Director William A. Wellman used a restrained narrative style and classical visual composition to create this starkly realistic take on vigilante justice. Two cowboy drifters witness a lynching of innocent travelers in cattle country. Henry Fonda's performance as an outsider of humble origins responding to injustice recalls his young Mr. Lincoln and Tom Joad [The Grapes of Wrath (1940)]. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won acclaim worldwide, although initial box office in the U.S. was slow. A re-release the following year was more successful.
Twentieth Century Fox. Producer: Lamar Trotti. Director: William A. Wellman. Screenwriter: Lamar Trotti. Based on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg. Cinematography: Arthur C. Miller. Editor: Allen McNeil. Cast: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan. 35mm, b/w, 75 min.
