The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean

A lot of the stories that we hear, that took place in the days of the wild west have been embellished and exaggerated over the years, most of the time to make the main characters bigger than real life. With this western the legendary director John Huston brings to life a comical look at the life of Roy Bean, who handed out justice in his own unique way. Paul Newman again fleshes out a western character that seems to be just another part of his own persona, the believability and honesty of Bean comes through from the very beginning and throughout the film no matter what the character does you believe that this is exactly how things would have happened.
After being attacked and hanged, Roy Bean comes back into town to hand down his own brand of justice west of the Pecos River as judge, jury and executioner for the small town of Vinegaroon. The cast members that were involved with this production were given an interesting job, since the story alone spans decades within the narrative. The cast aged appropriately with the make-up jobs, but surrounded by the changing sets and props they became more a part of this world of Judge Roy Bean. This film is a clear example of why Huston was a great director and story-teller of westerns, he was able to transport the cast, as well as the audience, back in time to a point where justice came from the barrel of a gun.
Adding a little comedy into a life that is already fascinating only enhances the entertainment value of that life, but there has to be a clear distinction of the facts. I grew up with this movie, my grandfather was a big western fan, and for the longest time I thought that this film was more of a biography than anything else. But when I learned that this wasn't how things actually happened I began to enjoy the film even more, partly because I then saw the entertainment value in the film. Like Newman's other quintessential western, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, we're given a slice of a life that we can only read about, and with a little bit of a twist that life comes alive from the pages of history.