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Made in 1968 and released a year later, Western hero Eastwood has graduated from his successful Italian Western Trilogy to the American Cinema. He plays a rancher accused of stealing cattle (he was duped) and is hung only to me saved by sheriff Ben Johnson. Pat Hingle is the judge and rules the town. He has the modern modern row of execution devices around (hanging) which is parlayed into a circus event. Eastwood is pardoned and made a sheriff of Oklahoma Territory (is was a former lawman in St. Louis) and is after the 9 vigilantes who tried to lynch him. In the interim he runs into one of his best and lovliest co-stars to date, Inger Stevens, who carefully watches each wagon of prisoners who come into town. She is searching for the ghosts--two men who raped her and killed her husband. When several of the men are caught, Eastwood has learned that the extreme violence is not the ends to the means as does Ms. Stevens who manages to put her past behind her. The movie ends on a rather strange note as the viewer never learns if Eastwood and Stevens will reunite again or not after he has assured her all men are not violent nor use women in this fashion. Eastwood and an all star supporting cast of Western veterans make this a highly watchable movie but it is Ms. Stevens who steals the show. She has the most interesting character in the story and when asked a question, it is replied unanswered by her reactions and facial gestures. A great talent who committed suicide in 1972 at the young age of 34. The score by Dominic Frontiere adds suspense to this at times, very violent movies and the ending will leave some puzzled. But it's worth the watch to see Eastwood in his first starring role. The transfer is very good and can be watched in regular or widescreen. The soundtrack is Dolby Digital mono but was never remastered to 5.1 as many movies of the period were.Read full review
In his first American Western after he made the three spaghetti westerns with Sergio Leone (Fistful of Dollars, A Few Dollars More, The Good, Bad and Ugly), Clint Eastwood (Pale Rider, Unforgiven, Gran Torino, etc) survives a hanging and vows revenge on the lynch mob of cowboys that left him dangling. To carry out his oath, he returns to his former job as a lawman. Before long, Eastwood catches up with the nine men - one or two at a time- and starts dispensing his own brand of justice. The remaining mob members to try to kill him, but only wound him-and Clint meets a beautiful woman with ghosts of her own in Inger Stevens (Madigan, 5 Card Stud, Fire Creek, etc). The movie is directed by a top notch director in Ted Post who made most of his name on the Tv directing such hits as GUNSMOKE, RIFLEMAN and COMBAT. He has worked well though on the big screen in movie with Burt Lancaster (Go Tell The Spartans) and Eastwood in a prior movie (Magnum Force)- he continues his good work in this one which was a big hit in 1968 as Eastwood brought his own style of spaghetti western to show the US audience. A great movie that western movie lovers will certainly want to add to collections as well as collectors of Clint Eastwood movies. It will give a great many people a full night of entertainment and they will want to watch it over and over.Read full review
The story is set in Oklahoma Territory in 1889. It describes the efforts of Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) to bring the men who tried to lynch him to justice. The men are Capt. Wilson (Ed Begley), Reno (Joseph Sirola), Miller (Bruce Dern), Jenkins (Bob Steele), Stone (Alan Hale Jr.), Charlie Blackfoot (Ned Romero), Maddow (Russell Thorson), Tommy (Jonathan Lippe), and Loomis (L.Q. Jones). Cooper drives a small herd of cattle across a stream. When the men in a posse surround him, he shows them a receipt for the cattle, but the man he bought them from was a rustler who killed the herd's owner. Cooper explains that he knew nothing about the murder, but only Jenkins expresses doubts about his guilt. After Reno takes Cooper's saddle and Miller takes his wallet, the men hang him from a tree and ride away, leaving him for dead. Federal Marshal Dave Bliss (Ben Johnson) sees Cooper and cuts him down while he is still alive, then takes him to Fort Grant, where the territorial judge, Adam Fenton (Pat Hingle), determines that Cooper is innocent, sets him free, and warns him not to become a vigilante. As an alternative, Fenton offers Cooper a job as a marshal. Cooper accepts, and Fenton warns him not to kill the men who lynched him. One day, Cooper sees his saddle on a horse in front of a small-town saloon. He finds Reno inside and tries to arrest him, but Reno reaches for his gun, forcing Cooper to shoot him dead. When word of this becomes public, Jenkins turns himself in and provides the names of the rest of the posse. Cooper finds Stone in another town, arrests him, and has the local sheriff, Ray Calhoun (Charles McGraw), put him in jail. Most of the men Cooper seeks are respected members of the community, but Calhoun honors Cooper's warrants for their arrest. On their way to arresting the men, Cooper and Calhoun encounter the survivors of a new rustling/murder. Cooper and a posse catch the rustlers, who turn out to be Miller and two teenage brothers, Ben (Richard Gates) and Billy Joe (Bruce Scott). Cooper takes them to Fort Grant single-handedly after refusing to let the posse lynch them. On the way, Ben and Billy Joe insist that Miller was the murderer. Miller catches Cooper off guard and attacks him, but Cooper overpowers and subdues him while the brothers watch. Fenton sentences all three rustlers to be hanged, despite Cooper's defense of the teenagers. Fenton insists that the public will resort to lynching if they see rustlers going unpunished, threatening Oklahoma's bid for statehood. Some time later, Calhoun arrives at Fort Grant and pays Cooper for his cattle. He is trying to bribe Cooper into leaving the rest of the men who lynched him alone. Cooper accepts the money but makes it clear that he still intends to arrest the men. With the bribe rejected, Blackfoot and Maddow flee, while Tommy and Loomis remain loyal to Wilson, who has decided to kill Cooper. At Fort Grant, Wilson, Loomis, and Tommy shoot Cooper up while most of the town watches the hanging of Miller, Ben, Billy Joe, and three other men. Cooper survives and is slowly nursed back to health by Rachel Warren (Inger Stevens). At Wilson's ranch, he kills Tommy and Loomis, and Wilson hangs himself. At Fort Grant again, Cooper threatens to quit unless Fenton releases Jenkins, who is both contrite and seriously ill. Fenton again insists that justice must be served, but he agrees to pardon Jenkins. Cooper agrees to continue as a marshal, and Fenton gives him warrants for BlackfootRead full review
Love this movie in which Clint Eastwood is beginning to define his role in American made westerns, as the tough good guy to which bad things happen, but nevertheless he triumphs in the end. Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper are always two names to look for in a western with bad guys being a little bent as well as evil. Ben Johnson could have been used a little more, since his persona defines cowboy. Overall, one my my favorite Eastwood cowboy movies, but not as good as The Unforgiven or the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
I'm a big fan of old Clint Eastwood westerns.Hang 'Em High came on television one night.And I was only able to watch the first half, due to the need of going to bed early so I could go to work the next day.Well I couldn't remember ever seeing this film before.So I got on Ebay and found it at a reasonable price.And I bought it.I was then able to watch the entire film.This I believe was one of the best Eastwood westerns of all.It didn't seem to be low budget like many of the spaghetti westerns Eastwood was famous for.It had a good storie and a great plot.I can't say that there was anything I didn't like about it.
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