Criticized by many as essentially a stage-bound play but with horses but it has as strong screenplay and excellent performances from Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews
One of Fonda’s favorite of his movies
Anti-lynching social film—political and moral
Filmed on a sound stage
Jane Darwell isn’t given much to do here but she’s good in her few scenes
Although he evens out over the course of the film it’s great to see Fonda as a hot head with a temper for a while sort of against type for him
The Mr. Davies character (Harry Davenport) who is against the hanging is, is too on the nose with the film’s messaging and thesis. “We don’t want to act like a lawless mob”
Formally sound- reoccurring shot of rows of horses
It’s only a 3 segment interlude but the Fonda lost love side story was great
The frame is absolutely peppered with bodies
Dana Andrews is damn good here
It’s a vignette essentially—75 minutes but there’s nuance and complex characters
The ending does turn into a sermon the with posthumously letter read aloud but few can read a letter like Fonda
@RujK- Fun question. I always think of Welles in The Third Man. This isn’t exactly the same thing- but this “single scene performances” list is a solid place to start for ideas.
@Drake- Welles is incredible, for me he and Hauer are practically tied for the best per-minute performance.
Thank you for the list- Molina certainly does wonders with his 5 minutes in Boogie Nights.
What are some of the best per-minute performances, like Andrews in The Ox-Bow Incident and Hauer in Blade Runner?
@RujK- Fun question. I always think of Welles in The Third Man. This isn’t exactly the same thing- but this “single scene performances” list is a solid place to start for ideas.
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-single-scene-performances/mike-mcgranaghan
@Drake- Welles is incredible, for me he and Hauer are practically tied for the best per-minute performance.
Thank you for the list- Molina certainly does wonders with his 5 minutes in Boogie Nights.