The Outrage (1964)

A preacher (William Shatner) is ready to abandon the town of Silver Gulch after a trial shatters his faith in his flock.

So he begins to talk over that trial with a poor prospector (Howard Da Silva) and a con artist (Edward G. Robinson).

On trial was a notorious Mexican bandit named Juan Carrasco (Paul Newman) who wound up coupling with a wife (Claire Bloom) while her husband was tied to a tree and looked on.

The husband wound up dead of a knife wound. And now Carrasco is being tried for murder in the square of the same town where he burned down the jail in an earlier escape.

But over the course of the trial, three different versions of the story emerge depending on whether the teller is Carrasco, the wife or an Indian shaman who claims to have talked to the husband before he died.

And the varying versions raise questions about whether the wife was raped or willingly seduced. And whether the husband died at the hand of Carrasco or by another means.

Once those stories are done, the prospector offers up his own version of the truth. After all, he wound up in possession of the murder weapon.
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Review:

A film that aims for high art and tries to duplicate the success of transporting a Japanese story to the West (like “The Magnificent Seven”). It winds up being merely interesting.

Newman seemed an odd choice for the swashbuckling Mexican bandit, though you can’t help but smile at his version of the story. Check out the drawing he makes in the dirt while his trial is going on.

The best performance comes from Claire Bloom, who played the same role in the Broadway adaptation of “Rashomon.” Edward G. Robinson single-handedly enlivens the scenes from the broken down train station where the preacher, prospector and he are discussing the trial.

William Shatner is the preacher; he was still two years removed from his breakthrough role on Star Trek. British actor Laurence Harvey, who plays the husband, had previously donned Western gear as Travis in John Wayne’s “The Alamo” (1960).

Directed by:
Martin Ritt

Cast:
Paul Newman … Juan Carrasco
Laurence Harvey … Husband
Claire Bloom … Wife
Edward G. Robinson … Con man
William Shatner … Preacher
Howard Da Silva … Prospector
Albert Salmi … The Sheriff
Thomas Chalmers … Judge
Paul Fix … Indian Shaman

Runtime: 96 min.

Memorable lines:

Con Man: “They always look surprised, those cadavers. Death must be a lot different than everybody thinks.”

Wife: “Am I so shameful, so foul, that even the river would spit me out? Am I?”

Juan Carrasco: “Where you come from that you don’t know about Carrasco? Well, you know about him now. You can talk about it when you’re a dried up old bitch, that once upon a time you were raped by Juan Carrasco. … It may be the only thing in your life that you will remember.”

Wife: “How can I go on? How can I live at all? Disgraced like this.”
Carrasco: “Disgraced? Lots woman is disgraced like you. They live nice, happy.”

Con Man: “They got the right man for once.”
The Preacher: “I wonder.”
Con Man: “What? The bloodiest outlaw in this whole part of the country, and you wonder? Why if he was in 50 miles of any crime, I’d convict him of it.”

Prospector: “Carasco’s a wild pig.”
Con Man: “Oh, sure. And they love him. Especially the ladies. They see a fella with sweat all over him and their and their boilers go steamin’ over.”

Preacher, remembering the Wife’s tearful testimony: “Her face. I can’t forget it.”
Con Man: “All men are suckers for tears. ‘Cept me. I’m water proof.”

Juan Carrasco to the Wife, as she bemoans her fate: “Senora, you cooked the pot of tamales. I just picked up the lid.”