Le bourreau du Nevada

The Hangman is directed by Michael Curtiz and written by Dudley Nichols and Luke Short. It stars Robert Taylor, Tina Louise, Fess Parker and Jack Lord. Music is by Harry Sukman and cinematography by Loyal Griggs.

Marshal Bovard (Taylor) arrives in town to identify and arrest the last of four outlaws who robbed a Wells Fargo stage. Unfortunately for Bovard, the man he seeks is very popular with everyone in town and nobody is keen to help the Marshal do his job.

It is thought, and on reflection it seems likely, that The Hangman is a caustic jab at grassers/finks, with the Hollywood Blacklist never far from the film makers thoughts. Bovard is a grumpy and rough fellow, a jobs-worth who has almost zero faith in the human race. He's confident that the people of this border town wont take much persuading to give up an outlaw, more so as he has money to offer as well. How wrong he is, and the rest of the film follows Bovard as he bangs his head against brick walls, until the banging stops and a light-bulb lights up over his head, perhaps not all people are bad?

In truth not a lot happens, there's no action of note, this is more about morality, redemption, human foibles et al. Yet the literary aspects of the story hold tight, keeping the viewers engaged till the end. It's a very nice looking and sounding picture as well, the absence of airy vistas is not a hindrance as Curtiz and Griggs utilise the interiors for some psychological results that deftly suit the narrative's pointed edges. While the sound mix and musical accompaniments achieve the best results possible to aid the tale.

It's a strange one in that it's more a film in a Western setting than being overtly a Western, it's also a little subversive. It even throws something of an annoying curve ball at the finale, though the makers were probably chuckling away to themselves about this as well. Great and sexy turns from the lead actors sees the material safely onto a healthy grazing pasture, to make it a recommended picture to fans of the stars and of literary Oaters. 7/10

I had low expectations coming into my viewing of The Hangman and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It's unique for a western in that it doesn't have a lot of 'action': shootouts, lynchings, etc. or even a clearly identified villain that the audience can root against. Just because it doesn't have those usual tropes commonly used in the genre doesn't devalue the results. The story contained is solid, the performances are uniformly good, and the regular injections of humor are fun and welcomed. Overall, The Hangman is worth checking out.

Plus points were Robert Taylor, the before-they-were-famous appearances of several of the cast, and a reasonably fresh plot. (By 1959 virtually every conventional Western theme had been over-repeated.)

But there were several flaws in how the producers depicted the Selah Jennison character, not least the exaggerated head-turning sequences after she'd bought some new clothes. Shortly after her sensational parade through town, she goes skinny-dipping (not uncommon in Westerns) and makes a point of attracting Mackenzie Bovard's attention. Perhaps I could look at the film again to make a particular note of how her attitude to the deputy marshal changed, fluctuated even.

Grilled cell windows facing onto an alleyway feature in many Westerns, but it was only when I was watching "The Hangman" that I realised what a security risk many of these would have been. So wide-spaced were the bars that a hand gun - or even something larger - could have been passed through them to the prisoner.

As others have remarked, the last couple of minutes of the film provided an ending that was none too satisfactory.

This one has a flawlessly-written script by Dudley Nichols, the screenwriter of many well-known movies from 1930 to 1960 such as "Stagecoach" "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls". There's often a good moral lesson to be learned from a screenplay written by Nichols. The original story was by Luke Short, the author of many Western novels.

The cast is very good too with Robert Taylor as the "Hangman" Deputy Marshall, and several people who would later become familiar TV stars: Tina Louise, Jack Lord, Fess Parker and briefly, Lorne Green. And of course you can't go wrong with the direction of the great Michael Curtiz ("Casablanca") who, like Nichols, was nearing the end of his career.

I especially liked the story, it's deeper than most westerns, as it explores the themes of justice, loyalty, and forgiveness.

The Hangman finds Robert Taylor as a relentless U.S. Marshal who pursues criminals with the zeal of Lieutenant Gerard when he was hunting for Richard Kimble in The Fugitive. Barry Morse's words from that show could equally have served as Taylor's bywords, "I don't philosophize, I hunt."

Who he's hunting is the last man of a four man gang accused of a holdup where a death occurred. Two guys are already dead and one is sentenced to hang. But nobody knows who number four is or what he looks like.

Taylor in his quest goes to an army post where he finds recent widow Tina Louise and he's authorized by Wells Fargo to offer a reward of $500.00 if she'll come to a town where he's reputed to be and point him out.

When he arrives in town, the object of his quest who turns out to be Jack Lord is about the most popular fellow there. Why he didn't run for mayor or even for Fess Parker's job as sheriff is beyond me. But Taylor gets no help from anybody.

The title derives from the nickname Taylor has acquired for his dogged dedication to duty. The Hangman is a western with very little action surprisingly, but it has a good character study by the mature Robert Taylor. It's a well rounded portrait of a man who'd like to leave the job he's in, but has grown used to it and it's the only living he's known for years.

The Hangman was the first film Robert Taylor did outside MGM since Magnificent Obsession in the Thirties. He has a record, definitely unlikely to be broken now of the longest running studio contract in film history.

The Hangman is a good, not great western besides those already mentioned I did enjoy Mabel Albertson's performance as a dotty old biddy who's eying Robert Taylor like a slab of romantic beef. Well he was one of the biggest screen heartthrobs ever.

Personally, I think Taylor should have concentrated on westerns in his later years the same way Joel McCrea and Randolph Scott did. He liked making them and though he's not primarily known as a western star, films like Devil's Doorway, Saddle the Wind, The Last Hunt and The Law and Jake Wade hold up very well today. The Hangman's not as good as these I've mentioned, but it still has a fine performance from Robert Taylor and the rest of the cast.