There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

That pretty schoolteacher..

On one of the discussion boards was a question about the pretty schoolteacher being carried along with the rioting mob, losing another piece of attire every time seen (yelling "warden," asking for help) for part of the riot sequence and then disappearing. And mention of seeing a still picture where she wore a hat, boots and a smile while running through the desert. Question was about the editing.
An acquaintance saw the sneak preview of the picture in Long Beach while it was still being edited and mentioned that the striptease continued until she was chased into the desert through the hole dynamited in the prison wall.
Should there ever be a DVD released with this "deleted scene," you let us all know, you all. (But after forty or fifty years, doubtful.) September 13, 2008

JOSEPH L. MANKIEWICZ, OPUS 19

***** 1970. Produced and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. How to transform the screenplay of a western dealing with a daring prison escape into a smart and satiric film about honesty and prison reforms ? Well, just ask Mankiewicz, one of the top directors of the Golden Age of Hollywood. The quality of this WB release is average with a good sound and so so images. Too bad that the featurette is mainly about Michael Blodgett's first serious step into cinema. But, nevertheless, this release stays as an indispensable DVD to store into the honest man's library. January 5, 2008

Kirk Douglas plays a bad guy as does Henry Fonda

Actually I thought that this was a different movie before I viewed it.
I confused this one with the movie 'Scalawag' also starring Kirk Douglas.
It's an ok movie. so if your a Kirk Douglas or Henry Fonda fan it's worth you while. June 9, 2007

Good Early Seventies Western From Legends Douglas and Fonda

Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda are two of the Western genre's alltime greats, and seeing them together in a movie like this is always fascinating. Perhaps even more so in a early 70's Western with all of its characteristics, including rampant cynicism, blatant anti-heroism, and surprise endings.

There Was A Crooked Man features Douglas as a bank robber who has hidden his loot away, and then gets caught and sent to prison. In prison, he and the warden form a grudging respect for each other. The warden, played by Fonda, was a well known lawman who was wounded in the line of duty, and ended up taking a warden's job because he couldn't perform his old job anymore. Douglas begins to make friends with other inmates, including Warren Oates, who plays a convict with whom no one else wants to bother.

This film is cagey, and turns lots of traditional Western themes and philosophies on their ear. The performances are good, and the ending will please some, and infuriate others.

There Was A Crooked Man was definitely a Western for its time, and not a bad one at that. April 4, 2007

Stylish Western

This is a quirky little western with a bevy of interesting characters and a style all it's own. Kirk Douglas is a convicted robber who tries to outwit warden Henry Fonda (and vice-versa) who knows Douglas has a large amount of money hidden in the desert.

This is one of those you love it or hate types of films. It is irreverent, slightly off center and, as I said , quirky. Even the inappropriately contemporary film score, usually out of place for a period western, seems, well, appropriate.

Odd? Yes. Enjoyable? Absolutely. Give it a try. I think you'll "love" it more than "hate" it. March 16, 2007

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