The Ox-Bow Incident

THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (PG)

D: William A. Wellman

20th Century Fox (Lamar Trotti)

US 🇺🇸 1943

75 mins

Western

W: Lamar Trotti [based on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark]

DP: Arthur C. Miller

Ed: Allen McNeill

Mus: Cyril J. Mock ridge

Henry Fonda (Gil Carter), Harry Morgan (Art Croft), Dana Andrews (Donald Martin), Frank Conroy (Maj. Tetley), Harry Davenport (Arthur Davies), Anthony Quinn (Juan Martinez), Mary Beth Hughes (Rose Mapen)

A thinking man’s Western, starring Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan as a pair of drifters who ride into the small town of Bridger’s Wells, Nevada, where the former is hoping to rendezvous with an old flame, but she’s since moved on and the town is shook from the actions of some rustlers who have murdered a local farmer.

The two men join the hastily formed mob and find a trio of men on the outskirts of town whom they are eager to sentence to a hanging without a fair trial.

A breezy watch at a mere 75 minutes, with fine performances from the entire cast, with Dana Andrews standing out in particular.

The sets have aged rather unconvincingly, but it’s the only bum note in an otherwise excellent production.

8/10