Bard SummerScape
The Westerner and The River
July 17, 2005
Bard SummerScape
July 17, 2005
The Westerner
1940, directed by William Wyler
A drifter, falsely accused of horse rustling, smooth-talks his way to a reprieve with legendary Judge Roy Bean, “the only law west of the Pecos.” But the two men lock horns again in a range war with a classic shoot-out finish. A heroic Gary Cooper is a match for Walter Brennan’s Oscar-winning “hanging” judge. Spectacular Western cinematography by Gregg Toland.
101 minutes, black and white
and
The River
1938, directed by Pare Lorentz
Film score by Virgil Thomson
The Mississippi River with its vast network of tributaries stars in this masterpiece of American documentary filmmaking and early environmentalism. Lorentz’s Whitmanesque narrative earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination for poetry, while Thomson’s score served as a musical “lesson in how to treat Americana” (Copland). The first American film to win a prize at the Venice Film Festival.
29 minutes, black and white
All Film Tickets: $7