La Colline des potences

This movie should be right up there with "High Noon", "The Searchers", "The Magnificent Seven", and other classic westerns. The cinematography and fantastic outdoor location alone make it a must see. Gary Cooper plays a gun-toting frontier doctor, with a mysterious past, Maria Schell, a determined immigrant, who becomes his patient. Karl Malden, a ruthless miner, who becomes her partner. The supporting cast is excellent, including a very slender young actor by the name of George C. Scott, whose performance is compelling. This is one of Cooper's last movies, and one of his best. I'm not really sure why, but this movie has not been enjoyed as much as it should, or received the praise it deserves. If you're a fan of the genre, and you have not seen this movie, you owe it to yourself to check it out.

In 1873, in the Gold Trail, Montana, the mysterious and controller Dr. Joseph Frail (Gary Cooper) arrives in the small town of Skull Creek with miners in a gold rush. Dr. Frail buys a cabin on the top of a hill and he sees the smalltime thief Rune (Ben Piazza) wounded and chased by a mob that wants to hang him. Dr. Frail helps and heals Rune; but in return, he demands that the young man becomes his bond servant. The alcoholic healer and preacher George Grubb (George C. Scott) tells to the locals that Dr. Frail, who is an excellent gambler and gunfighter, is a devil, but nobody gives attention to his words.

Sooner the stagecoach is robbed by thieves that kill the passengers but the coachman survives and three days later he reaches Skull Creek. He tells that the horses had speed down the hill with a young woman inside the stagecoach. The men organize a pursuit and the rude Frenchy Plante (Karl Malden) finds the Swedish Elizabeth Mahler (Maria Schell) burnt and blind. Dr. Frail and Rune take care of her and they learn that Elizabeth and her father, who was killed in the heist, had come to America to settle down.

When Elizabeth is healed, she falls in an unrequited love with Dr. Frail and she decides to stay in Skull Creek to seek gold with Rune. They form a partnership with Frenchy and Dr. Frail secretly helps them to begin their business with The Lucky Lady Mine. When Elizabeth learns that Dr. Frail is helping her, she is disappointed but she promises to pay her debt with him someday. During a heavy rain, a tree falls down and the trio of partners finds a fortune in gold underground. Frenchy drinks with the locals and when he is drunk, he takes an attitude that will affect the lives of the locals and Skull Creek, mostly of Dr. Frail, Elizabeth and Rune.

"The Hanging Tree" is an unconventional and great western with a dramatic story supported by complex characters in a small town in the gold rush and not in shootout and other usual themes in this type of film. The lead characters are intriguing, with Gary Cooper performing a bitter character with a hidden past but also a good and fair man. Rune is also a good man that had robbed only due to his needy situation. Maria Schell performs a sweet and well-educated woman, capable to greet everybody and also tough in a negotiation. Karl Malden is fantastic as usual and the scum Frenchy Plante is one of the most despicable characters I have ever seen. Virginia Gregg has a minor but effective performance and her character Edna Flaunce is an example of how sickening and nauseating a human being can be.

This is the first time that I see this film, recently released on DVD by a small Brazilian distributor, and it was a magnificent surprise for me since I am not a fan of the conventional Western genre. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "A Árvore dos Enforcados" ("The Hanging Tree")

"High Noon", move over. "The Hanging Tree", in my estimation, is by far the better picture. The story, characterizations, acting, and musical score put this movie in the class of "Shane", "The Big Country", and "The Magnificent Seven". Cooper portrays Dr. Joe Frail as only he can. He is perfectly cast as a man with "frail hope" and, yet, has the strength and caring to help and protect others. As others have commented, this film is not even available new in vhs format, let alone dvd. The last time I checked The Western Channel and Turner Classic Movies it was not scheduled for viewing.

If you want to enjoy a realistic story and superb acting from a great cast I recommend the "Hanging Tree."

Hanging Tree, The (1959)

*** (out of 4)

Underrated Western about a doctor (Gary Cooper) with a mysterious past who saves a criminal (Karl Swenson) from being hanged. Later the doctor begins to care for a woman (Maria Schell) whose father was killed in a stagecoach robbery, which also left her badly burned and blind. As the doctor and the woman become closer there are a few in town who begin to think they're up to no good. There's a lot more going on in this Western and it's certainly unlike many that were being made around this period because if you're expecting some sort of shoot 'em up then you're going to be disappointed. I'd have no problem recommending this film to people but at the same time there's no question that it's not going to be for everyone. Those who do appreciate its laid back nature and the more plot-driven device should end up having a good time with it. You also have a terrific cast delivers some very good performances with Cooper leading the way. Around this time James Stewart was showing off his dark side with various Alfred Hitchcock films and it seems Cooper wanted to show off he could do the same thing. The funny thing is that the screenplay allows him to show a dark and good side, which might seem like a cop out but it really isn't. There's an early scene where a poor family brings their sick daughter and the only reason she's sick is because of a lack of food. The tenderness Cooper shows during this scene is why everyone loves him. Then, later in the film, the darkness he shows when his past comes back to him is perfectly handled by the actor. Schell and Swenson are both very good in their roles and play well against Cooper. The supporting cast features Karl Malden playing a pervert who begins to have certain sexual feelings towards the girl. George C. Scott appears in a few scenes playing a drunken Christian who believes Cooper is the devil due to his medicine. The film works on a lot of levels and there's no question a large portion of the film is dedicated to the love story but this works as well. I really enjoyed how the screenplay mixed everything together because we get the love story, the gold rush action and then the character development, which leads up to an action-packed ending and a rather nice finish to things. The film contains some very good cinematography and the color picks up every terrific location shot. THE HANGING TREE has gotten a good sized cult following over the past several years and it's easy to see why as it features the great performances as well as a story that isn't typical told in the genre from this period.

Travelers pass by the Hanging Tree on the Gold Trail in Montana, 1873. Joseph Frail (Gary Cooper) arrives at the small gold mining town of Skull Creek, Montana. He buys a home from an old prospector eager to sell. He treats Rune for a suspicious bullet wound. Frenchy Plante (Karl Malden) is a slimy local. George Grubb (George C. Scott) is a bitter drunken faith healer. Frail is a card-playing, hard-hitting, gun-slinging doctor with a dark history and a heart of gold. A stagecoach is attacked. The posse finds passenger Elizabeth Mahler barely alive and blinded.

It's an interesting western for the most part. I'm conflicted with the third act. I like some of it. I like the idea of Frail and Elizabeth. I don't see how Elizabeth would partner up with Frenchy with his slimy nature. Going wild is highly ill-conceived which is exactly why no one should partner up with Frenchy. If I hit the jackpot in that place, I would try to hide it for as long as possible and arm up. Still, I like a lot of the premise with Frail and Elizabeth. It's a good western.