FAQ

Yes. The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1940 western, written by American writer Walter Van Tilburg Clark [1909-1971]. The Ox-Bow Incident was Clark's first novel.

The biggest difference between book and movie is that Art Croft (Harry Morgan) is the main character in the book, whereas the movie focuses on his friend Gil Carter (Henry Fonda).

The book ends where the movie does. We never find out what happened to the members of the lynch mob.

Those who have seen The Ox-bow Incident have likened it to several other movies that feature lynchings or almost lynchings. Blinde Wut (1936) and Aufruhr in Santa Sierra (1950) are both based on a true story about brutal lynchings. They Won't Forget (1937) is based on real life case of the trial and lynching of Leo Frank. In Hängt ihn höher (1968), a man who survives a lynching goes on to become a US Marshal intent on seeing that justice is done for others. Movies that feature almost-lynchings include Griff in den Staub (1949), Stars in My Crown (1950), and Wer die Nachtigall stört (1962). Other movies that deal with mob justice include Die zwölf Geschworenen (1957) and Mystic River (2003).