Paul Newman plays Judge Roy Bean in this decidely offbeat Western.
A petty criminal, he seeks refuge in a small saloon just west of the Pecos Rive, in a part of Texas the law hasn’t yet reached.
He’s robbed, strung to a horse to be dragged and left for dead until a young Mexican woman (Victoria Principal as Maria) comes to his aid.
Once able, he charges back to the saloon, kills everyone he can find and declares himself judge and jury of a town he calls Langtry in honor of lovely Lilly Langtry, a singer and actress he admires.
From then on, with the help of four other petty criminals he deputizes, Judge Bean dispenses justice with a ready noose and an iron fist. The other hand is ready to reach into the pockets of those who run afoul of his version of the law.
For a while, he, Maria and a pet bear — who drinks beer and goes on picnics — live an idylic life. But Bean makes the mistake of entering a partnership with Frank Gass, who immediately begins undermining his authority.
Eventually, Bean rides off into the sunset, abandoning the town he created. But he’ll return for one last hurrah to help the daughter (Jacqueline Bisset) he doesn’t know.
Review:
The film plays out like a tall tale, at times humorous, at times poignant with Paul Newman as Judge Roy Bean holding it all together as the larger-than-life title character. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t hold together as well as it should ahve.
As judge, Bean certainly encounters a wide range of characters — The Rev. LaSalle (Anthony Perkins), who helps him bury his first victims; Bad Bob (Stacy Keach), who rides into town determined for force the judge into a showdown; and Snake River Rufus, who dares shot a hole in one of his posters of Lilly in one of the film’s funnier scenes.
Even director John Huston shows up as Grizzly Adams. A wheel falls off his wagon; he takes it as a sign he’s supposed to die in Vinegaroon. The judge forces him to move on — no illegal dying in his town, he proclaims. Grizzly leaves behind his pet bear, named Zachary Taylor.
That part was played by Bruno the Bear, who had a male lion named Neil for a traveling partner and best friend. According to IMDb, Huston’s wife cared for the lion while Bruno was busy filming scenes.
The movie marked the film debut of Victoria Principal. She was about 20 at the time and would go one to TV fame in the hit series “Dallas.” Ava Gardner plays Lilly Langtry. But while her image is plastered all of the walls of the judge’s saloon, she doesn’t show up in the movie until the final scene.
Directed by:
John Huston
Cast:
Paul Newman … Judge Roy Bean
Victoria Principal … Maria Elena
Anthony Perkins … Rev. LaSalle
Ned Beatty … Tector Crites
Jim Burk … Big Bart Jackson
Matt Clark … Nick the Grub
Bill McKinney … Fermel Parlee
Steve Kanaly … Whorehouse Lucky Jim
Tab Hunter … Sam Dodd
John Huston … Grizzly Adams
Stacy Keach … Bad Bob
Roddy McDowall … Frank Gass
Jacqueline Bisset … Rose Bean
Ava Gardner … Lily Langtry
Runtime: 120 min.
Memorable lines:
Roy Bean, arriving in a bar, west of the Pecos, and finding a book: “The laws and statutes of the state of Texas? What’s that doing here?”
Mexican: “For the whores to piss on.”
Rev. LaSalle: “What has happened here?”
Judge Roy Bean: “These men tried to hang me. And they have been killed for it.”
Rev. LaSalle: “How many of them are there?”
Judge Roy Bean: “A lot of them.”
Judge Roy Bean to Maria Elena: “There’s going to be peace. Above all, peace. And I don’t care who I have to kill to get it.”
Judge Roy Bean, admiring his black and white photo of Lily Langtry: “Look at the color of her hair.”
Marie Elena: “I can’t see any color.”
Judge Roy Bean: “What are you doing in Vinegaroon?”
Grizzly Adams: “All my life, I’ve been cold. I came south to die where it’s warm.”
Judge Roy Bean: “Well, it’s warm here, but they’ll be no illegal dying. The only people that die in my town are the people I shoot or hang.”
Judge Roy Bean, apologizing to the marshal’s wives: “I understand you have taken exception to my calling you whores. I’m sorry. I apologize. I ask you to note that I did not call you callous-ass strumpets, fornicatresses, or low-born gutter sluts. But I did say ‘whores.’ No escaping that. And for that slip of the tongue, I apologize.”
Elena Marie, learning Lilly will be performing in Sante Fe: “You should go and see her before she grows old and fat.”
Judge Roy Bean: “Miss Lilly’s beauty is timeless!”
Lily Langtry, noticing one of her portraits in the Jersey Lilly has a whole in it: “Is that a bullet hole through my heart?”
Tector Crites: “Yes it is, ma’am. They was wild men in those days.”
Lily Langtry: “Who did it?”
Tector Crites: “Snake River Rufus Krile did that, I believe.”
Lily Langtry: “What became of him?”
Tector Crites: “Judge shot him. Dead. Dead, dead. Then he fined him for some other crimes. And then later we hanged him.”
Lily Langtry: “Most appropriate.”
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