beckr1 "Hangin' is any man's business that's around." Henry Fonda's father took him to the site of a lynching that occurred the previous morning and told young Henry that statement, and that line was used in the movie at Henry Fonda's insistence. It's hard to watch movies like this because it exposes the soul of every man. At a tight 75 minutes, the plot and dialogue move along at a good pace. Beautiful performances by Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn along with the reaction shots of the mob after the final realization of their lynching leave an indelible mark on the watcher. It was nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture and in 1998 it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

John Brooks What this film manages to do in just over one hour, most films of the kind can't manage to produce all combined.After a little bit of a slow ordinary start, this film dives straight into its plot, development and ethical theme as the riders led by the anger of a couple of persuasive spearheads go on a quest to "find the killers". What ensues is the most excellently developed piece of Western/drama cinema, through an atmosphere of pure captivating intensity that never lets down. Nothing much is really happening and there is more discussion than actual event, and yet, it finds itself a way into the viewer's most careful attention, where there's a genuine sense of care for where the film will be going as it progresses. It's gripping, thought-provoking til the very end.The characters are very well written and the plot is full with a host of various characters, some of which are secondary but still important both to the general plot and their subplots that resolve on their own.There's a sensitivity and attention to detail here that aren't always easy to find in such films. It manages to be very grim and morbid and centered around death, and yet, not at all depressing to watch and instead very engaging and relentless.

kapelusznik18 ****SPOILERS**** With the news that rancher Larry Kincaid has been killed and his cattle stolen a mob mentality gripped Bridger's Wills Nevada who were out for blood in finding Larry's killers and executing justice on them. Led by Confederate Major Tetley, Frank Conroy,the three suspects in Larry Kincaid's murder are found sound asleep in the desert at Ox-Bow and tried and convicted of Larry's murder without a lawyer to defend them or even jury around in convicting the three of them. Protesting their innocence the three accused Donald Martin Alva "Pop" Hardwicke and Mexican Juan Martinez, Dana Andrews Francis Ford & Anthony Quinn, are given a mock trial and sentenced to be hanged at sunrise after they had their last meal or drink. It's then that one of the members of the posse the rough & tumble Cowboy as well as notorious sh*t kicker-in always getting involved in bar room brawls- Gil Carter, Henry Fonda, together with six other members of the posse have second thoughts in hanging the trio feeling that they just might in fact be Innocent of all the charges placed against them! With Major Tetley certain that the trio is guilty he has the last word and has his wimpy and girly boy son Gerald, William Eythe, forced to have the honor to be the one to, by hitting the horses that their on, hang them. As you would have expected by seeing it coming from 10 miles away just moments-Even before their bodies are cold- after the three accused cattle rustlers and killers are dispatched the word come out that the late Larry Kincaid is in fact alive and well in being seen getting tanked up with a lady of the evening on a bottle of hard 90% whiskey at a local Bridger's Wells watering hole! ***SPOILERS**** With the truth coming out about Larry Kincaid's fake murder the Major, Major Tetley, feeling that he in fact murdered three innocent men goes back to his home with his outraged and girly boy son, who just couldn't bring himself to do his dad's bidding in making a man of himself, Gerald berating him on what a creep and coward he is the Major-off camera- blows his brains out. It's now up to the hero of the movie Henry Fonda as the hard drinking and bar brawling Gil Martin, who in fact voted against having the three accused strung up, later to exonerate himself of this whole sorry mess! And Fonda dose it 14 years later in the movie "12 Angry Men". That's by him convincing successfully a jury, that the three accused in the movie "The Ox-Bow Incident" never had, to find a man innocent of a murder that he proved that -with his over the top and mind boggling shyster talk -he didn't commit! P.s Check out actor Rondo Hatton as Gabe Heart one of the members of the Ox-Bow lynch mob or neck-tie party who later became famous as the notorious "Creeper" or "Brut Man" in horror movie history.

Alex da Silva It's 1885 and drifters Henry Fonda (Gil) and Harry Morgan (Art) ride into a backwater town where they learn that a popular cattleman has been shot dead and had his cattle stolen. The townsfolk are keen on a quick lynching for whoever is responsible and Fonda and Morgan go along with the posse to detract suspicion from themselves. They don't approve of what is happening along with a few others but they are in the minority. This town wants vengeance. Unfortunately, for whoever they find, vengeance is not the same as justice.Once it gets going, the film is pretty tense as you side against the majority mob led by ex-Army Major Frank Conroy (Major Tetley) and local cowboy Marc Lawrence (Jeff). The audience can sense what the outcome will be but can't quite believe that the film will see it through. I kept expecting that turning point to come and change the course of events. What happened was quite shocking.The cast are all good and the film has a compact running time and effective setting, especially that tree. I don't know how you get a tree like that. My wife reckons that it was struck by lightning. Could be? The film has a bleak ending but I guess we all make mistakes in life. We just have to move on.