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The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
LYNCH LAW
RULES THE MOB!
Director: William A. Wellman, rated Approved
  Starring: Henry
Fonda, Dana Andrews, Harry Morgan, Frank Conroy, Anthony Quinn,
William Eythe, Jane Darwell, Matt Briggs
DML Rating:
★★★★★★★★★★
- perfect
"You don't even care
whether you've got the right men or not. All you know is you've
lost something
and somebody's got to be punished." - Donald
Martin
Why watch this?
This is a twist on the old West's posse - what if they catch the
wrong people?
Plot Summary:
In a small Western town, news arrives that a local rancher has
been murdered and his cattle stolen. With the sheriff out of
town, a posse forms to track down the perpetrators. When the
posse finds three men with cattle bearing the rancher's brand, a
heated debate ensues about whether to administer immediate
justice or wait for the sheriff and a formal trial.
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Dad's Preview:
The American Western film is a great vehicle for the morality tale. It's
easier to depict how people will act in a setting where many
laws had to be enforced by the citizens, not the government. In
this drama, a rancher has been murdered and his cattle stolen.
In town, a posse is formed to mete out
justice. They find
three men with cattle and assume they have captured the murders. The mob,
led by the tyrannical, bigoted Major Tetley, sets to hang the men. This
is a great exercise on the evils of mob mentality and the
dangers of groupthink. |
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Lamar Trotti; 20th
Century Fox
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