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DVD The Ox-Bow Incident
The Ox-Bow Incident is one of the essential Westerns, directed by William Wellman. A study of the effects--and aftereffects--of mob violence, this film (based on a true story) begins with the murder of a popular rancher. Angry townspeople form a posse, find suspects, and, without waiting for a trial, summarily hang them in an expression of biblically tinged frontier justice. But the one cowboy who tried to turn the mob aside ultimately proves that they executed innocent men. Made in 1943, the film features stunning black-and-white cinematography and a solid dramatic sense about what a deadly combination ignorance and self-righteousness can be. Fonda made this film between The Grapes of Wrath and My Darling Clementine, at a point when he was at the peak of his powers as a young actor. --Marshall Fine
Perhaps the greatest film dramatization of the evil of anarchy
This brilliant film masterfully illustrates the horrors of anarchy as mob rule overtunes objective law in one small wild west town, even making interesting psychological observations about tyrannical power-lusters through the character of the colonel. Henry Fonda stars as the voice of reason, but be forewarned: this one doesn't have a happy ending, as tragedy is necessary to dramatize the theme.
The only flaw is the go-nowhere sub-plot involving Fonda's love interest, but that takes so little time that it's a minor flaw and can be overlooked.
12 Angry Men, also starring Fonda, makes a good companion piece, as it shows the importance to liberty of objective law from a positive perspective. It's amazing how much drama and tension they manage to put into a film that's essentially just twelve men sitting in a small room talking for an hour and a half (and this one doesn't make the mistake of trying to put in an irrelevent romance).
The special features on the Ox-Bow Incident DVD are also good (especially for an older film such as this), particularly the original trailer, which features Fonda talking about what the film means to him. If only more trailers today were like this one.
An essential part of any film lover's library, and well worth the money.
The Ox-Bow Incident
A tense, hard-hitting drama about the ignorance of mob justice, as relevant to the treatment of black people in the twentieth century South as to the nineteenth century western frontier. Fonda is superb as Carter, chief dissenting witness to the event, and both Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn are compelling as two of the condemned men. Nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, this is a top western from one of Hollywood's most seasoned directors. Don't miss it.
Masterly anti-Western
The list of movies addressing the issue of lynching as its major theme is small but impressive. Fritz Lang's great " Fury " leaps to mind as does the Mervyn LeRoy drama " They Wont Forget" but for my money it is this calssic that bears away the crown in this field .Its powerful portrait of mob violence rises to the level of Greek tragedy in its air of inevitability and catharsis, and in its brilliant examination of the psyche of its principal characters
The movie is based on events which took place in Nevada in 1885 . Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan play two drifting cowboys who ride into the town of Bridger's Wells and promptly head for the saloon .They hear of a popular local rancher being shot by rustlers ;a posse is set up lead by the blustering and pompous ex-Confederate army officer " Tetley "( Frank Conroy)who dons his old uniform for the venture .and insists that his sensitive son (William Eythe) goes along ,because it will " make a man of him ".Fonda and Morgan reluctantly accompany the mob .The main reason they do so is to avoid being accused of the crime thenselves .
The mob come upon 3 men -horse traders -by their capmpfire .These men -Dana Andrews , Anthony Quinn and Francis Tesa) -are accused of the crime even though no evidence exists of their guilt .They are strung up on the spot ,Andrews pleading to be allowed to write a last letter to his wife ,a request that is granted .
The posse return in high good humour only to be shown as not vigilantes but murderers .The finale when Fonda reads Andrews' letter aloud is sentimental but moving .
I have called this an anti-Western and I stand by that description for the movie is critical of what most Westerns deem a virtue -the pioneer spirit .These are men and women embittered and crippled emotionally who resort to mob rule to cover up their own cowardice and personal inadequacies .This is most obvious in the figure of the homesteader played by Jane Darwell .This type of character is usually shown in a positive light by the conventional Western-hard working ,salt of thre earth types .Here the woman is shrewish and shrill ,an empty sounding brass of a woman utterly devoid of compassion or moral feeling .Then there is the bartender (Paul Hurst) who accompanies the posse-a slimy rabble rouser and the embittered vengeance seeking man played by Marc Lawrence .All claim lyching is part of the " Code of the West" and cannot see that it is its very opposite
The Colonel is a fraud and a bully ,his son an emotional weakling
It is also an anti-Western in its turning away from the wide open spaces of popular genre myth-the movie was largely shot on the studio lot with some obvious painted backcloths .These help the movie rather than hinder it ,giving a sense of claustrophobia which adds to the power .It is West where meanness and suspicion have replaced optimism and heroics .
The movie has been criticised as solemn and dull ,James Agee saying it suffered from "rigor artis" and was too static.I disgree but otheres will echo Agee's sentiments ,especially if they insisit on lots of action in the genre
Brilliantly acted all round with Quinnn scoring heavily in a small role as a man with a criminal past but being killed forsomething he did not do .Subtle direction from William Wellman and outstanding photography from Arthur Miller .This movie even looks authentic with the clothes appearing well worn and dusty
Downbeat and grim but a powerful morality play that makes grim but powerful viewing
The most famous and sublime treatment of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral, John Ford's My Darling Clementine is by any measure one of the most classically perfect Westerns ever made. Henry Fonda plays a hard, serious Wyatt Earp leading a cattle drive west with his brothers when a stopover in the wild town of Tombstone ends in the murder of his youngest brother. Wyatt takes up the badge he had turned down earlier and tames the wide-open town with his brothers (Ward Bond and Tim Holt), all the while waiting for the wild Clantons (led by Walter Brennan's ruthless Old Man Clanton) to make a mistake. Victor Mature delivers perhaps his finest performance as the tubercular gambler Doc Holliday, an alcoholic Eastern doctor escaping civilization in the Wild West. Ford takes great liberties... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Henry Fonda - Linda Darnell Director(s): John Ford DVD Release Date: Released the 06 January 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Ranking No. 21 on the American Film Institute's list of the 100 greatest American films, this 1940 classic is a bit dated in its noble sentimentality, but it remains a luminous example of Hollywood classicism from the peerless director of mythic Americana, John Ford. Adapted by Nunnally Johnson from John Steinbeck's classic novel, the film tells a simple story about Oklahoma farmers leaving the depression-era dustbowl for the promised land of California, but it's the story's emotional resonance and theme of human perseverance that makes the movie so richly and timelessly rewarding. It's all about the humble Joad family's cross-country trek to escape the economic devastation of their ruined farmland, beginning when Tom Joad (Henry Fonda) returns from a four-year prison term to discover... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Ford DVD Release Date: Released the 06 April 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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This silky smooth film noir pits gruff police detective Dana Andrews, stiff and blunt in his street-bred manners, against a cultured columnist and acidic wit (Clifton Webb at his prissiest) in a battle of wits during a murder investigation. The cop is a romantic hiding under a hard-boiled exterior who falls in love with the beautiful victim through the portrait that hangs in her apartment. Gene Tierney, whose heart-shaped face mixes the exotic with the girl next door, brings the poise and calm of a model to her role as the object of every man's gaze and the target of a killer. Laura, handsomely shot in dreamy black and white, is the first and best of Otto Preminger's cool, controlled murder mysteries. In the gritty world of film noir it remains the most refined and elegant example... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Gene Tierney - Dana Andrews Director(s): Rouben Mamoulian - Otto Preminger DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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John Ford's beautiful, heartfelt drama about a close-knit family of Welsh coal miners is one of the greatest films of Hollywood's golden age--a gentle masterpiece that beat Citizen Kane in the Best Picture race for the 1941 Academy Awards. The picture also won Oscars for Best Director (Ford), Best Supporting Actor (Donald Crisp), Best Art Direction, and Best Cinematography; all of those awards were richly deserved, even if they came at the expense of Kane and Orson Welles. Based on the novel by Richard Llewellyn, the film focuses its eventful story on 10-year-old Huw (Roddy McDowall), youngest of seven children to Mr. and Mrs. Morgan (Donald Crisp, Sarah Allgood), a hardy couple who've seen the best and worst of times in their South Wales mining town. They're facing one of... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Walter Pidgeon - Maureen O'Hara Director(s): John Ford DVD Release Date: Released the 14 January 2003 Usually ships in 24 hours
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One of the greatest Westerns ever made gets the deluxe treatment on this superior disc from Republic Home Video's Silver Screen Classics line of special-edition DVDs. Written by Carl Foreman (who was later blacklisted during the anticommunist hearings of the '50s) and superbly directed by Fred Zinnemann, this 1952 classic stars Gary Cooper as just-married lawman Will Kane, who is about to retire as a small-town sheriff and begin a new life with his bride (Grace Kelly) when he learns that gunslinger Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) is due to arrive at high noon to settle an old score. Kane seeks assistance from deputies and townsfolk, but soon realizes he'll have to stand alone in his showdown with Miller and his henchmen. Innovative for its time, the suspenseful story unfolds in approximate... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Fred Zinnemann DVD Release Date: Released the 22 October 2002 Usually ships in 1 to 2 weeks
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