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Having created an instant classic the previous year with their superlative production of Wuthering Heights, producer Samuel Goldwyn, director William Wyler, and cinematographer Gregg Toland reunited for this classic Western from 1940, which earned Walter Brennan his record-setting third Academy Award. Gary Cooper reportedly hesitated to take his role, knowing that Brennan would likely steal the show with his splendid portrayal of "hanging" lawman Judge Roy Bean, but Wyler persisted and Cooper signed on as the drifter who faces Judge Bean under the false accusation of stealing a horse. Cooper smooth-talks his way out of his hanging by claiming to be a close friend of stage star Lily Langtry, with whom the judge is unabashedly smitten, but tensions rise when Cooper comes to the defense of a group of struggling homesteaders that Brennan is trying to drive away. This leads, of course, to a classic showdown in true Western tradition, and under Wyler's able direction The Westerner takes its place among the finest examples of the genre. And while Brennan does indeed steal the show, Cooper needn't have worried--he's every bit the hero in a battle with one of the silver screen's most memorable villains. --Jeff Shannon

Rating : - Classic Cooper/Brennan Western
Take a real life Western character (the notorious Western judge Judge Roy Bean), add one of the genre's sturdiest heroes (Gary Cooper), and you have the makings of a Western movie classic.

"The Westerner," starring Cooper and his good friend and frequent co-star Walter Brennan as Judge Bean, does what Hollywood does so well - take a pinch of truth, a heap for fiction, and mixes them for a pleasing theatrical stew. Cooper plays a wandering cowpoke who runs afoul of Bean's kangaroo court, and gets accused of horsestealing (a hanging offense in most courts, but definitely in Judge Bean's horse thieves). The cowpoke gets off by convincing the judge he knows famous actress and Lilly Langtry, who the judge desperately wants to meet. Cooper strings Bean along to keep himself out of trouble, but gets back into trouble when he sees that Bean and the townspeople are trying to run a group of homesteaders out of the country. Cooper decides to help the homesteaders, putting himself on a collision course with Bean.

Brennan won one of three Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for this film, and it's no mystery why he won. Both charming and contemptible, his Judge Roy Bean is quaintly naive and corruptibly sinster. His interaction with Cooper throughout the film is masterful in its complexity and psychology. Cooper is his usually solid, quiet hero who says a lot with few words. Backed by solid Western supporting stars like Chill Wills and Forrest Tucker, "The Westerner" is a wonderful Western, and great to see it rereleased on DVD.