Hang 'Em High (1968) - Post and Eastwood cook spaghetti in the West

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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? 

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) - More than decent follow-up to the SF milestone

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The plentiful text promises lots of excitement on this poster for Ted Post's Beneath the Planet of the Apes

A rescue mission carrying astronaut Brent crash-lands on the planet of the apes and discovers a harrowing truth in tunnels beneath their civilization!

 

Beneath the Planet of the Apes is written by Paul Dehn (Orders to Kill (1958)), with Mort Abrahams (Route 66 (1962-63, producer)) contributing story elements, and directed by Ted Post (The Peacemaker (1956)). It is the first sequel to Franklin J. Schaffner's science fiction masterpiece Planet of the Apes (1968).

The film, in short, is not as successful or innovative as its predecessor but still solid entertainment.
Both effects and the action elements have been upped, and yet the debate-sparking elements in the original's storyline are also intact, this time in the forms of war-loving, brutal gorillas, protesting chimpanzees, against the simians' special culture surrounding violence against women. - And then there's the extremist, bomb-worshipping mutants! All in all Beneath has a lot of 'stuff' in it, for lack of a better word, to spur thoughts and parallels to the real world, making it highly successful SF, - if not, however, as revolutionizing as the groundbreaking original.
SPOILER The story about Charlton Heston's (Ben Hur (1959)) character Taylor from the first movie, who now has to be saved 2000 years into the future is a little thin, and the mutants are a bit far-fetched. If one wants to be critical about Beneath the Planet of the Apes. - But their pastel-colored costumes are prime kitsch, and I bought into the story irregardless.
James Franciscus (The Cat o'Nine Tails (1971)) is the new hero, - cast because of his resemblance to Heston, - and he is a woolly, poor hero. But then Heston reappears! SPOILER The ending, (in which Taylor blows up planet Earth), is quite something, and it is also in great alignment with the dystopic end of the original.

 

Related posts:

The Apes franchise: War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) - Reeves and Co. astonish with truly spectacular film that finishes the Ape circle 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) or, Ape 3.1: Mad Apes!
Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973) or, The Final Ape!  
Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) or, The Ape Uprising   
Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) - The enjoyable if farfetched second Apes sequel 

Kim Hunter and James Franciscus are photogenic and sexy as human prisoners in Ted Post's Beneath the Planet of the Apes

Watch an original TV promo for the film here

 
Cost: 2.5 mil. $
Box office: 18.9 mil. $ (North America only)
= Huge hit (returned 7.56 times its cost domestically alone)

[Beneath the Planet of the Apes was released 23 April (Italy) and runs 95 minutes. Pierre Boulle, author of the 1963 Planet of the Apes novel that started the franchise, wrote a script that was thrown out by the studio. Heston agreed only to a brief appearance and wanted his salary to go to charity. Schaffner was not able to return to direct due to his work on Patton (1970). Shooting took place from February - April 1969 in California, including in Los Angeles. Fox cut the budget in half to 2.5 mil. $ due to several recent, costly flops, and one cost-cutting strategy was the incorporation of sets from musical Hello, Dolly! (1969) in the film.It opened #9 to a 250k $ first week in 4 theaters, and it reached #1 in its 6th week with 863k $. The success immediately prompted another sequel to go into production: Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). Post returned with 9 TV and TV movie credits prior to his theatrical return with The Baby (1973). Franciscus returned in Night Slaves (1970, TV movie) and theatrically in The Cat o'Nine Tales (1971); Kim Hunter (The Kindred (1987)) in 5 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). Beneath the Planet of the Apes is rotten at 37 % with a 5.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Beneath the Planet of the Apes?