The Hanged Man

Bland, predictable made-for-TV western has Steve Forrest as a feared gunfighter convicted of a murder and sentenced to hang, but who manages to survive the hanging and is set free. By-the-numbers script holds no surprises and the characterizations are all cardboard, including Forrest's one-note portrayal of a killer given a second chance. Bad-guy Cameron Mitchell chews the scenery, pretty Sharon Acker is earnest as a widow who owns a silver mine that "silver king" Mitchell wants to get and Will Geer is somewhat enjoyable as a crusty old-timer called "Nameless" who's Acker's hired hand. It's not long before you can predict exactly what's going to happen, what the bad guy's going to do, what the good guy's going to do and how things will be neatly wrapped up at the end. The whole production looks rushed and cheesy, the equivalent of a Monogram western of the '40s--and, like those Monogram westerns, it's a harmless time-waster. You could do worse, but you could also do much, much better.

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.

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..

Released to TV in 1974 and directed by Michael Caffey, "The Hanged Man" is a Western starring Steve Forrest as a condemned man who miraculously survives a hanging and decides to help a widow (Sharon Acker) prevent a ruthless land baron (Cameron Mitchell) from chasing her off her remote desert ranch. Will Geer is on hand as an old-timer on the ranch while BarBara Luna plays the condemned man's babe. Brendon Boone appears as the lead henchman while Rafael Campos plays a priest.

"The Hanged Man" was a pilot for a series that never materialized. Producers would make these pilots long enough to be released as a self-contained movie to recoup their losses in the event it wasn't picked up and this was the case with "The Hanged Man." Despite being a TV movie, it has a generally realistic vibe. The premise is interesting, the cast is fine and the movie's short-and-sweet. But it lacks the pizazz to cull it from its TV Western mediocrity. There's a reason it wasn't picked up for a series. Still, it's worth checking out if you favor the actors and late 60s/early 70's Westerns.

Speaking of the actors, the movie features two alumni from the late 60's Star Trek TV series: BarBara Luna appeared in the acclaimed 2nd Season episode "Mirror, Mirror" while Sharon Acker appeared in the 3rd Season Golden Turkey "The Mark of Gideon." BarBara later appeared on two 2nd Season episodes of Buck Rogers and the 25th Century as Hawk's (totally hot) babe.

The film runs 73 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson & Mescal, Arizona, and Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, California.

GRADE: C+

There's a line in Macbeth when the new king of Scotland has his best friend killed, then sees his ghost at a state dinner. He says something to the effect that back in the day, "When the brains were out, the man stayed dead." Oh, if only everyone who got hanged in movies and television stayed dead, keeping Mac happy and Banquo resting peacefully.

But Steve Forrest just looked and acted dead in ABC's The Hanged Man, a series pilot that went nowhere, thanks to the saner heads at the network. The mini-movie--an interminable 74 minutes of back lot cheesiness and dreadful acting--is available on video in dollar stores across the nation.

You can read the other reviews for a synopsis. I will just tell you that there are constitutional safeguards against cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners.

No such safeguards are in place for TV viewers.