Hang ’em High (1968)
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An innocent man survives a lynching and is hired by a judge to hunt down the very men who hanged him.
The story
In Oklahoma Territory in 1889, retired lawman Jed Cooper is accused of rustling cattle by a posse of nine men. When Cooper fails to produce a legitimate bill of sale, the posse hangs him, with only one member objecting. Shortly after, Marshal Dave Bliss rescues Cooper and takes him to Fort Grant. The actual rustler is caught, and the territorial judge, Adam Fenton, sets Cooper free but warns him against seeking revenge. Instead, Fenton offers Cooper a job as a marshal to bring the lynchers in for trial. Cooper accepts the position, beginning a journey to bring his attackers to justice.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 1889 Oklahoma Territory, retired lawman Jed Cooper is lynched by a posse of nine men for alleged cattle rustling. After being rescued by Marshal Dave Bliss and brought to Fort Grant, Judge Adam Fenton sets him free but offers him a job as a U.S. Marshal to capture the lynchers. Cooper begins his work, arresting several members of the posse. During his duties, he escorts three men to Fort Grant; despite Cooper's testimony that two are innocent, the judge hangs them to expedite statehood. The surviving lynchers eventually pay Cooper for his stolen money, but he remains determined to see them punished. After being ambushed and wounded in a brothel, Cooper is nursed back to health by Rachel Warren, a widow seeking her own revenge. They begin an affair. Cooper eventually tracks down the remaining lynchers at a ranch. He kills two of them and finds the leader, Wilson, has hanged himself. Cooper returns to Fort Grant, demanding a pardon for the contrite Jenkins. After a debate on territorial justice, Cooper takes back his marshal's star in exchange for Jenkins' release and rides off to continue hunting the remaining outlaws.
- First release year
- 1968
- Runtime (minutes)
- 114
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Ted Post
- Writers
- Leonard Freeman · writer; Mel Goldberg · writer
- Cast and characters
- Clint Eastwood · Jed Cooper; Inger Stevens · Rachel Warren; Ed Begley · Captain Wilson; Pat Hingle · Judge Adam Fenton; Ben Johnson · Marshal Dave Bliss; Charles McGraw · Sheriff Ray Calhoun; Ruth White · Madame "Peaches" Sophie; Bruce Dern · Miller
- Genres
- Western; Revisionist Western
- Themes
- Revenge; Justice vs. Law; Statehood
- Tone and mood
- Action; Dramatic
- Setting
- Oklahoma Territory, 1889
- Premise and plot tags
- Western; Revisionist Western; Lawman; Lynch Mob
- Reception
- The film was a major success, becoming the biggest United Artists opening in history at the time. It received mixed critical reviews, with some praising its quality and others criticizing it as a poor imitation of Spaghetti Westerns.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 93% · review count: 15
- Production trivia
- It was the first production of The Malpaso Company.; The song "Hang 'Em High" by My Chemical Romance is named after the film.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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