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Hang'em High Movie Review

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Actors: Clint Eastwood, Pat Hingle, Inger Stevens, Bruce Dern, Ben Johnson, Dennis Hopper, Ed Begley, L.Q. Jones

Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Hang'em High
A group of vigilantes mistake an ex-marshall, Jed, for a cattle rustler and hang him. Another marshall finds Jed and saves him and brings him to the town famous for it's hanging judge and six man gallows. Jed is cleared of the charges and hired as a marshall again. Jed begins tracking down the vigilantes one by one, but the judge makes it clear that he wants them alive. Jed is forced to kill one of them, one them is killed by a heriff, one is brought back and hung, one turns himself in and two run away. The three remaining vigilantes sneak into town and shoot Jed several times, but once again, he survives. After healing Jed tracks the men to one of their houses. Two of the men come outside after him and he kills them. Jed breaks into the house to get the other man. Knowing that there's no escape, the last man hangs himself. Jed turns in his badge, but the judge convinces him to reconsider, so Jed sets off to find the last two vigilantes. --Brandon Swenson, Resident Scholar
This movie was made in 1968, a classic Clint Eastwood western. The story is set in Oklahoma Territory. Clint Eastwood is a drover on a ranch, who is wrongly accused of rustling. When asked to produce the bill of sale for his cattle, and asked to describe the man who sold him the cattle, he is accused of stealing them. Nine men set about hanging him without benefit of a trial. They ride away, thinking their job is done. But the rope isn't quite tight enough and he survives. A traveling marshall finds him and takes him to the nearest town, Fort Grant. The drover tells the local judge (Pat Hingle) his story, that he is a former lawman and that he did not steal the animals. The judge finds out his story is true--the man who killed the ranchers and stole the animals, was in fact the man the drover bought the animals from, not knowing what the real rancher looked like. He is off the hook for the crime. But he has a desperate need for revenge, for bringing in the nine men for attempted murder. The judge needs a new marshall anyway, and gives him a badge to give him legal authority to bring in his men alive. The drover makes no promises as he sets about bringing these men to justice. --BethG, Resident Scholar
Based on a screenplay directly written for the screen, HANG'EM HIGH is a movie directed by Ted Post in 1968. This above-average western is dealing with the notions of justice and revenge. Jed Cooper has been hanged by a bunch of vigilantes searching for a murderer. Saved by the marshall Ben Johnson, he proves his innocence in front of judge Pat Hingle who's trying to dispense justice in the Oklahoma territory. Jed agrees to work as a federal marshall, hoping to have the opportunity to take revenge on those who hanged him. Little by little, he'll give up his vigilante idea and become acquainted with the idea of civilized justice. Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. --Daniel Staebler, Resident Scholar

Analysis of Hang'em High

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 40%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 23.3%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 36.7%

Time/Era of Movie: - 19th century
Western Yes
Kind of western: - wrongfully accused proving innocence - hunting down outlaws
Romance Yes

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - police/lawman
Age: - 20's-30's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Hair color? - brunette (Brown)
Hair style - short/standard straight (man)
Body type - average (man)
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Secondary Main Character
Identity: - Male
Hair color - brunette (Brown)
How much in movie? - 60%
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)

Main Adversary - White (American)

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest
Desert? Yes
Small town? Yes
Small town people: - nice, like Andy/Opie/Aunt Bee
Misc setting - prison

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - non-gory references to death/punishment
Movie makes you feel... - encouraged
How many deaths in film? - 8 or more
Kind of violence: - guns
Unusual forms of death - hanging
Any profanity? - None
If Soundtrack VERY NOTICEABLE... - Orchestra/classical

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