Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Pierre Perrett is Judge Roy Bean, who winds up in a struggle for control of Langtry with rival Black Bird (Robert Hossein).

Their first point of contention is an Army gold shipment Black Bird and his men planned to steal from Buck Carson (Angelo Infanti).

When the horses spook, running off with the wagon full of gold, it winds up in the hands of Catherine (Silvia Monti), the judge’s niece.

Black Bird heads to Langtry to search for the missing loot. So does Carson, who winds up on trial in the hanging judge’s courtroom.

He survives, but a feud soon erupts between Black Bird and the judge, especially when the former decides to open a saloon/courtroom of his own.

He lures the judge’s customers away with gambling. The judge joins forces with local madam Victoria to lure them back with saloon girls.

Black Bird counters with a striptease act, finally prompting the town’s pastor to intervene.

Meanwhile, where the hell did the gold get to? It’s not where Catherine buried it?

Pierre Perrett as Judge Roy Bean, trying to outfox Black Bird in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Robert Hossein as Black Bird watching a fortune in gold run off with spooked horses in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Review:

Ignore the serious look of some of the posters for this film. This is a pure comedy treatment of the notorious hanging judge.

Surprisingly, he doesn’t hang anyone in the film. In fact, it’s Black Bird who tries to throw the noose party.

Some of the gags work, like when the judge uses a steel-toed boot to try to rig the roulette game in Black Bird’s saloon.

But the slapstick tone of the film wears thin, and there aren’t any plot twists that are likely to catch viewers by surprise.

Oops, correction, there’s the scene in which Victoria’s girls show up in Playboy costumes to serve the judges’ customers.

And the secret ploy the judge and his allies use when it comes time for a final showdown with Black Bird. That one’s likely to make you groan.

Silvia Monti as Cat, the judge’s niece and a girl with an eye for gold in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Angelo Infanti as Buck Carson tries to save his hide in the judge’s courtroom in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Directed by:
Federico Chentrens, Jean Girault

Cast:
Pierre Perret … Judge Roy Bean
Robert Hossein … Black Bird
Silvia Monti … Cat
Xavier Gelin … Antonio Burke
Angelo Infanti … Buck Carson
Francoise Girault … Dolly
Paola Borboni … Victoria
Tiberio Murgia … Post Mortem
Giuliano Disperati … Pistolero
Silvio Bagolini … Joe Picadilly
Werner Hasslemann … The pastor
Cristina Gaioni … Orphan
Franco Gula … Jeremie
Ugo Fangareggi … Slim

Also with: Anne-Marie Balin, Antonio Gradoli, Alberto Alessandri, Carlo Dell Piane, Serafino Profumo, Nerina Montagnani, Murial Blain

Runtime: 91 min.

aka:
Le Jude
Trouble in Sacramento

Music: Pierre Perret
Song: “Judge Roy Bean” by Pierre Perret

Francoise Girault as Dolly launches into her striptease at Black Bird’s saloon in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Paola Borboni as Victoria and Dolly (Francois Girault) offer Judge Bean (Pierre Perret) some feminine assistance in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

* Pierre Perret appeared in just eight films, was better known in France as a singer than an actor and, indeed, sings the song “Judge Roy Bean” in this film.

* This marked the only Euro-Western for lovely Silvia Monti. The same year, she co-starred alongside Terence Hill in “Blackie The Pirate.”

Silvia Monti as Cat prevents Pierre Perret as Judge Roy Bean from doing something rash in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Silvia Monti as Cat and Francoise Girault as Dolly has a dispute in the streets of Langtry in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Robert Hossein as Black Bird holds Cat captive in Judge Roy Bean (1971)

Pierre Perrett as Judge Roy Bean keeps order in his courtrrom with a gun in Judge Roy Bean (1971)