The Hanged Man

I realize THE HANGED MAN was just a pilot, so expectations should be managed in terms of quality.

That said, Steve Forrest, Cameron Mitchell, and Will Geer deliver good performances and more could have been made with the premise of a man who survives hanging, and who at first seems to reject God, then seems to accept Him and ultimately runs from death again. The religious aspect in the movie is not clear.

Direction OK, photography rather basic. It would never have been a masterpiece but I think an opportunity was lost to come up with a better film.

This was to be a series pilot, but didn't get picked up. The typical way a drama series pilot in the 70s was handled was to make it long enough to end up as a movie of the week, so if it didn't get picked up as a series, then at least some production money was recouped. I saw this after seeing The Lazarus Man series, and was surprised at the similarities. This one is typical TV western fare, older gunslinger sees the evil of his ways, and turns into good gunslinger, yet always full of angst about the old ways. The whole idea of a hanged man returning to life was merely a contrivance to make things more interesting. I must say I missed the whole mind-reading ability thing. It wasn't evident apparently because there were plenty of times the lead didn't read someone's mind when if he had, he would have saved himself a lot of trouble. By the way, this movie shows why Cameron Mitchell should always be remembered as the epitome of hammy acting.

With a director that really knew how to direct a western this could have been a really good movie. It's still well worth watching. I just wish it had a little more about the super natural than it did. The acting was pretty good, and had a lot of recognizable actors in it.

I've been watching movies for many many years and seen some of the best , along w/ some of the worse. The Hanged Man is not the best But its not bad either. Steve Forrest's acting adds to the plot w/ a dimension of calm cold bloodiness that was prevalent back then. Cameron Mitchell seemed to be a little hammy but from reading history a lot of the big cattle ranchers/mine owners acted that way they thought they were above the Law. Overall it was a little above ave. There's a few other well known actors in it Will Geer Rafael Campos. It does encourage you to see other movies especially w/ those guys. If I may in a personnel note, its a shame us movie goers see actors faces that we have seen before but we don't know there names. A lot of them deserved more..

The title role of The Hanged Man is played by Steve Forrest who plays a notorious gunfighter who was duly hanged for a crime he committed and declared dead. But the only problem was the report of his demise was greatly exaggerated. Whether he was cut down too soon or the rope wasn't tight enough or some unseen power intervened, point is that Forrest is still walking around and breathing. And he's reflecting on a new chance at life because his old life had led him up thirteen steps to the hangman's noose. And he's legally dead.

His first chance at redemption comes in helping widow Sharon Acker and her little boy Bobby Eilbacher fight off the designs of mining tycoon Cameron Mitchell. He's not too squeamish about his methods and has young gunslinger Brendon Boone on his payroll who despite the mystique surrounding Forrest is eager for showdown.

This unsold TV pilot which was produced by Bing Crosby didn't break any new ground and westerns on television were getting scarce. Around this time Bonanza and Gunsmoke ended their runs and the few that have succeeded them up to this time haven't had their staying power. Speaking of Bonanza this was Ray Teal's farewell role and Bonanza fans will remember his semi-regular presence as sheriff Roy Coffey of Virginia City.

The Hanged Man might have been picked up for a television series fifteen years earlier when westerns were a glut on the market. As it is western fans will have little reason to complain.