The Hanged Man

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.