Rent The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Anti-vigilante western (spoilers). - The Ox-Bow Incident review by Steve

William Wellman's low budget adaptation of the classic classroom text is set within the framework of the western, but really it is a polemic against mob justice. In Nevada, 1885 a popular rancher is reported dead and three cowboys passing through the territory are summarily lynched on insubstantial evidence.

Some of the men react to the rumoured death of the local man with a lust for instant revenge. This desire passes through the group, but each has his own personal motivation for their reckless, unlawful action. Even those who oppose the lynching are reluctant to speak in case the mob turns on them too. Once the urge is in motion, it must be satisfied.

Of course, the local farmer isn't dead and the strangers were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Several of the mob are charged with murder. This is a brief film which makes its case with little diversion, which enables its impact to be precise and powerful. There is a fine ensemble cast, with Dana Andrews particularly effective as on of the victims.

Henry Fonda is the lead, as one of the few who stand against the vigilantes. It is interesting to place his role as a forerunner of 12 Angry Men (1957). This is a low budget film. There is no incidental noise on the soundtrack, no extras, hardly any set decoration. The studio look is artificial. It's a skeletal, dark, schematic tragedy that lingers and haunts the memory.