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| Sex, suspense and macho violence is promised on this colorful poster for Ted Post's Hang 'Em High |
Retired lawman Jed Cooper is accused of stealing cattle and is nearly hung dead in a retaliatory lynching. But when his actual past job is known, he is hired for a high wage to forward justice in the Oklahoma Territory of 1889.
Hang 'Em High is written by Leonard Freeman (Gold of the Seven Saints (1961)) and Mel Goldberg (The F.B.I. (1968, TV-series)) and directed by Ted Post (The Peacemaker (1956)).
The (Italian) spaghetti western style is cranked up beyond the tolerable in this wholly American film, an unreal and unexciting first venture for star Clint Eastwood (Sudden Impact (1983)) and Irving Leonard's Malpaso Productions company. Eastwood is not utilized satisfactorily in Post's sub-standard direction. The supporting cast look good on paper, but none of them really distinguish themselves in Hang 'Em High.
The film is also a colorful and large production, a bit overlong, - with a horribly melodramatic, overwrought score (by Dominic Frontiere (Massacre Harbor (1968))). The bottom-line: Hang 'Em High is an overrated near botch-up.
Related post:
Ted Post: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - More than decent follow-up to the SF milestone
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 1.6 mil. $
Box office: 10.8 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 6.75 times its cost)
[Hang 'Em High was released 12 April (Italy) and runs 114 minutes. Eastwood was advised by his agent at the William Morris Agency to follow up his stardom from the Dollars trilogy (A Fistful of Dollars (1964); For a Few Dollars More (1965); and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)) with a co-starring role in J. Lee Thompson's Mackenna's Gold (1969), but Eastwood refused and instead formed his own production company. Eastwood was paid 400k $ and 25 % of the net earnings of the film, which should have raked him in an (at the time) incredible 2.1 mil. $ salary, if 25 % of the North-American earnings alone, or 3.1 mil. $ if for the entire world gross. Shooting took place from June - August 1967 in Arizona, New Mexico and California. The film opened strongly, reportedly besting United Artists' Bond films in opening numbers and making back its costs in just two weeks. It grossed 6.8 mil. $ (63 % of the total gross) in North America. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Post returned with Peyton Place (1964-69), Bracken's World (1969, TV-series) and theatrically with Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970). Eastwood returned in Coogan's Bluff (1968). Hang 'Em High is fresh at 92 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Hang 'Em High?
