There Was a Crooked Man... (1970)

Réalisateur:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

David Newman (written by) &
Robert Benton (written by)

Release Date:

25 décembre 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedie | Western

Plot:

Charm, intelligence and succes in criminal career doesn't prevent Paris Pitman Jr. to start doing ten years in territory prison...

Plot Keywords:

Loot | Brothel | Arizona | Prison Reform | Beating

Avis des utilisateurs:

'Crooked': a straightforward masterpiece

Ensemble

Kirk Douglas	...	Paris Pitman, Jr.
Henry Fonda	...	Woodward W. Lopeman
Hume Cronyn	...	Dudley Whinner
Warren Oates	...	Floyd Moon
Burgess Meredith	...	The Missouri Kid
John Randolph	...	Cyrus McNutt
Lee Grant	...	Mrs. Bullard
Arthur O'Connell	...	Mr. Lomax
Martin Gabel	...	Warden LeGoff
Michael Blodgett	...	Coy Cavendish
C.K. Yang	...	Ah-Ping
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Tobaccy (as Alan Hale)
Victor French	...	Whiskey
Claudia McNeil	...	Madam
Bert Freed	...	Skinner

Autre(s) titre(s) :

Reptile, Le (France) [fr]

Durée:

126 min

Pays:

USA

Langue:

Anglais

Couleur:

Couleur (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Son:

Mono

Classification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Emplacements De Pelliculage:

Joshua Tree, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Anecdotes:

Last film of Byron Foulger.

Guillemet:

Woodward Lopeman: Don't tell me you can't make speeches; you could talk a coyote out of a chicken.

Connexions De Film:

Edited into Classe américaine, La (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

There Was A Crooked Man...

'Crooked': a straightforward masterpiece

An exceptionally detailed and brilliant film. It distills two essences of the Western - the character study and the morality play - but packages them in one of the sharpest black comedies of all time.

The characterizations in this film are incredibly detailed. Never have so many personalities and relationships been so fully fleshed-out in two hours. At the center, Kirk Douglas's cunning charm as a prisoner is rampant but perfectly counterbalanced by Henry Fonda's steady perceptiveness as his well-intentioned warden. Burgess Meredith is the tender heart of this ensemble and provides several poignant moments - the bath scene and his reaction to a shooting are particularly unforgettable. Needless to say, the screen writing is stellar.

Some will feel betrayed by the film and find its ethical stance off-putting. On the one hand, it purports to be a comedy, but then it exposes aspects of human nature we want to pretend aren't there. Even worse, it justifies itself, getting maximum mileage out of the characters' (and viewers') hypocrisy. It's merciless. The only way the film manages to maintain its levity throughout is by quickly skipping over these disturbing moments. It's a film you'll need to revisit in your head to really get it. Amazingly, it has a happy ending, but you have to have an open mind to appreciate it.

The humor is wonderfully varied: from wry to heart-warming, from slapstick to abstract. It's not the type of humor to make you laugh out loud, but you will smile a lot. Some of the jokes compromise the viewer's integrity. How can we laugh during the scene with the progressively disrobed school teacher? But given its silly and preposterous execution, how can we not laugh? But part of the aim of this movie is to pull the viewer down into the sty of hypocrisy. The most abstract joke is how Ah-ping meets his end (consider his previous notable scene). It's over-the-top hilarious, but it registers too far back in the brain for laughing or even smiling.

This film operates on many levels: it's a comedy, a suspenseful prison escape flick, a character-driven drama, a Western. It's nihilistic one moment, deeply sympathetic the next. Enjoy it by taking it all in.

One caveat: I would have given this movie 10/10 except for a stupid (and homophobic) subplot involving a sadistic prison guard.