The Ox-Bow Incident

1943  NR  WESTERN  1h 15min

CAST— Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Henry (Harry) Morgan, Jane Darwell, Frank Conroy, Harry Davenport

MUSIC— Cyril J. Mockridge  DIRECTOR— William A. Wellman  BASED ON— The Ox-Bow Incident (novel), by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

     Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan play the quiet everymen in this thinking man’s Western. When cattlemen come in from the range their minds are on nothing more than an easy drink. But when they hear reports of a well respected rancher being murdered most men see red (the rest see a potentially exciting afternoon). Fonda and Morgan are caught in the whirlwind of men forming a posse, but they see the folly of rash action. So as not to seem suspicious they join the gang, though they make it clear that they’re firmly on the fence. A trio of mysterious strangers are soon found, with extremely overwhelming evidence stacked against them. Fonda and Morgan, along with a handful of others, take up for the strangers, making a stand against the majority of the posse. A battle of wills ensues and the viewer is asked to choose sides. A movie with a moral, one that may catch you off guard. Deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.

OUR RATING— ***