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Lawman

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Lawman (1971)

August. 04,1971
|
7
|
R
| Western
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While passing through the town of Bannock, a bunch of drunken cattlemen go overboard with their celebrating and accidentally kill an old man with a stray shot. They return home to Sabbath unaware of his death. Bannock lawman Jered Maddox later arrives there to arrest everyone involved on a charge of murder. Sabbath is run by land baron Vince Bronson, a benevolent despot, who, upon hearing of the death, offers restitution for the incident.

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Titreenp
1971/08/04

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

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Baseshment
1971/08/05

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

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Jenna Walter
1971/08/06

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

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Marva-nova
1971/08/07

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

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dworldeater
1971/08/08

Lawman is a dark western that shows the violent landscape of the American west in a fairly realistic and non romanticised manner. This movie lets the audience decide who to root for as the lines of good and evil are blurred. Burt Lancaster plays a no nonsense lawman that is to bring to justice a group of cattle rustlers who by accident killed an old man on their drunken night where they shot up a town. The town of Sabbath is where this plays out and Burt Lancaster gives a very tough and cold performance as lawman and killer Maddox. Robert Ryan is also excellent as the town marshal that tries to find a peaceful resolution for both sides. Lee J Cobb is Bronson, a respected figure in the town of Sabbath and boss of the cowboys that Maddox is to bring to justice.(As well as the name of actor that director Michael Winner would work with a lot after this picture, Bronson...Charles Bronson) Robert Duvall gives a great early showing as well. Lawman is a great western that is well performed and ahead of its time in the way this was approached. Very good.

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k-thomas
1971/08/09

Lawman is without a doubt one the best westerns ever made and on top, it was the first western directed by English director Michael Winner. A group of cowboys, after a long cattle drive arrive in a town called Bannock and get carried away with their drunken celebration and shoot up the town, accidentally killing an old man. The cowboys have no knowledge of the accidental shooting until months later the marshal of bannock Jared Maddox excellently played by Burt Lancaster arrives in the town of Sabbath to arrest them. The marshal of Sabbath Cotton Ryan, played by veteran actor Robert Ryan is unwilling to co-operate as the town relies on the ranchers for their living. Ryan has a reputation of one incident only when years before he outgunned some gunmen in the town of Fort Bliss, but is now week and considered by many in the town of Sabbath as a coward. The top rancher is Vince Bronson excellently played by Lee J Cobb of The Virginian TV series. Bronson is prepared to offer retribution to the old mans family and something for Maddox too, but Maddox will not trade. Lawman is not your traditional shoot em up western with the good guys v the bad guys. It"s an intelligent story of normal hard working honest cowboys letting of steam and being responsible for a tragic death. Maddox is the honest Marshal who's job it is to bring these men in dead or alive. The film shows that Cowboys carry a gun for protection. Snakes and such and sometimes they can get pretty good with it, with enough practice, but a Lawman is a trained killer of men.This is explained in a scene between Burt Lancaster and in his first movie role Richard Jordon, a fine actor who left us too soon. Of course it shows that if a member of your family was killed accidentally or not, you would not accept the apology of the killer or killers and accept a sum of money, unless you have few scruples. It also shows how the towns people will stand up for the ranchers, as they are their main towns source of income. As stated by Lancaster when confronted by them in the saloon while eating his dinner. You want the law, but you want it to stay quiet. What happens some place else is not your concern. This film has a strong supporting cast. J D Cannon of Mcloud fame, Ralph Wait of The Waltons, Robert Duvall, William C Watson and brilliant stage actor Joseph Wiseman who knows Lancasters character from years back regarding another killing. The dialogue is excellent, the showing of how a saloon really looked in them days is very authentic. Very smokey and dirty. Also no fancy gun play such as twirling a pistol, like you see in the old westerns. If you are looking for a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood type western, with the exception of Eastwoods Oscar winning Unforgiven, you will be disappointed, but if you are looking for a western about normal people involved in a tragic situation, then is is the film for you.

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hkfilmbuff
1971/08/10

The theme of "Lawman" is neither unique nor new, The "Last Train From Gun Hill (1959)" starring Kirk Douglas and Anthony Quinn came to mind right away, and before that "The Man From Laramie (1955)" with James Stewart, although both of these also involves an element of personal revenge which, in turn, brings back to mind another string of memorable movies from "The Bravados (1958)", "Nevada Smith (1966)", "Hang 'Em High (1968)", "Valdez Is Coming (1971)", "Jeremiah Johnson (1972)", to another Michael Winner film "Chato's Land (1972)".There is a whole lot of violence in all these movies, and Michael Winner seemed to be paying homage to the spaghetti westerns. Kudos to the script writer for the many noteworthy lines. The much anticipated ending came with an unexpected twist, leaving the audience to figure out the punchline of the movie.The aging cast of Burt Lancaster, Robert Ryan, Lee J. Cobb brought back quite a bit of nostalgia from the glory days of Hollywood. Recognizing David McGiver from "Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)" brought back a chuckle, and Robert Duval, whom I first noticed in "The Rain People (1969)", was still at the beginning of his prolific career.I do miss those good old days...

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zardoz-13
1971/08/11

British director Michael Winner helmed a genuine winner with "Lawman." This intelligent, dramatic, but complex horse opera about a fearless, incorruptible marshal who refuses to back down boasts a stellar cast, including Burt Lancaster, Lee J. Cobb, Robert Ryan, Robert Duval, Albert Salmi, J.D. Cannon, and Ralph Waite. An old man dies from a stray bullet in Bannock during a rowdy, night-time celebration by drunken cattle drovers. The owner of the herd, Vincent Bronson (Lee J. Cobb), doesn't learn about the death of the innocent bystander until eight months have passed. Bannock Marshal Jared Maddox (Burt Lancaster) rides into the town of Sabbath with one of the men who participated in the shooting. This participant is draped head down across the back of a horse. Maddox confronts Cotton about the homicide with a list of names of the men that he is looking to take into custody. Trouble ensues despite the fact that Bronson is willing to provide compensation. Maddox is the obdurate kind of man who doesn't take "no" for an answer. "Scorpio" scenarist Gerald Wilson doesn't pull any stops. "Lawman" was one of Burt Lancaster's best roles in his latter years. The scenery is rugged and the characters are tough as leather. "Lawman" is a must-see for anybody who craves top-notch oaters.

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