Review of Hang 'em High (1968) by Nate T — 05 Jul 2008

This attempt at spaghetti western failed mainly due to an over reaching script that attempted to insert a sweeping saga, complete with bounty hunting, courtroom drama, multiple love affairs and drawn out hanging scenes (featuring monologues from irrelevant characters) meant to question the morality of the death sentence, into a 2 hour film that should have been a simple revenge story.

After Jed Cooper miraculously survives a hanging from misguided vigilante's for a crime he didn't commit, he returns to his roots as a law man to get justice. Along the way he's sidetracked by pursuing cattle rustlers, arresting and bringing them in all alone, watching the judge hang two of them unjustly, engaging in an affair with a whore, survive another murder attempt from the same men who hanged him (who felt bad about the wrong they did but didn't want to face the music so decided to kill him again), butt heads with the judge about the nature of justice, start another love affair with a different woman, help her to face her personal demons of the past and start over new, ignore his own advice on the same subject, kill most of the men who hung him, and face his moral dilemma about seeking further revenge on the few still at large or sticking to the law. The end is left open for a sequel.

The western sound stages were spotless and silent. A far cry from the dirty, authentic-looking location shoots of Sergio Leone's Man With No Name Trilogy featuring rugged close-ups of worn faces that gave the otherwise surreal films a sense of realism. This only softened the blow of Hang Em Highs scripted attempt to be hard hitting. Thematically great, the lackluster execution made this into a mediocre, often boring film.