Best movie of this year hands down!

the audience applauded

Crappy film

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This film is pretty good, though I'm somewhat hard pressed to say that it distinguishes itself much from its peers. That's not to say that it isn't likable. It is. Though when I stack it against other films, and even just other Westerns, it's own distinctiveness fades in the shadow of its contemporaries. Gary Cooper is good in it, frankly everybody is with Maria Schell being the notable standout. He is Gary Cooper though. With the only other film I've seen where he is the star being High Noon, it's difficult for me not to see that he doesn't really separate his characters with the way he performs them, with the same stern, serious demeanor, reluctant to show his softer side. I honestly think the character he plays so naturally is only as good as it's written. And while this one is played close to High Noon's, it is written to be different, and so the familiar nuances carry new and interesting meanings. So in the end, Gary Cooper's performance, while good, seems to owe more of its credit to the writer than to Gary Cooper. Of course this isn't a one man show. All others present are good too. Like I said, Maria Schell is more so the standout than Cooper. She performs her role with a range of emotion and body language. As the film progresses her character grows, and her performance with it. Her's is a character that we understand fully, and who's personality and ambition is laid bare before us. Honestly, she can be a bit more relocatable than the protagonist at times. The story can feel like it is her's, not Coopers. That's not really a bad thing. Beyond the two stars no one else really stands on their own, and are really the most interesting when playing off of Cooper or Schell. Piazza's Rune being the best example. The reason for my putting so much emphasis on the performances without really getting into the other aspects of film-making is because there isn't much to talk about. It's kind of average. The cinematography, the score, the editing. It's average. That isn't to say it's bad. Beyond punches obviously not connecting when characters are fighting, and some confusing editing during a certain confrontation, you'll know which it is when you see it, everything is competent. Being competent is not the same as being exceptional however. So when I say that this film really doesn't distinguish itself that's mostly what I'm talking about. To Cooper's credit, if he and Schell weren't leading the charge on the acting front, this film might be a bit forgettable.If you would allege that you're a fan of Westerns, you'll probably like this film. If you don't like Westerns than I honestly wouldn't recommend it. If you're somewhere in between, I would advise you check it out. It is a good film. It is worth watching.

Gary Cooper portrays a conflicted man of extreme contrasts in this tale set in a mining camp with the dubious name of Skull Creek. His character is Doctor Joe Frail and he arrives with a mysterious past, having changed his name from Temple to become a man of frail hope. A couple of different interpretations are offered as to why he torched his former home where the Ohio meets the Mississippi. I'll go with the version that says he caught his wife in an affair with his own brother, and their deaths, either by his own hand or theirs, has resulted in a man who wears his inner scars on the outside.Cooper shows his age and illness from cancer in this, his last Western movie role, which may account for the strained appearance of his character. However he does acquit himself well in a realistic looking brawl against miner Frenchy Plante (Karl Malden) midway through the story. Yet despite the gruff exterior, Doc Frail exhibits a tender and compassionate side, most notably when he removes the bandages from the eyes of Elizabeth Mahler (Maria Schell), severely injured and blinded when her stagecoach was attacked and plundered. As a newly arrived immigrant to America, Miss Mahler is a fiercely independent and strong willed woman whose devotion to the doctor becomes apparent following his treatment and care.There were a couple of elements in the story that didn't mesh for this viewer, the first one involving the character of Grubb (George C. Scott). Apparently Grubb had some history with Doc Frail in the past, but that was never elaborated on, and so it seems he was in the story primarily to lead the lynch mob near the end of the picture. Otherwise the character didn't seem all that necessary. There was also a loose end left with Rune (Ben Piazza), Frail's bonded servant after the Doc tended him for a gunshot wound after he tried to rob Frenchy's gold sluice. I would have expected at some point that Rune's attempt would have come to light and that he and Frenchy would square off, but that never came to pass.In a nod to the hanging tree of the title, the picture's finale has Grubb inciting the villagers to form a lynch mob with Doc Frail as it's target over the death of Frenchy. In the midst of this frenzy, Miss Mahler and Rune offer up the spoils of their recent gold strike, in effect to buy Frail's life, at which point the mob dissipates and simply wanders off. I can't say that that seemed very realistic to me, though it did provide for the expected reconciliation of feelings between Doc and his patient.

Doc Frail helps Rune, who is a thief, escape from those he stole from, but since Frail is played by Gary Cooper, who is tall and good looking, we figure that makes what he is doing all right. He then blackmails Rune, forcing him into slavery, but since it's Gary Cooper, what he is doing must be for the best somehow.When Elizabeth is discovered suffering from exposure and dehydration, Frail refuses to leave the bedside of a woman who he knows is going to die in a couple of hours anyway. It is a standard principle of triage that a doctor should help those who can be helped and not waste time on those who cannot, but since it's Gary Cooper, we figure he must be doing the right thing somehow. Besides, the person who thinks he should leave the dying woman and help Elizabeth is Frenchy, played by Karl Malden in an unsavory role, so he must be wrong somehow.When Frail finally arrives at the house where the men who found Elizabeth had taken her, Frail expresses his disgust with the fact that the house is dirty, asking the old man who lives there why he doesn't clean the place up. But that can't be rude, because it's Gary Cooper, so we figure the old man deserved to be insulted.Frail keeps Elizabeth in a cabin, allowing no one else in except himself and Rune. When ladies from town come to check on her after she has been there for a while, Frail refuses to let them talk to her. And Elizabeth, after finding out that he made the women leave, asks if she is a prisoner. Normally, it would be perfectly reasonable for concerned citizens to be allowed to ask Elizabeth if she is being kept there against her will, if she would like to leave. After all, if it were Frenchy keeping her in a cabin and not letting others talk to her, we would suspect that he was keeping her as a sex slave. But it is not Frenchy, played by Karl Malden; it is Frail, played by Gary Cooper. And besides, the women are really just a bunch of busybodies. And if Elizabeth thinks she is being kept there as a prisoner, that is just too bad, because it's Gary Cooper who is doing it, and so he must be right to disregard her wishes.And then, when Elizabeth finally gets her sight back, she goes to a lot of trouble to prepare a special dinner for Rune and Frail, but Frail would rather play poker instead. But we have to overlook this, in part because it's Gary Cooper, and in part because of some dark secret from his past. As best we can figure from rumor and from what Frail says, he caught his brother and his wife having sex. When he killed his brother, his wife was so horrified that she shot herself and died, after which Frail burned the house down. If it had been Frenchy who did something like that, we would hate him for it, but since it was Frail who did it, we are expected to be understanding.This is not to say that Frail does not do good things. Even if he were not played Gary Cooper, we would still approve of much of his behavior: letting Rune go free after a while; curing Elizabeth; letting some poor folks borrow his cow so their daughter can have milk; secretly funding Elizabeth in her determination to make her own way; and saving her from being raped by Frenchy. But it is still remarkable how much latitude we allow a character in a movie if he is played by an actor with an established persona of moral rectitude, especially if he is tall and good looking.

An excellent cast tells an excellent story. Gary Cooper is a doctor with a past, afraid to face the future. He portrays himself as a very hard man, yet he gives aid to people in distress. Carl Malden is so creepy in his role you may never see him in another movie without thinking of him in this role. It captures the idea of the power gold can have over people. There is romance, but it is more a story of people finding themselves as they search for a new and better life. I have watched all of Gary Cooper's movies. This is one of his finest. Don't miss it.Music by Marty Robbins is an added bonus.