The executioner

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Movie
German title The executioner
Original title The Hangman
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1959
length 87 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Michael Curtiz
script Dudley Nichols
production Frank Freeman Jr.
for Paramount Pictures
music Harry Sukman
camera Loyal Griggs
cut Terry O. Morse
occupation

The Hangman (OT: The Hangman ) is an American western from 1959 directed by Michael Curtiz . The plot of the film is based on the short story Pull Your Freight by Luke Short .

Robert Taylor plays a deputy marshal who has been nicknamed "The Executioner" because he pursues his goal with uncompromising tenacity. Tina Louise plays the young woman who, through her demeanor, helps him change his view of things.

action

Marshal Mackenzie “Mac” Bovard has already brought three of the four outlaws who carried out an armed robbery during a mail robbery into law, now he's only missing the fourth man - John Butterfield. Bovard tries to find out something about Butterfield through his former superior in the cavalry , because no one knows what he looks like. Time is of the essence as the last imprisoned Zimmerman, who is the only one who can identify him as an accomplice, will soon be executed. You can't help Bovard with the army itself. However, a member of the cavalry gave him the tip to turn to a Selah Jennison, whose husband, who had since fallen, was friends with Butterfield. She fought her way through as a laundress and could certainly use the $ 500 bonus for identification. Bovard, who believes that everyone has their price, is turned down by the young woman who defends Butterfield and refuses to help him. Still, he leaves her a travel ticket and the address of the hotel in North Creek, where Butterfield is believed to be, in the firm belief that she will change her mind. So he first travels alone and rents two rooms in the “Hotel Commercial” to wait for Selah Jennison. That same day, he contacts local Sheriff Buck Weston, who is impressed by Mac's reputation. He tells Weston his view of things and that humanity must be protected from the many bandits that exist in the world. The sheriff assures him that there is no one in town by the name of John Butterfield. In a later conversation with Weston, Bovard assures him that everyone can be bought, that it is only a question of price. One stagecoach after the other drives up, but Bovard waits in vain for Selah Jennison every day. Meanwhile, Bovard has suspected the transport driver Johnny Bishop, to whom the description he has of Butterfield fits strikingly. Wherever he asks, however, you put your hand in the fire for the young man. He is extremely popular in the city.

Bovard is secretly very taken with the fact that he seems to have met someone who refuses to betray a friend, which he toasts to the sheriff. When he is about to declare his assignment finished and leave, Selah Jennison turns up to his great disappointment. Accordingly, he meets her uneasily. At this point in time, he had no idea that their plan was completely different. The other day she should show him which man is John Butterfield. Jennison does not stick to the agreed plan to drop her handkerchief when she recognizes Butterfield. She denies that Bishop is Butterfield. Bovard thinks up a new plan, she should wait over at the gate tomorrow, when the suspicious bishop recognizes and greets her, then he'll know it's Butterfield. If she was so sure that it was not the wanted person, there would be no reason to refuse. When Bovard realizes that Selah Jennison's clothes are being made fun of in the hotel dining room, he gives her money so that she can change clothes. The young woman manages to let Johnny pass a note on which she reveals Bovard's plan and warns him. The other day, Selah waits at the gate in new clothes and is looked at in admiration by all the men in town, except Johnny. For Bovard, this is exactly an indication that this is the John Butterfield he is looking for. Next, Bovard tries to harness Big Murphy, who was involved in a fight with Bishop the day before, for himself. However, he applies his knowledge by trying to bring Johnny and his wife across the border in a carriage. Bovard can still stop the carriage. When Murphy is in danger because he wants to defy Bovard's orders, Bishop identifies himself as Butterfield and allows himself to be arrested.

When Bovard wants to give Selah Jennison the $ 500, she refuses, saying she doesn't want blood money . Johnny was innocent, she knew exactly, he hadn't known what it was about, his fault had only been that he trusted false friends, but he had not committed a crime, only brought horses to the border for them. Her words still ring in Bovard's ears that he was a real friend who protected her after her husband's death and without whom she would have been lost at the time. Become thoughtful told Bovard Selah his story and how he who actually Jura studied and in California wanted to establish himself as a lawyer, had come to his job.

The men of town, a sworn community when it comes to Johnny, have now come up with a plan to get him out of prison. Their plan works, but Bovard gets wind of it and just sees Johnny riding away on a horse. He aims at him, but then raises his gun and shoots into the air. The next morning, Bovard gave Weston his star and asked him to send it to Marshal Cummings, his superior, that he would go to California to practice law. Bovard wants to know at all costs what Selah Jennison is planning now. He received the answer he had secretly hoped for, that she was going to California with him, even if he didn't want her. But she just loves him. Bovard happily replies: "I want you."

Production and Background

The Los Angeles Times reported in March 1957 that Paramount Pictures had bought Luke Short's short story The Hangman , which first appeared under the title Pull Your Freight , and was planning a film adaptation with James Cagney . Inger Stevens was slated for the role of Selah Jennison and Edward Dmytryk was slated for the director. However, since Dmytryk had other obligations, Michael Curtiz took over the direction.

The film was produced from September 22nd to late October 1958. Premiered The Hangman on March 5, 1959 in New York . The film was released on January 8, 1960 in the Federal Republic of Germany .

criticism

The reviews for the film on the American market were mostly negative, both in Variety and in the Hollywood Reporter , the film was criticized mainly for two scenes that show the actress Tina Louise bathing.

The film magazine film-dienst, on the other hand, found: "A Western that is psychologically not very convincing, but exciting and entertaining."

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b The Hangman (1959) Notes at TCM - Turner Classic Movies
  2. ^ The Executioner (1959) at filmdienst.de