Hang 'Em High Movie Review

Hang 'Em High (1968)

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Written by: Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg
Directed by: Ted Post
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Pat Hingle, Ed Begley, Bruce Dern, Dennis Hopper
Rated: Approved [PG-13]
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Plot
When an innocent man barely survives a lynching, he returns as a lawman determined to bring the vigilantes to justice.

Verdict
Clint Eastwood and a western is a classic pairing. This is a revenge movie where the protagonist gets revenge through the law instead of subverting it. That doesn't happen often, but being an older movie it's a bit slow. The opening is the most exciting part with the rest of the movie riding on the premise.
It depends.

Review
A posse stops rancher Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood), accusing him of stealing cattle. Did he? This is just the first sequence, and it looks ominous for Cooper. The posse resorts to mob justice but Cooper makes it out alive. In town the truth is discovered; the man that stole the cattle and swindled Cooper was recently caught.

The judge knows Cooper wants revenge but instead hires him as a marshal to prevent retaliation. Cooper resolves to arrest the posse that assaulted him, using the law to his advantage. He wants justice, not just revenge. Later Cooper apprehends rustlers, and the group he's in wants to hang them on the spot. Cooper stops them; he truly wants justice through the law. In most movies like this the protagonist fights his way through the duration, this marshal doesn't want that.

Clint Eastwood plays Jed Cooper

It's ironic that the judge that wanted Cooper to work within the law is so quick to hang people. Cooper is merciful when the crime dictates it. Cooper argues for mercy for two boys who were swayed by a criminal but the judge doesn't agree. The judge's argument is that if he doesn't hang them, mob justice will and that only promotes violence and lawlessness. While justice needs to be within the law, it must be swift.

Cooper going after three more of the original posse is the attempt at the big finale that doesn't really land. He brings them back to the judge and the movie ends with him going out for the next warrants as there's still a few people from the original mob he hasn't apprehended.