| |  | Director: William A. Wellman
Actors: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe
Studio: Fox Home Entertainment
Buy New: $99.99
Rating:  57 reviews
Sales Rank: 100270
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Original Recording Reissued, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 75 Minutes
UPC: 024543055907
EAN: 0024543055907
ASIN: B00008MTW4
Theatrical Release Date: May 21, 1943
Release Date: August 4, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 16-20 of 57
 The best movie about lynching March 12, 2000
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This a great movie where Henry Fonda showed his great acting skills. Mr. Fonda was great in roles where he had to display his persuasive ability. He, along with Harry Morgan(Mash's Colonel Potter) horsedbacked into town to find themselves in the middle of a problem of cattlemen having problems with cattle rustling.The townfolk are ready to handle this murderous situation by pressing for lynching instead of by the regular means of trial by jury. The movie shows all kinds of personalities with their reasons why they feel lynching is the right or wrong method of handling the matter. For example,Major Tetley is for lynching not so much for thinking that cattlerustling is bad, but because he wants to personally make a man out of his cowardice son. Take Mr. Davies, a storekeeper, who feels we must do things by trial of jury and act in a reasonable legitimate manner. Take Farnley, the buddy of the murdered man. He is so angry he would have handled it swiftly by lynching without having the facts. Take Henry Fonda-who feels we must give these 3 innocent men charged with cattlerustling a chance to be heard. Take Sparks-he is against lynching because he saw his own brother being lynched. Take Moore, how he came to side with the trial by jury side is a mystery in itself, but you wish there were more men like him in the end. They hang them.Dana Andrews was great in asking to have time to write a letter back home read later by Fonda to tell his loved ones that he would not be there for them anymore. What a sad time to see these men hang for something they did not do just because the majority of men plus one woman wanted to get the job over quick. This situation could have happened in another setting not just in a western. Makes you want to sit down and cry but to decide what side you would have been on in this situation. This is a great movie simply because it has a message to tell us-Let us not act in haste until we know all the facts and give those a chance being accused their day in court. Buy the movie friends-and get ready to decide on this matter. Will it be the quick hanging method of justice or the slow time taking trial by jury method? An A++++++++!
The dangers of vigilantism March 12, 2001
allison5000 (Arlington, VA USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan make a swell pair of drifters! They stumble into a town recently ravaged by rustlers and are forced to join an unruly, lynching mob. The film's visual imagery is both poetic and startling. This movie is all about shadows and the reactions on people's faces; watch Anthony Quinn, that cat is cool as a cucumber! Director William Wellman races the viewer through a fast-paced morality play, and we are left to judge the characters' behavior for ourselves. What will happen in the end? Ooh, if this film was a book (which it once was), it'd be a real page-turner!
I get caught up in it every time! August 25, 2001
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
When I first saw this movie, on a friend's recommendation, I didn't know what to expect - and it completely blew me away! Good - we want a movie to engage us. And there are plenty that do the first time through. But I feel one test of a movie's power is its ability to touch us and get a reaction after multiple viewings. Each time I watch "The Ox-Bow Incident," I am on the edge of my chair, wanting to jump in and prevent the mob from making a tragic mistake. But I have to sit there, frustrated, knowing exactly what is coming but powerless to change it. Watch this movie; it will keep you human.
Tragic Adult Film: Suspense in the Real West February 20, 2005
Daniel Hurley (Chesapeake, VA.)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This film is a gritty portrayal of the old west in the 1880's with a town obviously hard on its luck. This film reminds me a lot of another of Fonda's later work, "12 Angry Men". But instead of a jury, its a mob formed as a posse with vengence on their mind. Some of the characters want to legitimately settle a score with the men or man that killed their friend, others are in for the sheer excitment and entertainment of a hanging. In the mix are new comers Fonda and Morgan who go along partly to ensure that they themselves are not suspects but also go out of some curiousity and sense of fair play. The personalities range from the affluent, powerful and suspicious Tettleton who seems to glory in leading the posse in his Confederate Officer uniform that is rumored to have never seen battle with a myriad number of other unique personalities. The rest are curious parrallels, the right but weak son of Tettleton, the machismo Deputy who lacks cerebal depth, the town drunk who is an insuuferable vigalantee, the store owner who seeks justice and a poor man who comes along as a minister thinking of the potential victims who appear to have no legal alternatives. The posse contains over 30 men with a single woman called "Ma" who is harder than most of the men in the possee. The accused are three contrasts, one old and weak, one strong and good and the other, played by Anthony Quinn who may be a criminal in his past but he is not this day as he travels with what may be innocent men. As the possee captures the three men, a carnival like atmosphere begins for the majority of the possee while a few try to change their mind with Fonda playing an unsophisticated but earnest cowhand that trys to stop the hanging. The final scenes reminds me of a Jesus like portyal as the three men, particularly the obviously wholesome good man who finally, after much disbelief, accepts his fate as some sort of invalid sacrifice. The final scenes are very unusual for a western in that its very adult and surprising with the ramifications of the actions of the whole thrust upon them at the end. A wonderful exchange back in town ocurrs when the vindictive drunk vigalant proclaims that its "all Tettleton's fault and we ought to hang him." "Haven't you had enough hangings for one day", replies Fonda. Its as if to say that regardless of the consequences of their actions, the evil in some men's souls can never be changed for the good.
Perhaps the greatest film dramatization of the evil of anarchy October 24, 2005
Ash Ryan (Salt Lake City, Utah)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This brilliant film masterfully illustrates the horrors of anarchy as mob rule overtunes objective law in one small wild west town, even making interesting psychological observations about tyrannical power-lusters through the character of the colonel. Henry Fonda stars as the voice of reason, but be forewarned: this one doesn't have a happy ending, as tragedy is necessary to dramatize the theme.
The only flaw is the go-nowhere sub-plot involving Fonda's love interest, but that takes so little time that it's a minor flaw and can be overlooked.
12 Angry Men, also starring Fonda, makes a good companion piece, as it shows the importance to liberty of objective law from a positive perspective. It's amazing how much drama and tension they manage to put into a film that's essentially just twelve men sitting in a small room talking for an hour and a half (and this one doesn't make the mistake of trying to put in an irrelevent romance).
The special features on the Ox-Bow Incident DVD are also good (especially for an older film such as this), particularly the original trailer, which features Fonda talking about what the film means to him. If only more trailers today were like this one.
An essential part of any film lover's library, and well worth the money.
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