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The Life And Times Of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
Released By: Warner Home Video   Rating: PG   In Theaters: N/A
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Studio: Warner Home Video
Genre: Western
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: John Huston
Language: English
Official Website: N/A
Theatrical Release: N/A
Home Video Release: N/A
Cast: Anthony Perkins, Ava Gardner, Jacqueline Bisset, Paul Newman, Roddy McDowall, Stacy Keach
Published ID: 5042
UPC: 085392449828,
Plot: Paul Newman plays the title role in John Huston's surreal, revisionist western as the infamous Texas hanging judge. Upon arriving in the tiny West Texas town of Vinegaroon, Roy Bean draws a moustache on a wanted poster of himself, marches into a saloon, and declares his presence. He is immediately robbed, beaten within an inch of his life, tied to a horse and dragged out into the prairie, then left to die. Rescued by a young Mexican girl, Maria Elena (Victoria Principal), Roy Bean heads back into town and murders everyone in the local saloon, declaring that he'll kill anyone of the same sort who turns up. He also sets himself up as the sole arbiter of law and order and renames the town Langtry, in honor of the legendary actress Lily Langtry (Ava Gardner). The community prospers as Judge Bean dispenses his own brand of frontier justice upon strangers passing by, robbing or killing anyone who tries to make their way through the town. But when Maria dies, Bean's old associates begin to turn on him, one at a time (in response to his constant harping on their wives, many of whom were former prostitutes) and Bean is forced to leave. Years later, Bean rides back into town, called back to the place to save his daughter from trouble - and finds that the community has been taken over by a shady character called Frank Gass (Roddy McDowall) - a circumstance that requires Bean to dispense his own unique brand of justice once again. Stacy Keach lends a neat comic turn to the film as Bad Bob, an albino gunslinger whose dining habits consist of chowing down on raw onion, drinking hot coffee from a pot, and demanding that an entire horse be cooked for his supper. John Milius (Red Dawn) scripted. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
IDDateTimeTitleReviewHelpfulVotesTotalVotes
Great Film
Added 11/24/2009
A great film, but a real scandle at not being able to purchase in the U.K So I bought it through Amazon , but it was expensive, twice the price it should have been. Such is life..
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Life & Times of Judge Roy Bean
Added 10/28/2009
I've been looking for this many years & it was better than the first time I saw it 30 years ago.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
Different, And Mostly Fun
Added 3/12/2009
Wow, what a quirky western. It's almost comic book-type put-on for most of the film and then it turns into a sad story at the end.

Most of the actors in this star-studded cast are in cameo roles, the best being Stacy Keach's "Bad Bob." He seems to be about everyone's favorite character in this film, and justifiably so.

The storyline: "Roy Bean" (Newman) almost gets killed visiting this one-horse town out in the middle of lawless El Paso, then gets his revenge on the people who roughed him up, and takes over the town which is really nothing but this one building! He appoints himself judge, obtains a few "marshals," and then brings an assortment of crooks and strange people in to be hanged. It's just one long parade of strange characters, either passing by or hanging around (literally).

There are sub-plots involving (1) Bean's obsession with the famous Lily Langtree, and (2) what happens when the town grows immensely and things change drastically, such as the people wanting a little bit more of a democracy that what Judge Roy Bean had been offering.

This is an intriguing movie that is hard to define. The major negative to the film was that it got kind of silly and ran out of gas in the last half hour, except for the Langtry storyline.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
Added 3/5/2009
This is my second favorite Newman movie after Slapshot. It is pure Grit and Determination. Add it to your collection,you won't be sorry.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
I know I'm going to be hanged for this...
Added 1/8/2009
First of all, I'm a big Paul Newman fan.

But I think he is miscast in this movie. I never quite buy him as Judge Roy Bean. OK, I'm spoiled by Walter Brennan. I just never bought the character, so I couldn't buy the movie. Roy Bean was such a cantankerous and very eccentric person, and from what I can tell from research, not very attractive.. OK, I know this is a movie. But I couldn't get past that the character was Paul Newman trying to be cantankerous and eccentric--except on a superficial level.

That's all, folks...

1 out of 4 people found this helpful.
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