Review: Lawman

Burt Lancaster plays a taciturn marshal named Maddox who rides into a town called Sabbath looking for the ranchers who drunkenly whooped it up in his town a while back and killed somebody. The useless Sabbath marshal (Robert Ryan) tells Maddox he’ll receive no help from him, as the men are all employees of cattle baron Bronson (Lee J. Cobb), who pretty much runs Sabbath. One of the men (J.D. Cannon) is the current squeeze of Sheree North, playing a former acquaintance of Maddox’s, who asks him to spare her husband. Meanwhile, the other cowardly townsfolk (principally Walter Brooke, John McGiver, John Hillerman, and Robert Emhardt) start to resent this lawman stirring up trouble in their peaceful little town, whilst gambler Lucas (Joseph Wiseman) casually observes on the sidelines, seemingly already acquainted with Maddox and his unbending ways. The other wanted men are played by Richard Jordan, Ralph Waite, Robert Duvall, and William Watson, Charles Tyner plays the intense local preacher, and Albert Salmi plays an associate of Bronson.

One of the few actual winners from director Michael Winner (“Death Wish”, “Death Wish II”, “Scorpio”, “The Mechanic”), this dour 1971 western was made around the time that star Burt Lancaster was heading towards the twilight of his career and making some interesting choices. This western plays out like a combo of “Bad Day at Black Rock” and “Last Train From Gun Hill”, albeit not quite as good as either because Michael Winner is a bit hack-y.

Playing like a more forceful Spencer Tracy in “Bad Day at Black Rock” here Lancaster is his usual granite-like self. No one does stoic and unbending better than him. When this guy says something, he damn well means it. He’s got a mission to carry out, and because it’s Lancaster (who wasn’t just a movie star but a genuine and versatile actor), you know he likely won’t budge an inch of compromise on it. He has a great speech towards the end where he explains why he can’t let it go ‘just once’, and it’s fairly convincing reasoning. I have no idea why characters here insist on calling his bluff or thinking that they’re faster than him. He warns them outright that he’ll kill them, and Lancaster’s entire performance suggests a capability in carrying out the appropriate violent response, and his ‘killer of men’ speech says it all. This guy’s not cocky, he doesn’t get any joy out of killing either, he just knows he’s faster at the draw than you.

In the large supporting cast, Robert Ryan and Lee J. Cobb are the major standouts. Ryan immediately impresses as a sober version of Dean Jagger’s character in “Bad Day at Black Rock”, and Cobb (one of the finest character actors in cinematic history) has zero troubles handling the admittedly clichéd role of the cattle baron whose men Lancaster has come for. As the rather pathetic townies, Walter Brooke probably plays the most prominent, but the wonderfully twitchy John McGiver and Robert Emhardt continually steal scenes from him through sheer eccentricity. Charles Tyner is perfectly taciturn as the town preacher. Cobb’s men are played by some of the usual suspects for this kind of thing (William Watson, Albert Salmi, Richard Jordan, etc.), with a not-bad J.D. Cannon and Robert Duvall, and an especially lousy bastard of a turn by Ralph Waite. You can’t wait for Lancaster to catch up with him. Sheree North is her usual wonderful self as a former acquaintance of Lancaster’s now shacked up with Cannon. Joseph Wiseman meanwhile, plays an interesting character observing from the sidelines. You wish more was made of him, but you could say the same thing of North, Tyner, Emhardt, Duvall, Cannon, and Ryan. Scripted by Gerald Wilson (Winner’s “Scorpio”, “Chato’s Land”, and “The Stone Killer”), I guess you could say the story is a little overpopulated and slightly undernourished. That said, it does lead to a sad, grim climax matching the tone of the rest of the film. I must admit though, that one character’s death seems unnecessary. The guy was unarmed and running away. Perhaps that’s the point. Perhaps the ‘Lawman’ isn’t meant to be a true hero, and he doesn’t end the film anymore satisfied than when he rides on in to town. Interesting to ponder, especially given Winner usually makes schlock, albeit often cynical schlock. To that, the only real flaw here is actually Winner’s direction, as he simply won’t calm the fuck down with the zooming. It’s absurd and irritating. There’s also a lousy bit of continuity in having a funeral for a character killed before the film starts carried out later than a funeral for a character killed during the film. Narratively that just doesn’t work.

An interesting, grim film with a weary, fatalistic inevitability going on here. Lancaster is ideal, and the support is boosted by the especially fine Robert Ryan and Lee J. Cobb. You’ve seen it before and Winner’s no prize filmmaker but this is solid entertainment in typically hardened 70s western fashion. Good, Ennio Morricone-esque music score by Jerry Fielding (“Straw Dogs”, “The Mechanic”, “Scorpio”, “Escape from Alcatraz”), too.

Rating: B-