Saturday 14 October 2023

Hang 'Em High (1968 Ted Post)

Even back then, Clint was exercising control over his projects, in this case cutting and pasting bits of different versions of the screenplay to suggest a better whole. It's also the first Malpaso (co) production and his first lead role in America.

And the subject was quite appealing to him - an innocent man is lynched, then runs across a bloodthirsty Judge who's rather too keen to hang himself (Aaron Sorkin would have fun telling me off about that line - I mean of course to hang other people himself). Clint displays a nice line in anti-authoritarianism and a good anger.

Perhaps less convincing is his 'cure' of woman (Inger Stevens) whose husband was killed and her violently raped.

With Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Ben Johnson, Charles McGraw, Ruth White, Bruce Dern (giving a good, gutsy early turn), Arlene Golonka, Dennis Hopper, L.Q. Jones, James MacArthur.

Dominic Frontiere's music lets it down. Photographed by Richard Kline and Leonard South. Edited by Gene Fowler Jr.  Art direction John Goodman.

Clint then  ended up looking the same age for at least the next twenty years.






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