film "never develops enough straight-ahead power. It plays in the end like an interminable and very private shaggy dog story, whose embellishments are intermittently interesting but whose punch line can't carry the wait of buildup." Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "a middling and rather sluggish prison melodrama" with a script that "has some of the crotchety and incongruous humor of 'Bonnie and Clyde,' but this time around Newman and Benton seem seriously deficient in their sympathy for their major characters." Tom Milne of The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote, "Although There Was a Crooked Man ultimately confirms the old dictum that a Mankiewicz script is always better than his direction, the gap is not too severe in this case and there is a good deal of civilised enjoyment, both visual and verbal, to be had by the way." The film holds a score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 11 reviews. See also List of American films of 1970 References External links 1970 films 1970 Western (genre) films American Western (genre) films 1970s English-language films Films set in 1883 1970s prison drama films Films directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films set in Arizona Films shot in Tucson, Arizona Films with screenplays by Robert Benton Films with screenplays by David Newman (screenwriter) Films produced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films scored by Charles Strouse 1970s American films