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There Was a Crooked Man

Play trailer Poster for There Was a Crooked Man R 1970 2h 6m Western Play Trailer Watchlist
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82% Tomatometer 11 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
After a botched heist, Wild West bandit Paris Pitman Jr. (Kirk Douglas) hides his newly stolen money where no one will find it, then loses his entire gang in a blaze of bullets before being captured by the law and given a lengthy sentence in a desert jail. Paris believes that he can buy his way out of his predicament by offering some cash to the guards, but the upstanding Sheriff Lopeman (Henry Fonda) makes sure his men remain honest. Running out of options, Paris begins plotting a jailbreak.
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There Was a Crooked Man

Critics Reviews

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Matt Brunson Film Frenzy The penultimate film of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve) is a tart-tongued Western written by the same gents who had penned Bonnie and Clyde three years earlier. Rated: 3/4 Jun 19, 2021 Full Review John Mahoney Los Angeles Free Press Technically, the film is near perfect, reminding us how good a Hollywood programmer can be, even at an inflated cost of seven million dollars. Jan 13, 2020 Full Review Penelope Houston The Spectator If smart callousness, moral indifference and violence on the rockpile are what you are looking for, at least this ex- ample is rather conspicuously well acted. Jul 9, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Fails to deliver on a promising story. Rated: C+ Jan 14, 2018 Full Review Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com Rated: 4/5 May 7, 2007 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a solid little Western that's worth a look if only for its refreshingly cynical sensibilities. Rated: 3/4 Jan 24, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alec B There seems to a sizable chunk of missing material (evidenced by Lee Grant's blink and you'll miss it cameo) but it still has minor charms and some very amusing performances. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/24 Full Review Audience Member Good movie well worth the watch James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas, December 2, 2023 Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/04/23 Full Review Alberto M The smart thug and the honest and good director characters develop cleanly and subtly through the movie, until the end that amused me even more than the rest of the movie. Most secondary characters and stooges are up to the two main stars, particularly Hume Cronyn, playing a gentle hearted swindler. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/17/22 Full Review Audience Member There seems to a sizable chunk of missing material (evidenced by Lee Grant's blink and you'll miss it cameo) but it still has minor charms and some very amusing performances. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review delysid d Kirk Douglas is one of the Greats! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 05/17/20 Full Review s r That song gets stuck in your head!!! Another lost flixster rating! It's a cynical western that comes across as silly. Good cast though. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
There Was a Crooked Man

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Cast & Crew

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Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Director

Kirk Douglas

Paris Pitman, Jr.

Henry Fonda

Woodward W. Lopeman

Hume Cronyn

Dudley Whinner

Warren Oates

Floyd Moon

Burgess Meredith

The Missouri Kid

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There Was a Crooked Man

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Movie Info

Synopsis After a botched heist, Wild West bandit Paris Pitman Jr. (Kirk Douglas) hides his newly stolen money where no one will find it, then loses his entire gang in a blaze of bullets before being captured by the law and given a lengthy sentence in a desert jail. Paris believes that he can buy his way out of his predicament by offering some cash to the guards, but the upstanding Sheriff Lopeman (Henry Fonda) makes sure his men remain honest. Running out of options, Paris begins plotting a jailbreak.
Director
Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts
Rating
R
Genre
Western
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 1970, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 1, 2014
Runtime
2h 6m
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