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 fictional interloper 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 Di...
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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 fictional interloper 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 Lillie 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...
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