The movie Hang ‘Em High, directed by Ted Post came out in 1968. Post was well known for his television and film directing, especially with Clint Eastwood. The start roll was held by Clint Eastwood who was very well known throughout this time. This was his first big Hollywood western movie but can be disregarded as a great film due to Eastwood’s other great accomplishments. When it first came out it wasn’t seen as a good film and more so as a disappointment due to the low budget production. As time went on the movies reputation grew and become more popular. This movie was known as “A fistful of Dollars” because the little money spent. It was so low budget the filmed that the extras used were paid about 50 cents per day and didn’t even speak English. They described them as sweaty, dirty, mean men who scratched a lot and would spit on everything from their chewing tobacco. However, one of the directors used this to his advantage, he would capture close up shots of horrible wounds, grins, and the dirty sweat beating off someone’s face. This helped Eastwood look like an amazing actor and helped him get big time in Hollywood. The action thrilling scenes were even more exciting knowing the Eastwood was doing all his own stunts like the lynching’s and even the rope tied around his neck when they dragged him across the Rio Grande. Besides some cheap scenes for this type of movie the visual and audio output was well done. Many close up shots were taking for emotion and quick changes in music really sets the mood and intensity for the audience. I personally think the quiet scenes with no music had the most power, just hearing the actor’s voices made certain parts very serious, however, a very heavy drop was soon to follow.
This story from the start became about revenge. It starts with Eastwood surrounded by men, things don’t go his way and they decide to lynch him. He was accused of committing a crime that he didn’t. “They made two mistakes: They hung the wrong man, and they didn’t finish the job.” However, another cowboy shows up to cut him down and from their own his mission is to seek revenge. He soon became the Marshall of the town but still had a moral against capital punishment. The film shows the pros and cons of this punishment from government in a western era very well. Since he is now the Marshall he ends up tracking some of the other men because they were involved in some local crimes. Eastwood finds himself in a situation where he could possibly be abusing his power.
This Film in today’s society would be seen very unconventional. Lynching is something that really never happens anymore and seen as a cruel way for death. There are even many issues with how we do now of days. Although, when this movie took place mass hangings/ lynching’s were mainstream and was something people would gather together about and celebrate. It wasn’t an unusual thing to see people hung because that was considered the most civil way of executing someone.
Hang ‘Em High review (http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/12479%7C0/Hang-Em-High.html)
Hey Dallas,
This was a really interesting read, even though I haven’t watched the movie- but reading your blog post makes me want to! I really liked how you talked about the history during the time that the movie was made, and how that fed into the movie being ‘mainstream’ back when it came out due to some of the violence portrayed in it. When I think Clint Eastwood, I usually think about really popular movies that had a big budget with all of the stunts and props and everything- but it was cool to learn how this film was actually a really low budget film. The quotes you added made the blog post fun to read- so this is something I’m definitely going to try doing more of in the future.
Hi Dallas,
I loved your opening statements for this short essay. The background information provided immediately regarding the movie and its production gave us new insight on an old favorite. I had no idea how low budget the production of the film actually was, and the knowledge regarding the director’s decisions to juxtaposition Eastwood’s good looks with that of his rugged costars is ingenious. I appreciate the amount of historical context you provided towards the end of the essay. It is something I will practice more thoroughly in the future, as it gives the movie a new sense of depth and grit.
Hello Dallas,
I liked your article but I just wanted to point out one things, correct me if I’m wrong. I thought “A Fistful of Dollars” was part of the “spaghetti western” trilogy including the films “A Few Dollars More” and “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”. Other than that I really liked the film you chose to watch. It’s interesting to me that good looking Clint Eastwood always portrayed such rough characters who were dangerous. He plays a good anti-hero for sure. One thing I will like to point out was Hang ’em High was a “true” western, when you take in the filming locations, compared to so many others that filmed in cheaper Europe. I never saw this one but I’ll be sure to put it on my list.
Hello Dallas,
Hang’em High looks like a very funny movie that I am definitely going to have to watch, I have always been a fan of the humor I think the movie has from the way you described it. I really liked some of the interesting facts that you had listed in your post. For example when you mentioned how Clint Eastwood did all of his own stunts that’s astounding. The godfather had very gory scenes as well. I will look for interesting facts like those to add into some of my future posts because it made me more interested.