Whilst on the road herding his new group of cattle home, Jed
Cooper is surrounded by a band of vigilante justice-seekers who incorrectly
accuse him of cattle rustling and murder and they hang from a tree and leave
him for dead. But he doesn’t die. A local lawman cuts him loose and takes him
to the nearest town where his guilt or innocence is to be decided by the judge.
When his story checks out and he’s freed, he returns to his previous job as a
lawman and becomes Marshall of the town, on the proviso that he can hunt down
the men who hung him and bring them to justice.
Whilst the theme to The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly might
terrify me to no end, it hasn’t dampened the appeal of the Western or the
undeniable boss-ness of Clint Eastwood. Hang
‘Em High is a classic revenge story in a very exciting and conducive
setting and which takes a really ethical turn and ends on an interesting note.
It’s not a wholly significant piece of cinematic history, but it’s a film with
undeniable appeal and it delivers a quite enjoyable viewing experience.
Whilst
on the road herding his new group of cattle home, Jed Cooper is surrounded by a
band of vigilante justice-seekers who incorrectly accuse him of cattle rustling
and murder and they hang from a tree and leave him for dead. But he doesn’t
die. A local lawman cuts him loose and takes him to the nearest town where his
guilt or innocence is to be decided by the judge. When his story checks out and
he’s freed, he returns to his previous job as a lawman and becomes Marshall of
the town, on the proviso that he can hunt down the men who hung him and bring
them to justice.
Essentially, this movie is a revenge story, and a very
strongly founded and classic one at that. The harsh dusty Western setting is
the perfect genre for it: really conducive to the story and it’s a great
backdrop for the coolness, machoness, drama, and indeed the more gory parts.
There is something about blood mixed with sharp grains of sand that really
creates the shivers! Maybe because it’s so sensory: you can just imagine,
almost feel the stings and the discomfort of having sand grate against tender
and cut flesh!
What I really liked about the story was how it took a turn for
the ethical and it wasn’t just about a falsely accused man out to round up his
accusers. Over the course of the movie, questions about justice and what is
truly just and right and fair and fitting get raised and explored and
challenged and it serves the story very well by making it stand aside from
other vendetta tales.
Clint Eastwood is, well, he’s Clint Eastwood. I mean, it
cannot be denied that the guy is pretty boss! He’s not just delivering a macho
and cool customer Western performance, but also one that goes through real
subtle changes and transformations. They’re so subtle in fact that you hardly
see them.
Starring Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Ben Johnson, Charles
McGraw, Ruth White, Bruce Dern, Alan Hale Jr., Arlene Golonka, Dennis Hopper,
L. Q. Jones, Michael O’Sullivan, and Joseph Sirola, Hang ‘Em High is an engaging vendetta tale that holds its ground
apart from other stories of its kind. Filled with violence, action, drama,
romance, conflicts, and deep questions of ethics and justice, it’s a movie that
I was pleasantly surprised with.
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