The Hanging Tree main backdrop
The Hanging Tree main poster

The Hanging Tree

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6.7/10 • 112

1959-02-191h 47m

Western

From The Prize Novel -- A Picture Of Thundering Power!

Joseph "Doc" Frail is a doctor with a past he's trying to outrun. While in Montana, he comes across a mining camp with a hanging tree and rescues a man named Rune from the noose. With Rune as his servant, Frail decides to settle down, and he takes over as town doctor. He meets Elizabeth, who is suffering from shock, and the two soon fall in love. But when Elizabeth is attacked, Frail's attempt to help her lands them both in trouble.

Directors
Delmer Daves
Editors
Owen Marks

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Gary Cooper

    Gary Cooper

    Dr. Joseph "Doc" Frail

  2. Maria Schell

    Maria Schell

    Elizabeth Mahler

  3. Karl Malden

    Karl Malden

    Frenchy Plante

  4. George C. Scott

    George C. Scott

    George Grubb

  5. Karl Swenson

    Karl Swenson

    Tom Flaunce

  6. Virginia Gregg

    Virginia Gregg

    Edna Flaunce

  7. John Dierkes

    John Dierkes

    Society Red

  8. King Donovan

    King Donovan

    Wonder

  9. Ben Piazza

    Ben Piazza

    Rune

Reviews1

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Wuchak Avatar

Wuchak

Oct 10, 2024

7/10

Ahead-of-its-time Western with Gary Cooper, set in the Great Northwest In 1873, an embittered doctor (Cooper) sets up practice in a small gold mining town along The Montana Trail. After acquiring a dubious bondservant (Ben Piazza), he tries to help a wounded Swiss immigrant (Maria Schell). But this stirs up the town’s moral police biddies and the jealousy of a lecherous prospector (Karl Malden), not to mention his successful practice threatens the livelihood of a faith healer (George C. Scott). "The Hanging Tree" (1959) was Cooper’s second to last Western. He passed away due to prostate cancer less than three years after it was shot in the summer of ’58. He was 57 during shooting and carries the film with his towering presence, which doesn’t feel like a 50’s Western, but rather one from the mid-60s. The colorful locations and town set are as good as you’ll see in any Western, very realistic, while angelic Maria Schell is a highlight, the older sister of Maximilian (by four years). Not everything in the story is spelled out. The intelligence of the viewer is respected and thus expected to put the pieces together based on clues offered. It’s good, just kind of ambiguous, which explains its failure at the box office and eventual sleeper status. It no doubt plays better on repeat viewings. This was George C. Scott’s breakout into feature films, but his character isn’t given much screentime and he hams it up a bit too much as the wild-eyed preacher, a one-note loony tune. More dimension was needed in order to ring true. The film runs 1 hour, 47 minutes, and was shot in the general area of Yakima, Washington, including Nile (the mining town) and Goose Prairie (the opening scene). This region is located about a 2.5-hour drive southeast of Seattle. GRADE: B

Media

  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster
  • The Hanging Tree poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
doctorcriminalhangingtechnicolor