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:

The first film produced by Clint Eastwood's Malpaso Company.

Goofs:

Continuity: After his hanging, and cutting him down, he was placed in the prison wagon. As he is entering the wagon, he is not wearing any pants, just chaps. But he is wearing pants when he gets out of the prison wagon.

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:

Spoofed in Shanghai Noon (2000)

Hell on the Border

"Hang 'Em High" is a fictionalized account of Hangin' Judge Parker's court at Fort Smith, Arkansas. Judge Parker had jurisdiction over a large chunk of Indian Territory (Oklahoma today). The house of ill repute in the film is a fictionalized version of Miss Laura's Social Club which still stands in Fort Smith and has the dubious distinction of being the only whore house on the National Register of Historic Places. In the movie, Fort Smith becomes Fort Grant but a few of the place names used are actual names of towns nearby, such as Alma, Arkansas, and Poteau, Oklahoma. The river in "Hang 'Em High" is too small (even before the locks and dams) to be the Arkansas River but could stand in for the Poteau River; the confluence of the two rivers occurs at Belle Point in Fort Smith. Most of the movie was shot in California and New Mexico (certainly not eastern Oklahoma) but the scenes of the gallows and the judge's court and office look very much like Judge Parker's Court in Fort Smith that is also on the National Register of Historic Places. If not actually filmed there, then the producer and director did an excellent job recreating it as a set. Even the dungeon jail is correct.

This was Clint Eastwood's first American western following his triumph in Sergio Leone's spaghetti western trilogy. Eastwood wanted Leone to direct this one but he was already committed to another project. From what I read neither Eastwood nor director Ted Post worked well with the producer/writer Leonard Freeman.

"Hang 'Em High" starts out with a bang, a lynching that backfires. To show the audience that Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is a good guy, Cooper rescues a calf from drowning. This ploy was later used in "Tombstone" when Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell), on his first appearance on screen, aids a horse that is being mistreated. Wyatt gives the perpetrator a taste of his own medicine reprimanding him, "Hurts, don't it?" Veteran actor Ben Johnson, who was from Oklahoma, happens on the scene while Cooper is still dangling, cuts him free, then throws him into the "tumbleweed wagon" full of thieves and cut throats bound for Fort Grant and justice. After lingering in the dungeon jail awhile, the judge clears Cooper and makes him a federal Marshall, warning him to bring the nine men in who attempted to hang him, but bring them in alive. The rest of the film deals with Cooper rounding up the nine plus a few other killers along the way. There is also emphasis on the different interpretation of justice by Cooper, a former lawman, and the judge. This leads to several dramatic confrontations. There is a parallel story of a search for justice by Rachel Warren (Inger Stevens)who falls for Cooper and visa versa. They have a thirst for vengeance in common.

Much of the movie is fiction, but parts are based on history. The circus atmosphere that accompanied the public hangings in Fort Smith during Judge Parker's rule is shown basically as it has been reported. There were vendors present, hawking all types of goods and goodies. Children wandered around with or without their parents. The fathers would sometimes place their children on their shoulders so the tads could get a better view of the executions. And there were multiple hangings recorded, similar to the one in the film.

The viewer may enjoy seeing a lot of familiar faces in the cast. Veteran actor Bob Steele plays Old Man Jenkins, a member of the lynching party. Bruce Dern is as ornery as they come. He is not only a member of the lynching party but a cold-blooded killer as well. Alan Hale, Jr. (The Skipper to his Little Buddy), one of the lynching party, is a blacksmith who seems apathetic to the incident. Dennis Hopper has what could be labeled a billed cameo role. The viewer barely sees his face at all. L.Q. Jones is a member of the lynching party turning in his usual fine performance. Charles McGraw plays the sheriff of Red Creek (possibly Garrison Creek, which today is Roland, Oklahoma) who has a back problem--or is it a spine problem? James MacArthur makes a solemn preacher extracting final confessions from the condemned.

Pat Hingle portrays the hanging judge in fairly realistic terms. The real hanging judge never watched the condemned swing. Judge Adam Fenton not only watches but nods to the hangmen when to pull the lever. The masterful Ed Begley is the vicious leader of the lynching party who is determined to make amends for his botched hanging of Cooper by hanging him even higher next time. The lovely and sexy Inger Stevens turns in a winning performance as a supplement to Cooper's vengeance. And Clint Eastwood, well, he's Clint Eastwood. Need I say more?