Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Simply A Masterpiece

Brilliant and touching

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

I have watched many Westerns in my time: Great, Good, Mediocre and Poor. I must say that "The Westerner" is great, for me one of the best westerns of all time. Cooper and Brennan together were incredible!

The heart of the movie is the developing relationship between Bean (Brennan) and Harden (Cooper), and it's one of the more affecting ones in Hollywood filmdom. The two actors play off one another in subtle and convincing fashion. Credit too, a clever screenplay that creates the troubled friendship in unforgettable fashion. Bean, of course, represents the lawless first wave of frontier settlement by ranchers, and Brennan's almost scary as the hangin' judge. He's aggressive, foul-tempered, and allows no second-guessing. And when Harden's accused of being a horse thief, it's almost certain he's a "gonner". Except the saddle tramp has quick wits about him, claiming he knows the object of Bean's near worship— songstress Lilly Langtry. That's enough to get his hanging postponed. Note, however, that neither we nor Bean are told at any time whether Harden has made-up the story or not. With the lock of hair, though, it appears he has.The dramatic high point, of course, is the crop burning by the ranchers. It's an attempt to drive out the second wave of settlers, namely the farmers who've taken over good grazing land. It's a great effect that stands up even today, the vast fields of corn going up like a roaring inferno. I don't know how the movie makers did it, but it's definitely an A-movie effect. Throughout it all, Cooper is his usual tight-lipped, unsmiling movie self, a distinct contrast to the talkative Bean, and a perfect casting choice.I can't help thinking that the judge's obsession with Langtry represents his soft side that he's had to channel away from the hard side as keeper of law and order on the frontier. That final sequence is so well thought out. It's almost a 'male weepie' and a perfect culmination of the wavering relationship between the two men. Then too, what a great glimpse of earthly heaven right before the slow fadeout.All in all, the 100-minutes is an unforgettable western, thanks mainly to Brennan's sharp- edged judge, richly deserving of the Oscar he received.

We here in Texas have always HATED corn. If you have steak, who needs vegetables? America is fat (morbidly obese) today because high fructose CORN syrup is sneaked into almost every product in our groceries. Roy Bean tried to nip the creeping evil of Big Corn in the bud during the time he appears in this libelous Big Corn Lobby smear campaign film, THE WESTERNER. As Roy knew, any grain or vegetable requires many illegal southerners to harvest. Folks like Col. Travis and Jim Bowie DIED in order to kick them out of here (they even had the unmitigated gall to try to free our Intercontinentals!). Heroes such as Davey Crockett, Sam Houston and corn farmer-Hanging Judge Roy Bean tried to insure Texans a future steady diet of good old American steak. But rascals with names like Abe Lincoln and Michelle Obama have crammed fattening corn products down our throats instead as the decades roll by. At the end of this film, the FAKE westerner played by Gary Cooper ASSASSINATES Roy Bean so the Yankee fat cats behind Big Corn can have the last laugh. If you feel a twinge of unease watching your 400-pound 12-year-old waddling toward the fridge tonight, blame Gary Cooper and Big Corn!!

Released in 1940 - The Westerner is a really excellent tale concerning the land disputes in Texas (between the cattlemen and the homesteaders) getting way out of hand.At the heart of this classic Western yarn rests the complex relationship that unexpectedly transpires between Judge Roy Bean and a lanky stranger named Cole Harden (who's a suspected horse-thief).Walter Brennan, as Judge Roy Bean, is a fascinating character who's burdened with a strange sense of morality and a fanatical obsession for the international stage actress, Lily Langtry.Brennan won a well-deserved Oscar for his wonderful portrayal of Bean.As a classic cowboy flick, you really need to see The Westerner to fully appreciate all of its subtle charm and rugged appeal.