Hollywood’s First Happy Gay Couple.
Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
BOTTOM LINE: The “marriage” of Hume Cronyn and John Randolph in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “There Was a Crooked Man” (1970) is Hollywood‘s first presentation of a happy and well-adjusted gay couple. Yes, they often fight and bicker. However, they are madly in love with each other. No, Cronyn and Randolph are not in We-Ho or the Hamptons. They are given a feeble excuse for jail, as Scarlet O’Hara would say, a horse jail! We are in the Arizona territory circa 1883. The main plot involves a $500,000 loot hidden by Kirk Douglas, who also ends up in jail and is being hunted by Henry Fonda‘s Sheriff Woodward W. Lopeman.
This was Mank’s only Western, and it is a marvelous ride with a witty, intelligent script by David Newman and Robert Benton. The boys were fresh from their triumph with “Bonnie and Clyde.” However, in many ways, it’s like Mank had been transported back in time to an alternate “All About Eve,” with Cronyn and Randolph taking over from Bette Davis and Thelma Ritter, respectively. Two of the greatest character actors in Hollywood history, they play their roles with great knowingness and respect while being brilliantly funny. Cheers!
STREAMING: “There was a Crooked Man” is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+.
Seventy Queer Films Made Under the Hays Code (1934-1967)
https://thebrownees.net/seventy-films-of-the-new-hollywood-1967-1981
The Best Man (1964) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
Rope (1948) Film Review A- TheBrownees
Brute Force (1947) Film Review B+ – TheBrownees
Advice and Consent (1962) Film Review A- TheBrownees
https://thebrownees.net/the-best-films-directed-by-joseph-l-mankiewicz
Seven Days in May (1964) Film Review A+ – TheBrownees
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