Justice fails in Eastwood’s first American western, “Hang ‘Em High”
- Bill Kelley III
- 21 hours ago
- 6 min read
4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / HDR SCREENSHOTS
Clint Eastwood, in his first American western, plays Jed Cooper, an ex-lawman from St. Louis, who is falsely accused of murder and cattle rustling in the Oklahoma Territory. Character actor Ben Johnson plays Marshal Dave Bliss.
(Click an image to scroll the larger versions)
“HANG ‘EM HIGH”
4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray; 1968; PG-13 for violence
Best extra: Commentary with filmmaker/historian Steve Mitchell
CLINT EASTWOOD recently celebrated his 96th birthday.
And, for the first time, the actor, filmmaker, and musician officially retired, after 70-plus films, 40 of which he directed and won four Academy Awards. The golden statues were for Best Director (twice) and Best Picture (twice) – for “Unforgiven” (1992) and “Million Dollar Baby” (2004). Eastwood’s last directorial film was the highly praised “Juror No. 2” (2024), but Warner Bros. buried it in fewer than 50 theaters before its speedy move to HBO Max.
Eastwood, a San Francisco native and U.S. Army swim instructor during the Korean War, found steady work during the early part of his acting career as cowboy Rowdy Yates, on 217 episodes of the CBS TV series “Rawhide” (1959-65). But during the spring of 1964, Eastwood, 34, decided to gamble on Sergio Leone’s “A Fistful of Dollars,” looking for a change in landscape, especially outside the U.S., since his CBS contract prohibited any moviemaking stateside.
The low-budget ‘Spaghetti Western,’ a remake of the 1961 samurai classic “Yojimbo,” was filmed in Southern Spain, and the audio was looped in Rome. None of the dialogue was captured on location to save time and money, and Eastwood was paid a modest $15,000 and brought his own costume and props from “Rawhide,” including the rattlesnake grips for his Colt .45.
(1) Cooper guides his small herd of cattle across the river. (2&3) He notices a dozen riders heading his way, and they surround him. (4-8) Captain Wilson (Ed Begley) and his posse assume he’s the murdering rustler who killed rancher Joe Hanson and his wife, and stole their cattle. A lynch mob sentences and hangs Cooper on the spot.
Leone’s “Fistful,” with its grand visuals and score from Ennio Morricone, became a huge hit in Europe, and eventually in the U.S. Two sequels, “For a Few Dollars More” (1965) and “The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (1966), were ordered. Eastwood became an international superstar in his career-defining role as the ‘Man with No Name.”
After his contract ended with “Rawhide,” Eastwood attached himself to his first American Western, “Hang ‘Em High,” an independent release from United Artists – which they tagged: “They made two mistakes. They hung the wrong man, and they didn’t finish the job!”
The production was filmed at the White Sands National Park and along the Rio Grande River in New Mexico, with TV director Ted Post behind the camera, who had previously worked with Eastwood on “Rawhide.” The storyline explores vigilante justice, much like William Wyler’s classic western “The Ox-Bow Incident” (1943).
Eastwood plays Jed Cooper, an ex-lawman from St. Louis, who has purchased a small herd of cattle at a good price. During the opening sequence, Cooper pulls a small calf out of the river, as Captain Wilson (Ed Begley) and his posse surround him. They assume he’s the murdering rustler who killed rancher Joe Hanson and his wife, and stole their cattle.
Cooper shows a bill of sale and describes the owner, which doesn’t match. The gang drags Cooper across the river – Eastwood does the stunts – and they quickly tie a rope around his neck, place him on a horse, and fire a gun. The horse runs off, and Cooper is spinning around eight feet off the ground, gasping for what seems to be his last breaths.
The camera frames the bottom of his boots against the high desert as the composite opening credits start to roll. In large bold red type: “Clint Eastwood starring in,” fills the screen.
The excellent supporting cast includes Inger Stevens, Bruce Dern, Alan Hale Jr., Dennis Hopper, James Westerfield, L.Q. Jones, Joseph Sirola, and James MacArthur.
(1&2) Marshal Dave Bliss spots Cooper hanging from a tree, and quickly revives him. (3&4) The Marshal loads Cooper onto a tumbleweed wagon full of men wanted on different charges. They eventually arrive in Fort Grant. (5) Swedish-born Inger Stevens plays widow Rachel Warren. The actress died at age 35 from acute barbiturate poisoning. (6&7) Cooper and the other prisoners prepare to unload the wagon at Fort Grant. Actor Ben Johnson got his start as a ranch hand and rodeo cowboy. He went on to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” (1971).
VIDEO
MGM/Amazon scanned the original 35mm camera negative (1.85:1 aspect) in 4K and mastered each frame in the higher resolution, which extracted a good dose of refined natural film grain. The grain on the Blu-ray is less defined in its clarity, especially with wide shots, and is down a notch visually. It’s also sourced from the 4K master.
Several quick shots include duplicate negatives to fill gaps on the original negative, where the resolution drops and grain enlarges, but 99 percent of the time, the 4K imagery is excellent, from the New Mexico landscape to facial details. Clearly, it’s a major upgrade over previous editions.
The HDR10 and Dolby Vision grading does expose a heavier-than-normal red tint on faces, which is more than most 4K titles from that era.
AUDIO
The original two-channel Mono track has been restored and cleaned up, with everything front and center. Kino and MGM/UA also provided an upconverted six-channel DTS-HD soundtrack. The serviceable score comes from composer Dominic Frontiere, who spent most of his career writing for TV shows (“That Girl,” “12 O’Clock High,” “The Outer Limits” and dozens more). He also wrote for two lesser John Wayne westerns, “Chisum” (1970) and “The Train Robbers” (1973).
(1-3) Judge Adam Fenton, played by Pat Hingle, discovers the truth about the death of Joe Hanson and his wife. He gives Cooper a second chance, offering him his money back for the cattle he bought and to become a Deputy Marshal in the Oklahoma Territory.
EXTRAS
A new commentary from filmmaker/historian Steve Mitchell – who provides a convincing track, with plenty of stories and insight. He opens saying “Hang” is much more like TV than Eastwood’s earlier westerns, with Leone’s striking cinematic style. He then describes the next scene, as Post and cinematographer Richard H. Kline delivers a panoramic view of the valley from a hillside, with a rider entering the frame. In the distance, Cooper hangs from the tree. Kline then uses a super-fast zoom shot from wide to tighten and focus on Cooper. “I’m not crazy about zoom shots,” Mitchell says. During the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the newly developed lens with a wide range of focus lengths became a trendy photographic technique to use in one shot.
The rider on the horse, “Is the great Ben Johnson,” Mitchell says. Johnson got his start in rodeos, then became a western stunt rider, and eventually a stock cast member in John Ford westerns. He also won an Oscar in Peter Bogdanovich’s West Texas drama “The Last Picture Show” (1971). Johnson plays Marshal Dave Bliss, who revives Cooper and takes him in front of Judge Adam Fenton, played by Pat Hingle.
A second commentary with film historians Lem Dobbs and Nick Redman – a track recorded for the 50th Anniversary, released from Shout Studios in 2018. As an interesting tidbit, they mention Eastwood had another western option at the time, the big-budget “Mackenna’s Gold” (1969), which ended up starring Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif.
TV spots (1 min) – includes two short spots from 1968.
Radio spot (1 min) – opens with the sound of a trap door and the gasps of a crowd, as the wind whistles in the distance. Then the voiceover, “They only had one kind of justice in the Oklahoma Territory…”
Eastwood theatrical trailers – “Hang ‘Em High,” A Fistful of Dollars,” “For A Few Dollars More,” “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly,” “Coogan’s Bluff,” “Paint Your Wagon,” “Two Mules for Sister Sara,” “The Beguiled,” “Joe Kidd,” and “High Plains Drifter.”
— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1-3) Wearing the badge again, Cooper seeks to arrest the men who tried to hang him, with conspiracy to commit murder. First encounter with Reno (Joseph Sirola). (4) Another herd is rustled, and they kill the owner and another cowboy. Cooper joins the hunt, and they stumble upon a dead cow. (5-7) Cooper finds Miller, played by Bruce Dern, another member of Captain Wilson’s gang.
SPECS
100 GB disc
TRUE 4K mastering
Captured on 35mm film stock using spherical lens and composed in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio.
Video bitrate: Averages around 77 Megabits per second, with a running time of 114 minutes.
HDR10 maximum light level: 1016 nits
Max frame average light level: 425 nits
Box office: It opened on August 3, 1968, and finished with a worldwide box office of $11 million, with an estimated production budget of $1.8 million.
Metacritic: Critics 62 percent, User Score 6.3
Paste Magazine 100 Best Westerns of all Time: “Hang ‘Em High” was selected No. 71. They selected John Ford’s “The Searchers” (1956) No. 1.
American Cowboy website – The 100 Greatest Westerns of all Time: “Hang ‘Em High” was selected No. 78. They selected Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in the West” (1968) No. 1.
Wild West Magazine (2010): “Hang ‘Em High” was selected No. 13. And they selected “High Noon” (1952) No. 1.