Review of The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) by Mike M — 04 Sep 2011
A taut, economical Western disquisition on the governing principles of American law and order - something like Fritz Lang's "Fury" on horseback... Though it's derived from a short story (by Walter van Tilburg Clark), it nevertheless feels like one of the most theatrical of Westerns: there are shades of "12 Angry Men" as Fonda stands around jawing with the men who want to string the rustlers up, and you can well imagine it being redone as a studio-bound TV movie some years later.
What lifts it just above talky inertia is the characterisation of the mob (which extends beyond the usual whipcracking yahoos to army men, doctors, pastors, even a woman, the implication being we are all susceptible to such reactionary hysteria) and director Wellman's stark pictorial sense, how his camera identifies and keeps distinct (usually through close-ups) the individuals shifting round either side of the line this crime has come to draw in the sand.
The narrative has a few surprises in store, even if the whole now appears a little overrated, veering between appreciable classicism and the finger-wagging simplicity of an elementary school primer.
This review of The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) was written by Mike M on 04 Sep 2011.
The Ox-Bow Incident has generally received very positive reviews.
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