The Ox-Bow Incident
1943
****
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan, Jane Darwell, Frank Conroy, Harry Davenport, Paul Hurst, Marc Lawrence, Ted North
In 1885, two drifters join a posse formed to track down cattle rustlers believed to have shot a local rancher. When they seize three men, a bitter debate erupts over whether they should bring the suspects to justice or hang them on the spot. This short but powerful Western is based on Walter van Tilburg Clark's 1940 novel. It offers a well-argued condemnation of lynch-mob mentality, even if it is delivered with very little subtlety.
