The Reel Review
Clint Eastwood stars in this 1968 Western, his first Hollywood big screen production, about a cattleman in 1889 Oklahoma who survives a hanging by a group of vigilantes, only to become a lawman who hunts them down to deliver justice.
Loosely based on the story about a judge in Ft. Smith, Arkansas who presided over the then-territory of Oklahoma, Hang ‘Em High has all the stereotypical hallmarks of the classic Western – scenic vistas, one dimensional cowtowns that blatantly look like film sets, a super melodramatic score, and in Eastwood, a dashingly handsome hero. But unlike his prior spaghetti Westerns Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly that were all filmed in Europe and catapulted Eastwood to stardom, this Hollywood production was filmed in the United States – Las Cruces and White Sands, New Mexico.
What makes this film so much fun to watch is not the super simple and somewhat bland story, but rather, the more Hollywood version of the spaghetti Western, the crisp, high-definition restoration of the original film, and a fascinating glimpse at what Eastwood, Bruce Dern and Dennis Hopper all looked like as young men. Ah, memories…
REEL FACTS
• Swedish-born Inger Stevens had never heard of the 37-year-old Eastwood before being cast as his love interest in the film. They ended up having an affair during production. Sadly, she would die of a drug overdose two years after Hang ‘Em High’s release.
• Alan Hale Jr. (The Skipper from the comedy TV series Gilligan’s Island) is one of the villains in Hang ‘Em High. He appeared in many Westerns throughout his career.
• Producer Leonard Freeman was so impressed with James MacArthur’s professionalism as the preacher (he nailed his part in just one take) that soon after he cast him as Danno, one of the main characters in the 1968 TV series Hawaii Five-O.
Video & Photo
