mmallon4 If more westerns were like The Was a Crooked Man I could consider myself a bigger fan of the genre. The opening scene in which a black maid who fakes the mammy act sets the stage for a film which defies convention. To date I've never seen another western like it; it's not like a John Ford western or a Howard Hawks western, this is a Joseph L. Mankiewicz western; the first and only Mankiewicz western. I also love that theme song and am happy to hear it again and again in instrumental form throughout the film.Mankiewicz was a master of handling dialogue and thus there is such a snappy pace to the whole film. "Nothing like fried chicken while it's still hot and crispy" may be my favourite line Kirk Douglas has ever uttered in a film. The film is full of characters whom each get their own unique stories. The two homosexual lovers and comic buffoons played by Hume Cronyn and John Randolph have the most interesting character arc with an outcome which is the only time in the film someone isn't totally out for themselves. The large scale prison set on the other hand captures the mundanity of prison life with the film gradually building up to the impending escape, ranking There Was a Crooked Man among the great prison escape movies.There Was a Crooked Man is a movie which combines old Hollywood mixed with new Hollywood with its traditional western setting and it's dosing of cynicism. The cast features stars both veteran actors and younger stars and a script by David Newman and Robert Benton of Bonnie & Clyde fame. Even the one moral character in the film ends up turning bad. Henry Fonda plays the moral role he was known for throughout his career right up until the very end of the picture, leaving me with a big smile on my face. The movie is very cynical but it's that kind of wonderful cynicism that makes you feel happy, and not feeling down. Although I would call There Was a Crooked Man a funny movie, it is not the kind of film in which I find myself laughing but rather laughing inside to myself.

mark.waltz A unique entry among the golden age of westerns, this is a combination of dark comedy with classic prison drama. In fact, this could be called the "Grand Hotel of Prison Movies" with its eclectic group of characters in a desert prison where bandit Kirk Douglas ends up after he robs a respectable house during their respectable dinner. You know you're going down a different territory when you see the black cook (veteran actress Virginia Capers) quietly bemoaning the fact that she has to work for snooty white folks then putting on airs when she brings their supper into the dining room. Douglas is soon caught and sent to prison where a sudden change brings in new warden Henry Fonda who wants to establish prison reform. Fonda is actually out to discover where Douglas hid the loot he stole (in a pair of bloomers) and befriends him in order to gain some clues. One thing leads to another, the prisoners plan an escape attempt, and the stage is set for Fonda to follow Douglas in order to find out what he's been hired for.This starts off on just the right note (with the robbery) and never lets up, following Douglas to a brothel (with "The Young and the Restless's" Jeanne Cooper as a hooker!), then to prison where the variety of fellow prisoners are introduced. There's the ancient Missouri Kid (Burgess Meredith), a grizzled con (Warren Oates), a young hot-head (Michael Blodgett), a mute giant (C.K. Yang), and most memorably, an obvious gay couple (Hume Cronyn and John Randolph) who argue like an old married couple. Then, there's "the skipper" (Alan Hale Jr.) as one of the guards, a jovial type who gets a surprisingly gruesome ending.This is a bawdy comedy with tons of sexual overtones that at first seem gratuitous but really fill out the cheek that some writer's tongue was obviously in. Not only is there the brothel sequence, but a beautiful visitor to the prison (veteran actress Barbara Rhodes) literally gets her dress blown off of her when an explosion in the prison occurs. The violence of the prison is not at all pretty, and Douglas's character is a villain you can't help but like, even though he's about as trustworthy as a rattle snake. As for Fonda, there's a crooked smile to his supposedly law abiding citizen that is quite a contrast to the sparkle in Douglas's eye. It says to the audience that these two opposites are more alike than they think, and even if they are on the opposite sides of the law, three's an unspoken respect that indicates they knew there's more to each other than what really meets the eye. There's also an ironic conclusion that is truly sardonic and extremely amusing. Some exciting cameos by Arthur O'Connell and Ann Doran (as the robbed white folks in the opening), Martin Gabel (as the original warden) and Lee Grant fill out the cast. Veteran director Joseph L. Mankiewicz provides an exciting atmosphere that never lets up, with excellent photography and outstanding production values. Especially because of its cynicism, this holds up just as well today as it did back in 1970.

thinker1691 The direction for this film owes it's life to Joseph L. Mankiewicz who guides this clever Western movie to it's eventual and Classic end. It's a great story dealing with the weakness in every man. " There was a Crooked Man " also deals with Life's opportunity for good and evil. The story centers it's sights on Paris Pitman (Kirk Douglas), Jr. a thieving conniving, unscrupulous con and sneaky gunman who is fortunately sent to a territorial prison where he collects a motley group of Convicts whom he persuade to join him in a grand escape. While at the prison, he is watched by Woodward W. Lopeman (Henry Fonda) the new prison warden who suspects that Pitman is much too clever to remain behind bars without attempting to escape. The movie is well directed and the prison convicts are notable actors which are a who's-who of talented Thespians who are easily recognizable. They include Hume Cronyn, Warren Oates, Burgess Meredith, John Randolph, Arthur O'Connell, Martin Gabel, Alan Hale Jr. and Victor French. Together they create a story which is interesting and well worth the title of Classic. Easily enjoyed and hardily recommended. ****

writers_reign Mank didn't write the screenplay for this, his penultimate movie but elected instead for a script from the team responsible for Bonnie and Clyde. The plot itself, a melange of Western meets Big House was also something of a departure though given his proved eclecticism no one was really surprised. Curate's Egg is as good a description as any for while it is definitely good in parts ultimately it fails to satisfy. Hume Cronyn, working for a third and final time with Mank may well have relished the return to at least half the genre where he made his name - at least as a film actor - as the brutal warder in Brute Force playing someone diametrically opposite in the form of a gay con. I didn't note that much chemistry between the two leads, Douglas and Fonda, unlike say, Douglas and Lancaster but the film does benefit from a rich assortment of support in the shape of John Randolph, Warren Oates, Arthur O'Connell, Burgess Meredith and Lee Grant. Douglas' exotically named Paris Pitman seems out of place in the Arizona desert but charms his way through. Interesting rather than memorable.