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  | Hang 'em High
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| Exciting, thoughtful western | |
| After earning major stardom with Sergio Leone's spaghetti western trilogy, Clint Eastwood turned down both Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" and Carl Foreman's "MacKenna's Gold" to star in and co-produce this tightly scripted, well-acted western directed by "Gunsmoke" veteran Ted Post. It proved a good choice. If not a masterpiece on the order of Leone's film, or a star studded spectacular like Foreman's offering, "Hang 'Em High" was something the other two were not: a hit. It's also intelligent and makes some interesting if subtle comments on the meaning of justice. The clean-shaven Eastwood is fine as Jed Cooper, a former marshal who once more wears a badge to hunt down the men who hanged him as an alleged cattle thief, but Pat Hingle as a hanging judge who is even more vengeance minded than Eastwood offers the standout performance. Bruce Dern, Bob Steele, Ben Johnson, Joe Sirola, Dennis Hopper, and Alan Hale, Jr. (yes, the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") are among the notable character actors who appear throughout, and Dominic Frontiere's music score, including the title theme that would go on to be a hit for Booker T and the MGs, is excellent. | |
| Eastwood, home on the American range | |
| After earning major stardom with Sergio Leone's spaghetti western trilogy, Clint Eastwood turned down both Leone's "Once Upon a Time in the West" and Carl Foreman's "MacKenna's Gold" to star in and co-produce this tightly scripted, well-acted western directed by "Gunsmoke" veteran Ted Post. It proved a good choice. If not a masterpiece on the order of Leone's film, or a star studded spectacular like Foreman's offering, "Hang 'Em High" was something the other two were not: a hit. It's also intelligent and makes some interesting if subtle comments on the meaning of justice. The clean-shaven Eastwood is fine as Jed Cooper, a former marshal who once more wears a badge to hunt down the men who hanged him as an alleged cattle thief, but Pat Hingle as a hanging judge who is even more vengeance minded than Eastwood offers the standout performance. Bruce Dern, Bob Steele, Ben Johnson, Joe Sirola, Dennis Hopper, and Alan Hale, Jr. (yes, the Skipper from "Gilligan's Island") are among the notable character actors who appear throughout, and Dominic Frontiere's music score, including the title theme that would go on to be a hit for Booker T and the MGs, is excellent. | |
| Hung at high noon! | |
| Clint Eastwood's movie, Hang 'em High, is very interesting and dramatic. The plot of this movie was predictable but that is quiet alright. The producer and director probably wanted to convey some other message and hence a standard plot was chosen. Clint Eastwood is a rancher who is strung up at high noon by a bunch of thugs from a nearby town. They accuse him of murder and theft of cattle. Eastwood however does not die. A US Marshall recues him and brings him to the judge for trial. Judge aquitts Eastwood. It so happens that Eastwood was a ex-lawman and judge appoints him as a Marshall. Then begins the story of revenge and justice as Eastwood hunts down the vigilante mob that tried to hang him. There are many interesting questions raised in the movie. What is the relationship between Revenge and Justice? How should justice be dealt out? It is a thought-provoking movie although it has somewhat banal action scenes. Regardless, it's a movie worth your money. | |
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