There Was a Crooked Man... (1970) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story unfolds across several key Western locations: the Lomax family ranch house where the initial robbery occurs, a remote desert hideout where the stolen loot is buried in a rattlesnake nest, a frontier bordello that serves as a meeting point for surveillance and manipulation, and finally an Arizona Territory penitentiary where the main characters are imprisoned.

• locations
• settings
• arizona territory
• lomax ranch
• bordello
• prison

The film is set in 1883 during the American frontier era. This period was defined by rough justice, limited law enforcement, scarce resources, and widespread outlaw activity. The harsh realities of this era directly shape the characters' choices, the risks they take, and their pursuit of fortune.

• 1883
• time period
• american frontier
• old west
• historical setting

The film explores three interconnected themes. Greed drives the narrative as characters pursue a hidden fortune, testing loyalties and creating betrayals. Escape serves as the narrative engine through a prison riot and shifting alliances. Justice is examined through a reform-minded warden clashing with hardened criminals, ultimately questioning what constitutes true justice in a flawed system.

• themes
• greed
• escape
• justice
• meaning
• message

Pitman is the main antagonist, a cunning, ruthless inmate imprisoned after a failed robbery. He orchestrates a plan to recover and share buried loot with fellow prisoners, manipulating them with promises of money while pursuing his own escape. His charm conceals a calculating mind willing to betray anyone to achieve freedom.

• pitman
• character
• outlaw
• inmate
• antagonist

Woodward Lopeman is a reform-minded sheriff who becomes the prison warden. He abolishes hard labor and advocates for prisoner dignity, seeing potential even in criminals like Pitman, assigning him to oversee the prison dining hall. However, his reforms clash with the inmates' schemes, and he ultimately succumbs to corruption, stealing the money for himself.

• lopeman
• warden
• sheriff
• prison authority
• character role

Greed is the central driving force of the plot. Pitman and other characters chase a hidden fortune buried in the desert, and the lure of wealth tests loyalties while pushing characters toward increasingly risky and deadly decisions. This pursuit of money creates betrayals and culminates in a costly twist that defines the story's dark conclusion.

• greed
• money
• fortune
• buried loot
• corruption

The movie probes justice within a fundamentally flawed penal system. A reform-minded warden attempts to impose dignity and order, but the ending questions whether true justice exists. Death, capture, and theft intertwine as the story contrasts the ideal of moral reform with the harsh realities of crime and punishment in the frontier era.

• justice
• prison reform
• penal system
• moral decay

The title reflects the film's themes of moral corruption and deception. Multiple characters, including the cunning Pitman and the seemingly upright Warden Lopeman, prove to be 'crooked' in different ways. The frontier setting itself, with its rough justice and outlaw activity, represents a world where moral straightness is rare and survival often requires dishonesty.

• title meaning
• crooked
• deception
• moral corruption

The film portrays a brutal 1880s Arizona frontier where wealth, survival, and power intersect through violence and manipulation. The world moves from a wealthy ranch to prison walls and dangerous desert terrain, reflecting an era where outlaws, lawmen, and desperate civilians all compete for fortune in a system with weak moral foundations.

• frontier world
• arizona
• outlaw era
• wild west environment

Despite being listed as a Comedy/Western, the film has a predominantly dark tone. The humor score is low, with the narrative emphasizing violence, betrayal, and the futility of characters' ambitions. The ending is particularly bleak, as the protagonist dies without achieving his goal and the seemingly upright authority figure succumbs to corruption.

• dark tone
• bleak ending
• mood
• atmosphere
• western comedy

Lomax is a wealthy rancher whose fortune becomes the target of the initial robbery that sets the entire plot in motion. He later appears as a regular at the bordello, driven by desperation as he contemplates his losses. His wealth and status are the catalysts that launch the chain of events driving the narrative.

• lomax
• rancher
• wealth
• victim
• starting point

Beyond Pitman, key inmates include The Missouri Kid, a legendary train robber and hardened ally who participates in the escape plan but is undone by chaos and Pitman's manipulations, and a mute Chinese inmate, a silent immigrant who remains a dangerous background figure. These characters underscore the film's theme of marginal figures within the prison system.

• inmates
• prisoners
• missouri kid
• chinese inmate
• character ensemble