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Judge Roy Bean is the classic Western television
series of 1955 that is based on one of history's
most colorful characters: Judge Roy Bean. The real
Roy Bean was nicknamed the ""Hangin' Judge"" for
notoriously sending dozens of men to the gallows
with the motto, ""Hang 'em first, try 'em later.""
But despite accounts that say otherwise author Jack
Skiles states that although Bean threatened to hang
hundreds of men, few were actually sentenced to the
gallows, and even then, prisoners were usually
allowed to escape their execution.
First five episodes of the vintage frontier
series following the true life adventures of
Solomon-like Judge Roy Bean.
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A remarkable blend of otherwise disparate
philosophies about legendary men, this 1972 film was
inspired in part by the epic dimensions of a John
Milius (The Wind and the Lion) script, which
was toned down by Paul Newman's charmingly eccentric
approach to the title character, who in turn was
deepened by director John Huston's sensitivity to
the subject of fleeting dreams. The story concerns
the famous outlaw-turned-lawmaker who rules over an
empty stretch of the West that gradually grows,
under his iron fist, into a thriving town. The film
follows the quirky Bean's episodic adventures as the
years pass and a variety of colorful characters come
and go, including the muse who captivated his soul,
the actress Lily Langtry (Ava Gardner). Huston's
textured approach has an almost Altmanesque feel to
it, though he demands more (and rewardingly so)
obvious performances from the cast, particularly a
hilarious cameo by Stacy Keach as the one
tough-as-nails SOB who makes Bean a tad nervous.
Highly entertaining. --Tom Keogh |
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