If more westerns were like The Was a Crooked Man I could consider myself a bigger fan of the genre. The opening scene in which a black maid who fakes the mammy act sets the stage for a film which defies convention. To date I've never seen another western like it; it's not like a John Ford western or a Howard Hawks western, this is a Joseph L. Mankiewicz western; the first and only Mankiewicz western. I also love that theme song and am happy to hear it again and again in instrumental form throughout the film.Mankiewicz was a master of handling dialogue and thus there is such a snappy pace to the whole film. "Nothing like fried chicken while it's still hot and crispy" may be my favourite line Kirk Douglas has ever uttered in a film. The film is full of characters whom each get their own unique stories. The two homosexual lovers and comic buffoons played by Hume Cronyn and John Randolph have the most interesting character arc with an outcome which is the only time in the film someone isn't totally out for themselves. The large scale prison set on the other hand captures the mundanity of prison life with the film gradually building up to the impending escape, ranking There Was a Crooked Man among the great prison escape movies.There Was a Crooked Man is a movie which combines old Hollywood mixed with new Hollywood with its traditional western setting and it's dosing of cynicism. The cast features stars both veteran actors and younger stars and a script by David Newman and Robert Benton of Bonnie & Clyde fame. Even the one moral character in the film ends up turning bad. Henry Fonda plays the moral role he was known for throughout his career right up until the very end of the picture, leaving me with a big smile on my face. The movie is very cynical but it's that kind of wonderful cynicism that makes you feel happy, and not feeling down. Although I would call There Was a Crooked Man a funny movie, it is not the kind of film in which I find myself laughing but rather laughing inside to myself.

I've admired the producer/director for awhile and came to this movie late. The cast is nothing short of stellar and the acting is up to that standard. The cinematography was lush and attractive--even with many shots taking place in the desert. However, the weak and inept plot (with glaring holes), the off-beat music (perhaps standard for the time period), and the lack of character development among the stars left me squirming in my seat. Could a ruthless sociopath like Douglas really be that charming? Could a superior lawman like Fonda make rookie mistakes of judgment?I found I was asking myself if the movie will ever turn around or should I quit now? Unfortunately I kept watching, and it never improved and, as they say, I lost two good hours of my life.

There is so much to like and appreciate about this film that while it's an enjoyable experience, it isn't the great film it should have been.Firstly, the script is largely excellent. It has a good plot and characters backed up by interesting dialogue. It has a top-notch cast delivering almost universally quality performances. As well, it has some interesting themes and issues to explore, especially in the central battle between Fonda's warden and Douglas' prisoner. The scene where Douglas confronts Fonda in the just built eating hall and exposes his self-serving interests and hypocrisy, is a great example of top-class screen writing.All the elements are there for a classic (or at least semi-classic) Western, but it doesn't quite reach that. Why? I think a big problem for this is Joseph L. Mankiewicz's direction. As other users have commented, the tone of the film is jerky and erratic and he has to take prime blame for that. But even in pure cinematic terms, it isn't well directed. Scenes that should have been highlights (such as the robbery that opens the film) lack punch because they're ineptly handled.I think another major problem is the cinematography. The glossy, bright and flashy look of TWACM seems more in tune for a jovial, knockabout, straightforward Western. For a film full of cynicism, complexity (as well as its share of humour) and some rather depressing elements, it's a distracting and misjudged look. The much more realistic style that was to become much more common in films as the 1970s progressed (e.g. 'McCabe and Mrs. Miller') would have been much more apt.Overall, an under-appreciated and underrated film worth seeking out. But also a bit of a missed opportunity.

This is a very cynical and bitter revisionist western (in fact, not a western at all, but a prison movie ,as they call it …); like other somewhat similar products of the revisionist '70s, it's rather formless and style—less. Not a great cinematographic achievement. Despite this, many things are in its favor—the cast, the interesting performances from actors as good as Fonda and Douglas. The ironic score works at deflating the adventurous element. Doubtless, it's interesting and intelligent, though not really worked out, not really achieved: badly written—the narration is prolix, the characters are also badly written, much below the actors' energies. Sometimes, it is (deliberately) funny. Yet it lacks drive, energy, instinct. This disabused look at the western world intends more than it's able to really deliver. One needs seeing at least one western a week. Douglas, sometimes a surprisingly respectable actor, made better westerns—like The Last Sunset (1961) , Lonely Are the Brave (1962) , Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) –not to mention the all—important Hawks masterpiece from the early '50s (but that was truly an author movie) .Here, he does whatever is possible in an underwritten role of a demonic, nasty character. At 53, he was in a somewhat remarkable physical shape. I know only of one Douglas—the Kirk. Fonda was magical. He was always that way; one of the ten best American actors ever. Each of his roles is bright with subtlety, with finesse and intelligence. It was finesse over vigor. Some other actors were maybe as artistically intelligent as him—but never subtler. The actors, maybe even the idea needed another, tighter, tauter script. As such, the movie is shapeless and uninspired.