The theme here is based on William's Wellman's stern, uncompromising study of mob rule, set in the Old West
It is one of tragic misunderstanding, the sort of witches brew of error, impatience and intolerance, which must have often characterized Western rough justice...
Mob fury surrounds a little cattle-town like a fever Most citizens seem only too eager to join a manhunt for the murderer of a rancher Henry Fonda and his sidekick Henry Morgan have to go along with the tide, if only for the fact that, as wanderers passing through, they are not above suspicion themselves
The unofficial posse, under the leadership of Major Tetley (Frank Conroy) comes upon the campfire of three suspects
On the basis of circumstantial evidence, Tetley exhorts the mob into an on-the-spot trial Despite the pleas of a few dissenters, a guilty verdict t is quickly reached and a triple lynching is performed
Then, riding back, the lynch-mob gets the news that the rancher is still alive and the real villains have been taken
"The Oxbow Incident" was never a box office success, but was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Picture... However the film makes its point, as well as it ever did It's not only about the social injustice of instant justice; it's also about human nature, all its oddities, frailties and the perils therein It's often said that it laid the beginning of the psychological Western That's perhaps too big and ambiguous a claim... What it does possess to a marked degree is keen observation, and a fine distinction that is never difficult to see
Mob fury surrounds a little cattle-town like a fever Most citizens seem only too eager to join a manhunt for the murderer of a rancher Henry Fonda and his sidekick Henry Morgan have to go along with the tide, if only for the fact that, as wanderers passing through, they are not above suspicion themselves
The unofficial posse, under the leadership of Major Tetley (Frank Conroy) comes upon the campfire of three suspects
On the basis of circumstantial evidence, Tetley exhorts the mob into an on-the-spot trial Despite the pleas of a few dissenters, a guilty verdict t is quickly reached and a triple lynching is performed
Then, riding back, the lynch-mob gets the news that the rancher is still alive and the real villains have been taken
"The Oxbow Incident" was never a box office success, but was rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Picture... However the film makes its point, as well as it ever did It's not only about the social injustice of instant justice; it's also about human nature, all its oddities, frailties and the perils therein It's often said that it laid the beginning of the psychological Western That's perhaps too big and ambiguous a claim... What it does possess to a marked degree is keen observation, and a fine distinction that is never difficult to see