Hang 'Em High (1968)

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

Director:

Ted Post

Writers:

Leonard Freeman, Mel Goldberg

Stars:

Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Clint Eastwood	...	Marshal Jed Cooper
Inger Stevens	...	Rachel Warren
Ed Begley	...	Captain Wilson
Pat Hingle	...	Judge Fenton
Ben Johnson	...	Marshal Dave Bliss
Charles McGraw	...	Sheriff Ray Calhoun
Ruth White	...	Madame 'Peaches' Sophie
Bruce Dern	...	Miller
Alan Hale Jr.	...	Matt Stone
Arlene Golonka	...	Jennifer
James Westerfield	...	Prisoner
Dennis Hopper	...	The Prophet
L.Q. Jones	...	Loomis
Michael O'Sullivan	...	Francis Elroy Duffy
Joseph Sirola	...	Reno

Storyline

A band of vigilantes catch Jed Cooper and, incorrectly believing him guilty of cattle rustling and murder, hang him and leave him for dead. But he doesn't die. He returns to his former profession of lawman to hunt down his lynchers and bring them to justice.

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Plot Keywords:

marshal | judge | justice | rustling | murder | 

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Taglines:

High Adventure!

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller | Western

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Certificate:

M

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 August 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hirttäkää heidät

Filming Locations:

Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,800,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Leonard Freeman Production, Malpaso Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sergio Leone was approached to direct this film, but he turned it down since he was working on Once Upon a Time in the West at the time.

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Goofs

After Cooper is cut down and is walking to the prisoner wagon, the rope and knot binding his hands changes.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[to a calf]
Jed Cooper: I'm gonna have to carry ya, huh?

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Connections

Featured in Big Guns Talk: The Story of the Western (1997)

User Reviews

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.