Hang 'Em High

Hang 'Em High
Directed by	Ted Post
Written by	Leonard Freeman Mel Goldberg
Produced by	Leonard Freeman
Starring	Clint Eastwood
Edited by	Gene Fowler Jr.
Music by	Dominic Frontiere
Release dates	July 31, 1968
Running time	114 min
Language	English

A 1968 Western film directed by Ted Post starring Clint Eastwood. Hang 'Em High is the story of an innocent man, Jed Cooper, who survives a lynching by nine men, and comes back as US Marshal Jed Cooper to see that justice is done, and to get his revenge.

Overview

In the film, actor Pat Hingle portrays a fictional judge that mirrors the true life Judge Isaac Parker, who was labelled "The Hanging Judge" due to the large number of men 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 Judge Parker also had large numbers of Marshals killed while serving under him. 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. This movie is given credit as the movie that brought Spaghetti Westerns to Hollywood.

Plot

Jed Cooper is a lawman turned rancher who has recently purchased a small herd of cattle. Unknown to him the cattle are stolen and their true owner has been murdered. A posse of nine men capture Cooper and accuse him of rustling and murder. Rather than bother with a legal arrest and trial they resort to lynching Cooper.

Fortunately, a Federal Marshal comes across Cooper and cuts him down while he is still alive. He takes the hanged man to Fort Grant where he is nursed to health. The territorial judge has the matter investigated and determines that Cooper is innocent. He is set free, but is determined to seek revenge on the men who hanged him.

The judge warns Cooper about taking the law into his own hands. He offers him a job as a marshal, which Cooper accepts. Cooper discovers one of the nine men in town. The man panics and draws his gun, prompting Cooper to kill him. In the meanwhile another member of the lynching posse has learned of Cooper's innocence and has turned himself in. He provides the names of the rest of the posse and Cooper sets out to arrest them.

Cooper encounters a sheriff who knows the men he is looking for. The Sheriff Calhoun tells him that they are honest citizens and that he has a hard time believing they could be guilty. He and Cooper leave to arrest the men but the sheriff turns back when word reaches him that his family has been killed.

Cooper is left in charge of prisoners. The posse members with him want to lynch the men so they can go to help Calhoun. Cooper resists the temptation of vigilante justice and takes the prisoners back alive. He returns to Fort Grant to learn that his actions have made him something of a legend. He isn't happy with this development but agrees to continue serving as a marshal.

Cast

• Clint Eastwood ... Marshal Jed Cooper
• Inger Stevens ... Rachel Warren
• Ed Begley ... Captain Wilson, Cooper Hanging Party
• Pat Hingle ... Judge Adam 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

File:Hang'EmHighdvd.jpg

Hang em' High dvd

Trivia

• My Chemical Romance named a song on Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge after the movie.

• A Static Lullaby also has a song named Hang 'Em High

• "Hang 'Em High" is the name of a multiplayer map in Halo: Combat Evolved.

• Also, there is a level in Crash Bandicoot: Warped named "Hang 'Em High"

External links

• Hang 'Em High at IMDb