The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), directed by William A. Wellman
Two cow-pokes -- in town for a quiet drink -- are unwillingly swept up into a lynch mob seeking vengeance for cattle rustling and murder. They try to put brakes on the blood-lust, but sometimes the thoughtful, law-abiding citizens are just outnumbered.
This is more of a civics lesson than an actual western, and must have been jarring to people looking for relaxing entertainment. It is a dark, bitter vision of vigilante justice.
One of the voices of reason and restraint is Sparks (Leigh Whipper), an itinerant black preacher, who tells of how his brother was lynched. The Message doesn't get more blunt than that. He sings an early version of "Lonesome Valley".
Filmed on backlots with some unusual scenes for that era: the posse silently entering the suspects' camp is very eerie. The mob picnics on the condemned men's food.
Cast notes:
Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews do the fine work we always expect from them. Gary Cooper turned down Fonda's role. Fonda went into the Navy just after making this.
Anthony Quinn at age 28 is still in his dangerously suave phase.
Harry Morgan's second year in the movies; it's startling how far back he goes.
Jane Darwell usually got comic or sympathetic roles. Something different this time: a bloodthirsty, cackling crone who wants to hang someone right now. She and the town drunk make quite a pair.
The opening bar scene was repeated in the director's Yellow Sky (1948). Same bartender, different painting.
Photographed by Arthur Miller.
Available on Blu-ray from Kino. The edited commentary track includes a film scholar and more from the director's son. Wellman sounds like he was a tough character. He bought this script, the only time he put his own money into a picture.