After escaping from prison, Pitman visits the widow Bullard and leaves the prison mule in her corral and takes a horse.
After being bitten by the snake and dying, the warden takes his body back on the horse he rode, which now is a mule again.
One of the escaping prisoners is shot from behind and falls on his stomach.
Although there is an exit wound in his right abdomen, when he falls, there's apparently no entrance wound.
The great Joseph L. Mankiewicz, known for directing "All About Eve," "The Quiet American," and later "Sleuth"(w/Olivier), and known for either writing or co-writing (often w/o credit!
Like McCabe and Mrs Miller, this film was ahead of its time. Kirk Douglas however does not have the roguish likability of Warren Beatty.
WEHenley's poem "Invictus" Is recited in this film . It wasn't released in a volume until 1888.
A late work by the great Joe Mankiewicz, (A Letter to Three Wives, All About Eve, The Barefoot Contessa, etc.), this has always been an under-appreciated western, done in the dying days of the genre and featuring an amoral anti-hero and a straight-laced hero who isn't quite as morally upright as he appears to be.
The story of an outlaw named Pitman and who hides the bullion of his robbery into a snake pit. So the word game is very easy to find, isn't it?
The film is set in 1883 in Arizona. A band of outlaws steals $500,000 from a wealthy businessman.
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.
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.
Released in 1970, "There was a Crooked Man" stars Kirk Douglas as a charismatic, but ruthless criminal in the Old West sent to a remote Arizona prison. He develops a relationship with the new progressive warden, a former lawman (Henry Fonda), while corralling his cellmates for an escape attempt with the promise of sharing his hidden loot.
