It is said frequently that psychological or "adult" westerns -less action and more substance in the plots- appeared in the early 50's with films like "The Gunfighter" or "High Noon". However in my opinion, the "Ox-Bow Incident", of 1943, was the first real "adult western (the previous "Stagecoach", though an excellent product in the genre, still maintains the original standards).
Director William Wellman obtains here a fantastic grey and sort of sordid atmosphere to display a story of men taking justice by their own hand and making an unrepairable mistake. The final sequence at the saloon when Henry Fonda reads in a loud voice the letter to his wife left by one of the innocent men hanged is most disturbing but at the same time rewarding for us viewers who get the feeling that justice has been done: the executioners will have to live with their terrible crime in their consciences for the rest of their lives.
Fonda and Andrews are very good in their parts and the supporting cast is excellent mainly with the always accurate Jane Darwell and a young Anthony Quinn.
"The Ox-Bow Incident" stands as a little classic among westerns, or dramas if you prefer.
Director William Wellman obtains here a fantastic grey and sort of sordid atmosphere to display a story of men taking justice by their own hand and making an unrepairable mistake. The final sequence at the saloon when Henry Fonda reads in a loud voice the letter to his wife left by one of the innocent men hanged is most disturbing but at the same time rewarding for us viewers who get the feeling that justice has been done: the executioners will have to live with their terrible crime in their consciences for the rest of their lives.
Fonda and Andrews are very good in their parts and the supporting cast is excellent mainly with the always accurate Jane Darwell and a young Anthony Quinn.
"The Ox-Bow Incident" stands as a little classic among westerns, or dramas if you prefer.