Hang 'Em High
Film poster by Sandy Kossin
Directed by	Ted Post
Produced by	Leonard Freeman
Written by	Leonard Freeman Mel Goldberg
Starring	Clint Eastwood Inger Stevens Ed Begley Pat Hingle
Music by	Dominic Frontiere
Editing by	Gene Fowler Jr.
Studio	The Malpaso Company
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	3 August 1968
Running time	114 min
Language	English

Hang 'Em High is a 1968 Western film directed by Ted Post and produced and co-written by Leonard Freeman. It stars Clint Eastwood as Jed Cooper, an innocent man who survives a lynching, Inger Stevens as a widow who helps him, Ed Begley as the leader of the gang that lynched him, and Pat Hingle as the judge who hires Jed as a US Marshal.

[edit] Overview

The movie was the first production of The Malpaso Company, Clint Eastwood's own production company. In the film, actor Pat Hingle portrays a fictional judge who mirrors the true life Judge Isaac Parker, who was labelled "The Hanging Judge" due to the large number of men he had executed during his service as District Judge. The film also depicts the dangers of serving as a US Marshal or Deputy US Marshal during that period, as large numbers of Marshals were killed while serving under Parker. In the film, the fictional Fort Grant, the base for operations for that District Judge seat, is also a mirror of the factual Fort Smith, Arkansas, where Judge Parker's court was located.

[edit] Plot

The story is set in Oklahoma Territory in 1889. It describes the efforts of Jed Cooper (Eastwood) to bring the men who tried to lynch him to justice. The men are Capt. Wilson (Begley), Reno (Sirola), Miller (Dern), Jenkins (Steele), Stone (Hale), Charlie Blackfoot (Romero), Maddow (Thorson), Tommy (Lippe), and Loomis (Jones).

The film begins as Cooper drives a small herd of cattle across a stream. When the men in a posse surround him, he shows them a receipt for the cattle, but the man he bought them from was a rustler who killed the herd's owner. Cooper explains that he knew nothing about the murder, but only Jenkins expresses doubts about his guilt. After Reno takes Cooper's saddle and Miller takes his wallet, the men hang him from a tree and ride away, leaving him for dead.

Jed Cooper (Eastwood) with Judge Fenton (Hingle).

Federal Marshal Dave Bliss (Johnson) sees Cooper and cuts him down while he is still alive, then takes him to Fort Grant, where the territorial judge, Adam Fenton (Hingle), determines that Cooper is innocent, sets him free, and warns hims not to become a vigilante. As an alternative, Fenton offers Cooper a job as a marshal. Cooper accepts, and Fenton warns him not to kill the men who lynched him.

One day, Cooper sees his saddle on a horse in front of a small-town saloon. He finds Reno inside and tries to arrest him, but Reno goes for his gun, forcing Cooper to shoot him dead. When word of this becomes public, Jenkins turns himself in and provides the names of the rest of the posse. Cooper finds Stone in another town, arrests him, and has the local sheriff, Ray Calhoun (McGraw), put him in jail. Most of the men Cooper seeks are respected members of the community, but Calhoun honors Cooper's warrants for their arrest.

On their way to arresting the men, Cooper and Calhoun encounter the survivors of a new rustling/murder. Cooper and a posse catch the rustlers, who turn out to be Miller and two teenage brothers, Ben (Gates) and Billy Joe (Scott). Cooper takes them to Fort Grant single-handedly after refusing to let the posse lynch them. On the way, Ben and Billy Joe insist that Miller was the murderer. Miller catches Cooper off guard and attacks him, but Cooper subdues him while the brothers watch.

Fenton sentences all three rustlers to be hanged, despite Cooper's defense of the teenagers. Fenton insists that the public will resort to lynching if they see rustlers going unpunished, threatening Oklahoma's bid for statehood. Some time later, Calhoun arrives at Fort Grant and pays Cooper for his cattle. He is trying to bribe Cooper into leaving the rest of the men who lynched him alone, but Cooper makes it clear that he still intends to arrest them. With the bribe rejected, Blackfoot and Maddow flee, while Tommy and Loomis remain loyal to Wilson, who has decided to kill Cooper.

At Fort Grant, Wilson, Loomis, and Tommy shoot Cooper up while most of the town watches the hanging of Miller, Ben, Billy Joe, and three other men. Cooper survives and is slowly nursed back to health by Rachel Warren (Stevens). At Wilson's ranch, he kills Tommy and Loomis, and Wilson hangs himself. At Fort Grant again, Cooper threatens to quit unless Fenton releases Jenkins, who is both contrite and seriously ill. Fenton again insists that justice must be served, but he agrees to pardon Jenkins. Cooper agrees to continue as a marshal, and Fenton gives him warrants for Blackfoot and Maddow.

[edit] Location

Hang 'Em High was filmed at the Cody's house near Las Cruces, New Mexico and at MGM Studios in Hollywood.^[1]

[edit] Cast

Hang Em' High DVD cover

• Clint Eastwood as Marshal Jed Cooper
• Inger Stevens as Rachel Warren
• Ed Begley as Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party
• Pat Hingle as Judge Adam Fenton
• Ben Johnson as Marshal Dave Bliss
• Charles McGraw as Sheriff Ray Calhoun, Red Creek
• Ruth White as Madame 'Peaches' Sophie
• Bruce Dern as Miller, One of the lynching party, the 3 rustlers, and a murderer
• Alan Hale Jr. as Matt Stone, blacksmith, Cooper Hanging Party
• Arlene Golonka as Jennifer, the Prostitute
• James Westerfield as Prisoner
• Dennis Hopper as The Prophet, a crazed prisoner who is shot dead by Bliss.
• L.Q. Jones as Loomis, Cooper Hanging Party
• Michael O'Sullivan as Francis Elroy Duffy, Prisoner
• Joseph Sirola as Reno, Cooper Hanging Party
• James MacArthur as Preacher
• Bert Freed as Hangman Schmidt
• Bob Steele as Jenkins, Cooper Hanging Party
• Tod Andrews as Defense Attorney

[edit] See also

• List of American films of 1968

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hang 'Em High at the Internet Movie Database
• Hang 'Em High (1968) at Rotten Tomatoes