Mankiewicz teamed with New Hollywood enfants terribles David Newman and Robert Benton to create a satirical and overripe variation on the Western just as the Seventies anti-genre trend was gaining traction. Starring Kirk Douglas as a cocksure desperado pitted against Henry Fonda's cryptic lawman, There Was a Crooked Man goes to Rabelesian extremes with its carnivalesque and over-the-top skewering of mainstream America, parodying everything from the Sixties counterculture to racist stereotypes, while letting loose a post-MPAA rating system stream of sexually bawdy and scatological humor. Loosely structured around a meandering prison break narrative, Mankiewicz's Western features hilarious turns from its rambling ensemble cast that includes the likes of Hume Cronyn, Burgess Meredith and Warren Oates. – HG