There Was a Crooked Man

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There Was a Crooked Man

R

Released Dec 25, 1970

2h 6m

Western

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

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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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

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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

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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

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Fails to deliver on a promising story.

Rated: C+

Jan 14, 2018

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Chuck O'Leary

FulvueDrive-in.com

Rated: 4/5

May 7, 2007

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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

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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

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Audience Member

Good movie well worth the watch James Welch, Henderson, Arkansas, December 2, 2023

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

12/04/23

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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

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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

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delysid d

Kirk Douglas is one of the Greats!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

05/17/20

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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

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Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Director

Kirk Douglas

Paris Pitman, Jr.

Henry Fonda

Woodward W. Lopeman

Hume Cronyn

Dudley Whinner

Warren Oates

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Burgess Meredith

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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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