A remarkable film whose power has not dimmed - although it may have been even more incredible to watch in 1943 when the Hays Code is at full flight. There have been plenty of films were someone is falsely accused of a crime and is about to be lynched - but not many where the innocent parties are actually lynched. It's emotionally devastating, powered by Dana Andrews' excellent performance as an intelligent, innocent man who is plucked from his sleep and told he's going to die - he pleads, barters, gets angry, reasons, all to no avail... it's heartbreaking. Anthony Quinn and Francis Ford are also superb as his friends - Quinn the dodgy Mexican who nonetheless doesn't deserve to die and Ford as a helpless old man.
A lot of the posse are actually reasonable - Henry Fonda (in a not very heroic role - good on him), Harry Davenport, the possibly gay cowboy, I-would-prefer-to-sit-on-fence Henry Morgan - but they are outnumbered by the all too believable posse. In particular there are two of the greatest villains in cinema: the pompous southern general who still wears his uniform (Frank Conroy) and fat cackling woman (Jane Darwell), with an honourable mention to ruthless Marc Lawrence.
It's a superb movie that spanks along and is a tribute to all who worked on it.
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