Hang 'Em High

This was Clint Eastwood's American Western debut that I had never really seen all the way through until now. At first I thought it would be another ride 'em high, cowboys n' indians flick that was popular in America those days... before Sergio Leone shook the genre down to its raw and merciless possibilities.

The film was pretty good, and the moral undercurrent of justice "by a dirty rope on the plain, or a judge in a robe standing before the American flag" is rather striking. The Federal judge is by far one of the most interesting characters I have seen yet in a Western.

Indeed, the grittiest and most barbaric scene is not the lynching of an innocent man, but the public hanging on the eve of statehood... to prove that Oklahoma Territory executed the sort of justice required of a "civilized" state of the Union. It is made a public spectacle with beautiful hymns and cold beer. And just the way each of the condemned faces his execution is tongue in cheek.

Then there was the campfire scene where Captain Wilson confers with his employees regarding their options: irony, fear and desperation. They put a human face on their culpability, similiarly echoed decades later by Little Bill's "I don't deserve this, I was building house." And the few who chose not to run chose a desperate and violent option.

A dillemic "no one wins" justice spiralling into graphic violence... and ultimately an undiginified and graceless death. What was perfected into poignant brevity by Unforgiven was born in Hang Em High's exploration of two men's differing approaches to an unforgiving justice... a justice that led either to the end of a noose, or the end of a gun.

Not bad at all...

Ex-lawman turned cattle rancher Jed Cooper is taken newly purchased cattle back home when he is caught by a posse who accuse him of murder and lynch him. They ride off to leave him to die, however he is cut down by a group of marshals who add him to their prisoners and take him to the judge. Having had his story cleared Cooper is offered a job as a marshal and agrees to do it. However when his first task is to arrest the men who hung him can he take the stand away from revenge and on the side of the law.

I watched this cause I do like a good western every now and again. The actual plot is quite simple on the surface – man out for revenge, but it uses it quite well. It makes some interesting parallels between the hanging of men by the lynch parties and the hanging of men by a judge. It doesn't fully make it's point but it is good to have something to think about in a western. Outside of this the film has some good drama even if the end feels more like the conclusion of an episode in a TV series rather than the finale of a film.

Of course the reason for this may be Post's involvement as director. He used to direct Rawhide with Eastwood and was picked for this film to support Eastwood. This was his first American film after doing all those spaghetti westerns and I assume he wanted a familiar hand on the tiller. He does well here as he always did with his western characters, I read that he also directed some of it. The rest of the cast are made up of a few famous names (Bruce Dern, LQ Jones for example) but regardless everyone does well in their roles.

It's not a classic western but it rises above the average by having a good lead in the shape of Eastwood and some plot strands that go beyond the revenge storyline and encourage you to think of deeper issues.

'Hang 'Em High' was Clint Eastwood's first American Western after working on Sergio Leone's groundbreaking Dollars "trilogy". Some people describe it as an American attempt at a spaghetti western, but I really don't see it. Yes, it features a revenge theme, common to many spaghetti westerns, and it has a few moments of brutality and moral ambiguity, but really it's firmly in the tradition of the Hollywood Western. Leone was supposedly asked to direct but chose to make his masterpiece 'Once Upon A Time In The West' instead. Ted Post who directed 'Rawhide', the TV series which made Eastwood a star of the small screen, directed instead (Post and Eastwood would later be reunited with 'Magnum Force'). 'Hang 'Em High' is nowhere near as good as Leone's movies but it's still better than many would lead you to believe. Eastwood gives a good performance and the movie is jam packed with character actors and familiar faces. It starts off brilliantly with Eastwood being accused of stealing cattle by a posse (led by veteran Ed Begley, and including Bruce Dern and Peckinpah regular L.Q. Jones), and then hanged! Luckily Eastwood is saved by a wandering Marshall (Ben Johnson) and taken to prison. The local judge (Pat Hingle) frees Eastwood and offers him a job as a lawman, which he takes, using it as an opportunity to track down the hanging party who nearly killed him. Eastwood is good, but Pat Hingle is even better, giving a terrific performance of quite a complex character. Dern plays one of his patented scumbag roles, and Inger Stevens plays a local woman with a past who becomes Eastwood's love interest. I already mentioned legendary Western actors L.Q. Jones and Ben Johnson. Unfortunately Johnson doesn't get much screen time, but he does have a memorable scene with Dennis Hopper, who play a crazed character known as The Prophet. If you'd like to see more of these two actors together check out the rarely seen counter-culture Western 'Kid Blue' made in the early 1970s. I could go on and on about the supporting cast but I won't. Suffice it to say that film buffs will get lots of kicks watching this movie. 'Hang 'Em High' may not be close to Eastwood's best work, but it's still worth watching, for Pat Hingle if nothing else.

Big Clint's first film outside of Serigo Leone's sensational Dollars trilogy is none other than...a Western. Hang 'Em High is a rather overlooked entry in Clint's long and impressive film wagon, even though it is a serious, no-nonsense and modest look at crime and punishment and a subtle dig at the injustice system, which was somewhat forgotten by his critics who emphasized that he was a symbol of violence, especially in the Dollars trilogy and the Dirty Harry series.

Clint plays an ex-lawman who picks up a new badge after he is almost killed by a group of men who hang him and leave him for dead. He then embarks on a mission to hunt them down one-by-one and hand them over to the law.

Ted Post's watchable Western drama is definitely a refreshing break from most other 'revenge' movies. Instead of cold-blooded vengeance, the script decides to display Clint's character, though still as the cold, silent anti-hero, as a more peaceful person who would truly like to see men behind bars rather than shooting them down. The film also keeps it grip, rarely letting a boring moment crawl in even though this is more talk than action.

Its not a perfect, polished or particularly great film - the characterization always stays pretty low and the romance between Clint and the charming Inger Stevens isn't fully developed, for instance. However, it has its highlights - a memorable opening sequence and an effective musical score - along with its notable touch for seeing justice rather than violence and killing. A good effort that's worth watching and not ignoring.

I found this to be a pretty solid western, not one you hear a lot about but a fast- moving film which means it entertains. It doesn't dawdle on any one particular scene.

There is a good cast in this Clint Eastwood-starred movie. Pat Hingle did an outstanding job as the too gung-ho judge but isn't all bad and has an interesting explanation of the situation he was in near the end of the film.

Overall, this a gritty story with Eastwood in his customary revenge-minded role, although he mellows somewhat by the end of the film. I also appreciated all the good facial closeups in here. As with most westerns, the movie is nicely photographed.

This movie had a odd combination of being really raw in parts but yet thoughtful. I think it's a very underrated, under-appreciated western.