially progressive warden who spars with this untameable scoundrel, and the two western movie icons have a good time matching wits in this antiheroic romp. It's not a great flick; the transgressive humor is very much of its time, but it is notable for the surprisingly sympathetic portrayal of two gay convicts who are part of Douglas's escape team... they in fact turn out to be the unlikely heroes of the film, which is as unexpected as it is refreshing.
1.0 out of 5 stars
About as bad as it gets,
By
This review is from: There Was a Crooked Man (VHS Tape)
What can one say about a movie like this. The music selections make one want to hit the MUTE button on the remote. The acting quality of Douglas is far from what one would expect from this man. Ditto for Fonda. The script is positively stupid, though I'm really having difficulty trying to find a proper word. Just are no words that fit the bill. I bought this moveie because I found out Hume Cronyn passed away in June (03). He, like the others, fails to live up to past performances. The worst part of this flick is it is just plain STUPID. Wish I had seen this before spending the money on it. Now, with a review this negative, the forum moderator will probably delete it, but if it survives, go look for something else. This movie is a total joke, but I don't mean "funny". Pathetic-like joke.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Western Comedy with a few surprises,
By Rob (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews
This review is from: There Was a Crooked Man (VHS Tape)
I first saw this movie on an Amtrak train. Although I was only 7 at the time it made a lasting impression on me. I couldn't remember the name of this movie or the stars, just the story line.I finally caught this movie on the Western channel and it is just as good as I remembered it. Not your typical Western, it's a comedy with a lot of star power behind it and just enough twists to keep it fresh. Chances are you have seen this film before if you are looking this far since this film never received the notoriety that it deserves. If by chance, you have stumbled upon this title, check it out you'll be pleasantly surprised.
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