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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 06/19/2021
3/4
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. Go to Full Review John Mahoney Los Angeles Free Press 01/13/2020
Technically, the film is near perfect, reminding us how good a Hollywood programmer can be, even at an inflated cost of seven million dollars. Go to Full Review Penelope Houston The Spectator 07/09/2018
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. Go to Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 01/14/2018
C+
Fails to deliver on a promising story. Go to Full Review Chuck O'Leary FulvueDrive-in.com 05/07/2007
4/5
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews 01/24/2007
3/4
...a solid little Western that's worth a look if only for its refreshingly cynical sensibilities. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alec B 02/21/2024 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. See more 12/04/2023 Good movie well worth the watch James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas, December 2, 2023 See more Alberto M 08/17/2022 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. See more 06/06/2022 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. See more N L 05/17/2020 Kirk Douglas is one of the Greats! See more Scott R @ScottR 09/14/2019 That song gets stuck in your head!!! Another lost flixster rating! It's a cynical western that comes across as silly. Good cast though. See more 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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