The Westerner (United Artists) (1940)

Roistering Judge Bean Portrayed By Scene Stealer, Walter Brennan Walter Brennan as Judge Roy Bean in “The Westerner” 45A — One-Col. Head (Mat .15; Cut .25) BEAN ESCAPADES TOLD AT STUDIO BY EYE-WITNESS Gary Cooper recently shook hands with a man who heard Texas’ historic Judge Roy Bean sentence eleven cowmen to their deaths, who saw Bean escape from a hanging and who took part in the activities prior to Bean’s trip to Fort Davis to see the beauteous Lily Langtry. Cooper shook hands with him and got him a job. The man is 82-year-old Cal Cohen, former clown and associate of Bean’s as bartender in his com¬ bination saloon and courthouse and later as friend of the redoubtable saloonkeeper who forced his rul¬ ings upon a frontier population “West of the Pecos.” Cohen’s identity was revealed when he visited the set of Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Westerner,” which stars Cooper and is slated to begin a run at the .... Theatre on .... He came at the invitation of Director William Wyler who de¬ sired first-hand information about Bean, whose part in the film is played by Walter Brennan. When Cohen’s association with the Judge was confirmed by letters and other documentary evidence Star Cooper pleaded with Producer Goldwyn to give the old man a job. Shortly after that Cal Cohen was again behind the bar of Judge Roy Bean’s saloon. “Twenty years of my life were in close association with Bean,” Cohen revealed. “He was the West’s most talked-about man in the early eighties. I saw at least a dozen men shot down in his saloon. He was a frightening per¬ son, almost completely illiterate, who nominated and elected himself justice of the peace in the little Texas town of Vinegarroon. “His one virtue was his love for Lily Langtry whom he never got to see after all his plans. She never stopped at Fort Davis as was advertised — she merely passed through Texas by train at a later date. Bean ordered me and a few other friends to hold up the train and bring her into Langtry. For¬ tunately we never got that far. He died from a natural death and I attended his funeral. I think Mr. Brennan has copied his character perfectly.” Famous Character Actor Is Seen As “The Law West of the Pecos” The current year marks the eleventh anniversary of Walter Brennan’s activities as a “scene stealer.” Which is to say that this well-known character actor has been working in films steadily for the last decade, for it was when he was making his debut as an actor that he was first dubbed “scene stealer” by the star of the film. Samuel Goldwyn had seen him among the crowds working in “Wedding Night” and marked him as a face to remember for future casting. Then, when Goldwyn was looking for an actor to play “Old Atrocity” in “Barbary Coast,” he remembered Brennan and put him under contract, starting him off with a role which is still remem¬ bered. A Busy Actor From that time on Brennan has been among the most steadily em¬ ployed character actors in the film industry. Currently he is appear¬ ing in Samuel Goldwyn’s Gary Cooper starring vehicle, “The Westerner,” now on view at the .... Theatre. However, he had not intended to become an actor when he first arrived on the West Coast some fifteen years ago. Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, Brennan had enlisted in Boston in the 26th Di¬ vision and was badly gassed in the World War. When he was de¬ mobilized he vainly looked for work in the east and, having no luck, moved gradually westward, finally ending up in the California real estate business. Following the collapse of a real estate boom in Los Angeles, Bren¬ nan found himself jobless and with a wife and three children to sup¬ port. So he tried motion pictures. For some time he eked out a meagre living with extra roles, vainly trying to make producers believe that he could play old men with the proper amount of pathos and humor. Finally Samuel Gold¬ wyn cast him as “Old Atrocity” and Brennan won immediate recog¬ nition as an important film per¬ sonality. Picture Hits Walter Brennan is best remem¬ bered for his work in “Come and Get It,” “Seven Keys to Baldpate,” “The Buccaneer,” “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” “The Cowboy and the Lady,” “Kentucky,” “The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle” and “They Shall Have Music.” In “The Westerner,” which was directed by William Wyler for United Artists release, Brennan impersonates the roistering, besot¬ ted Judge Roy Bean, who adminis¬ tered justice at the point of a gun and established himself as the sole “Law West of the Pecos.” Old-Time “Opry Houses” Shown in Goldwyn Film It’s a far cry from the Roxys, the Radio City Music Halls and the Grauman’s Chineses of today to the tiny gas-lit “Opry- Houses” of the ’80’s. But the gap was bridged in one span in Samuel Goldwyn’s “The Westerner,” the new film production <!>- starring Gary Cooper and slated to begin a run at the .... Theatre on ... . Art Director James Basevi un¬ dertook to construct in perfect de¬ tail the famous old “Grand Opera House” of Fort Davis, Texas, noted frontier theatre where appeared most of the great names of the theatre at one time or another prior to its demolition not so long ago. The Fort Davis Grand Opera House was a one-night stand that broke the jump between Fort Worth, Texas, and El Paso, and was as well known in its day as was the “Birdcage Theatre” at Tombstone. Although Fort Davis was a very small town, the opera house was as luxurious and elab¬ orate as any theatre in a large city, Basevi pronouncing it a gem of architecture of the period. Seat¬ ing only four hundred, its elab¬ orate fixtures were made in Paris, its hangings in Brussels and its furnishings from the best design¬ ers in New York. Only the garishly painted curtain testified to the taste of most of the town’s in¬ habitants. It is in the Grand Opera House that Gary Cooper and Walter Bren¬ nan enact the final sequences in “The Westerner,” where Brennan as Judge Roy Bean meets his dream-girl, Lily Langtry, who ap¬ pears in the theatre with a reper¬ tory company. The old Hollywood idea that an “extra never gets a break” has again been definitely disproved; this time the girl had to go to New York, acquire a new name, lie a little and thus build the glamour that made her a leading lady. <*>-- The girl is Doris Davenport, re¬ cently a photographic model in New York, who was selected by Samuel Goldwyn to play the lead¬ ing feminine role in support of Gary Cooper in “The Westerner,” the new film production now at the .... Theatre. But Doris did not secure the break under her own name. She was tested and signed as Doris Jordan, the pseudonym she has been using since she left Holly¬ wood for New York in disgust two years ago. It was only after the contract was signed that her studio realized that she was the same girl who appeared five years ago for Goldwyn in the chorus of “Kid Millions,” later being assigned to a small part in the same picture. In the East Doris, under her new name, secured work with the John Powers Agency and became one of the most sought after com¬ mercial models. Spotted by a talent scout for the Selznick Studios, Doris was tested for the role of Scarlett O’Hara. The test was so successful that she was brought to Hollywood. Doris was born in Moline, Illi¬ nois, on New Year’s Day, 1917. When she was a child, the family moved to Richmond, Virginia, where her father was transferred by his company. She attended Bur¬ roughs High School and entered motion pictures while still a stu¬ dent there. Five feet four inches tall, she weighs 120 pounds, has ash blonde hair and hazel eyes. She is extremely athletic, riding ex¬ ceedingly well. Also swims, plays tennis and all forms of outdoor exercise. She lives in a white cottage not far from the Goldwyn Studio, but rides to work in a Ford coupe. She eats three square meals a day and Popular Tunes Popular tunes of the ’80’s, when Judge Roy Bean was the “Law West of the Pecos,” will be heard again in Sam¬ uel Goldwyn’s production of “The Westerner,” which stars Gary Cooper and is the current feature at the .... Theatre thru United Artists release. Among the songs in the line-up are “Portland Fancies,” “Varsovienne,” “My Beautiful Creole Belle,” “Tenting Tonight,” “While Strolling Through the Park One Day,” “Come Home Father” and “Are You Going To The Ball This Evening?” goes to motion pictures three or four times a week. Doesn’t care for domestic duties but can bake a good lemon pie if the occasion de¬ mands. Gary Cooper as the star of “The Westerner” 42A — One-Col. Scene (Mat .15; Cut .25) Herd of Cattle For Big Scenes The largest herd of cattle ever photographed in movies appears in the Samuel Goldwyn production, “The Westerner,” which stars Gary Cooper and will start a run _ at the .... Theatre on ... . thru ^ United Artists release. A herd of seven thousand was photographed as it crossed the Mexican border in Arizona, the scene of the story which takes place in the frontier days of the ’80’s. Many weeks of intensive shoot¬ ing took place on location in Gold¬ wyn City, Arizona, near Tucson. During this period more than eight and one-half miles of virgin roads were built by the company—these crossed a mountain range and \ meandered over forests of cholla and sahuaro cacti. Page Twelve