The Westerner
Disambiguation:
The Westerner (TV series) is also a 1960 television series created by
Sam Peckinpah and starring
Brian Keith.
The Westerner is a
1940 film directed by
William Wyler, and written by
Niven Busch,
Stuart N. Lake, and
Jo Swerling. It stars
Gary Cooper as Cole Harden and is often remembered for one of
Walter Brennan's best performances, as
Judge Roy Bean, which led to him winning his record-setting third
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
James Basevi and
Stuart N. Lake also received nominations for the
Academy Award for Best Art Direction, black-and-white, and the
Academy Award for Best Story respectively.
Drifter Cole Harden (Cooper) is accused of stealing a horse and faces hanging by self-appointed Judge Roy Bean (Brennan), but Harden manages to talk his way out of it by claiming to be a friend of stage star
Lily Langtry, with whom the Judge is obsessed, even though he has never met her. Harden even claims to have a lock of her hair, so Bean goes easy on him.
Tensions rise when Harden comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders who Judge Bean is trying to drive away. When Langtry is scheduled to perform in a nearby town, Bean buys up every ticket and eagerly awaits her appearance alone in the audience. Harden takes the opportunity to force a showdown. Bullets fly and Bean is fatally wounded. In the final scene, Harden carries his dying friend backstage to see the woman he has adored for so long.
