a rarely seen, not available on American DVD western by Delmer Daves, The Hanging Tree.
Maria Schell costars with Karl Malden in a story about a complex and unusual "triangle" of
relationships between a stagecoach hold-up victim (Maria), the doctor that treats her
resultant sun blindness due to exposure, and a young man (Ben Piazza) the doctor has saved from
being shot for stealing. Lest these deeds make the doctor sound like some kind of good
Samaritan, Coop actually plays "Doc" Joseph Frail as a mysterious, somewhat dark and
forbidding character with a past who isn't about to explain himself to anyone...or
acknowledge any obligations beyond those he can control.
The movie presents us with a small collection of characters who wear different masks
and seeing the true person underneath seems to be a possible theme of the film, along
with the importance of trust, particularly when the young woman (Maria) enters the little
mining settlement stricken with blindness, and who's vulnerability places Frail in a compromising
position. It seems even in a make-shift mining camp, gossip and suspicion are always your
neighbor.
The ghosts of Frail's past are in constant jeapordy of being revealed partly because the doctor's
own temper threatens to undermine his position as the community's position as healer. Most
eager to try to expose Frail are Malden's "Frenchie" who goes down as one of the most aggravating
and despicable of varmits and a particularly looney appearance by George C. Scott as a fanatic
who also holds a personal grudge against Frail. It appears that Frail views himself as the only man allowed
to keep secrets, for he does not hesitate to put these two men roughly in their place for their own dubious characters.
More an adult psychological mystery and character study than action shoot em up, this western deserves
to be better known, particularly as "Doc" Frail is for Cooper one of the three great western
characters of his career (along with Will Kane in High Noon and Linc Jones in Man of the West)
because he is something of an enigma wrapped in a mystery...and a mighty attractive form.
Enjoy!!
http://www.tcm.com:80/tcmdb/title.jsp?stid=77288
Turner Classic Movies
Tuesday, February 8th, 2011, 1:30 p.m. EST
