Hang 'Em High (1968)

Director:

Ted Post

Writers:

Leonard Freeman (written by) and
Mel Goldberg (written by)

Release Date:

3 August 1968 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Western

Tagline:

The hanging was the best show in town. But they made two mistakes. They hung the wrong man and they didn't finish the job.

Plot:

When an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.

Plot Keywords:

Judge | Marshal | Rustling | Justice | Murder

Cast

Clint Eastwood	...	Marshal Jed Cooper
Inger Stevens	...	Rachel Warren
Ed Begley	...	Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party
Pat Hingle	...	Judge Fenton
Ben Johnson	...	Marshal Dave Bliss
Charles McGraw	...	Sheriff Ray Calhoun, Red Creek
Ruth White	...	Madame 'Peaches' Sophie
Bruce Dern	...	Miller, One of the 3 rustlers, and murderer
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Matt Stone, Cooper Hanging Party
Arlene Golonka	...	Jennifer, the Prostitute
James Westerfield	...	Prisoner
Dennis Hopper	...	The Prophet
L.Q. Jones	...	Loomis, Cooper Hanging Party
Michael O'Sullivan	...	Francis Elroy Duffy, Prisoner
Joseph Sirola	...	Reno, Cooper Hanging Party

Also Known As:

Hängt ihn höher (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
À Sombra da Forca (Portugal) [pt]
A Marca da Forca (Brazil) [pt]
Cometieron dos errores (Spain) [es]
Häng dom högt (Sweden) [sv]
Hirttäkää heidät (Finland) [fi]
Impiccalo più in alto (Italy) [it]
Klyng dem op (Denmark) [da]
Kremaste tous psila (Greece) [el]
La marca de la horca (Venezuela) [es]
Pendez-les haut et court (France) [fr]
Pengem-los ben amunt (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Powiescie go wysoko (Poland) (TV title) [pl]
Zemsta szeryfa (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Spain:18 | UK:X (original rating) | USA:Approved (certificate #21776) | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | South Korea:15 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG-13 (re-rating) (1997) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Leonard Freeman Production

Trivia:

Reportedly, producer Leonard Freeman clashed with director Ted Post during production. One day Freeman showed up on the set, issuing orders and taking charge. Post wanted to confront him, but Clint Eastwood intervened. Eastwood spoke to Freeman, and Freeman left the set and didn't return. What he said was, "If you show up on this set again, there won't be a set ... won't be a cast, won't be a crew."

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Near the end of the film when Cooper assaults Captain Wilson's house, it is guarded by a German Shepherd which didn't come into existence until 1894-1899 which is well after the time period of this film.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party: Alright, drop your gunbelt.
Jed Cooper: What is this all about?
Loomis, Cooper Hanging Party: The captain said to drop your gunbelt.
Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party: Now.

Movie Connections:

Featured in John Wayne Made Me Cry: Our Western Heros (2002) (TV)

Solid western with interesting theme of law and revenge

Ex-lawman turned cattle rancher Jed Cooper is taken newly purchased cattle back home when he is caught by a posse who accuse him of murder and lynch him. They ride off to leave him to die, however he is cut down by a group of marshals who add him to their prisoners and take him to the judge. Having had his story cleared Cooper is offered a job as a marshal and agrees to do it. However when his first task is to arrest the men who hung him can he take the stand away from revenge and on the side of the law.

I watched this cause I do like a good western every now and again. The actual plot is quite simple on the surface – man out for revenge, but it uses it quite well. It makes some interesting parallels between the hanging of men by the lynch parties and the hanging of men by a judge. It doesn't fully make it's point but it is good to have something to think about in a western. Outside of this the film has some good drama even if the end feels more like the conclusion of an episode in a TV series rather than the finale of a film.

Of course the reason for this may be Post's involvement as director. He used to direct Rawhide with Eastwood and was picked for this film to support Eastwood. This was his first American film after doing all those spaghetti westerns and I assume he wanted a familiar hand on the tiller. He does well here as he always did with his western characters, I read that he also directed some of it. The rest of the cast are made up of a few famous names (Bruce Dern, LQ Jones for example) but regardless everyone does well in their roles.

It's not a classic western but it rises above the average by having a good lead in the shape of Eastwood and some plot strands that go beyond the revenge storyline and encourage you to think of deeper issues.