IMDb RATING
7.1/10
4.9K
YOUR RATING
Unusual western about a doctor with a dark past, whose life is complicated and ultimately redeemed by a young thief, and a pretty Swiss immigrant whom he nurses back to health.Unusual western about a doctor with a dark past, whose life is complicated and ultimately redeemed by a young thief, and a pretty Swiss immigrant whom he nurses back to health.Unusual western about a doctor with a dark past, whose life is complicated and ultimately redeemed by a young thief, and a pretty Swiss immigrant whom he nurses back to health.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 1 win & 4 nominations total
Emile Avery
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Fern Barry
- Mother
- (uncredited)
William 'Billy' Benedict
- Trapper
- (uncredited)
Oscar Blank
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Danny Borzage
- Dan
- (uncredited)
Annette Claudier
- Dance Hall Girl
- (uncredited)
Tex Driscoll
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
Martin Eric
- Father
- (uncredited)
Frank Hagney
- Townsman
- (uncredited)
- Directors
- Delmer Daves(from 17 June to 28 July 1958)
- Karl Malden(from 29 July to 30 Aug. 1958) (uncredited)
- Vincent Sherman(only on 30 July 1958) (uncredited)
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe last western in which Gary Cooper starred.
- GoofsThe dresses have zippers, especially obvious when Elizabeth's dress is shown from the back and is partly unfastened. Zippers weren't used in the 1870s.
- Quotes
Townsman in wagon: [Reassuringly to wife] Every new mining camp's got to have its hanging tree. Makes it feel respectable.
- ConnectionsEdited into Meine Schwester Maria (2002)
Featured review
A Western gem
Little known, this Western gem has not attracted the attention or appreciation it deserves. Gary Cooper's Doc Frail is to me the most interesting of his Western heroes, much more complex than the Will Kane of "High Noon." He is a man of sharp contrast, kind but domineering, compassionate but unyielding, a healer but a killer, strong but at the same time frail. He draws people towards him, only to keep them at a distance when they get too close because of a tragic incident in his past, one he can neither forget nor allow to ever happen again. He is a vagabond, moving from gold camp to gold camp to set up his services as a doctor, without hope of ever settling down. Into his life come two key figures bound to change it. One is Rune, a young thief whom he rescues from the hanging tree, and they are bonded together. The other is Elizabeth, a young woman from Switzerland who has come with her father to find a new life in the gold camps. After a stagecoach accident, Doc Frail must cure her, both body and spirit, and she loves him for it, a love he cannot accept. He would send her back to her country; she stubbornly refuses and eventually partners in a gold claim with Frenchy (played by the marvelous Karl Malden), a man with lust in his heart for both gold and women. The emphasis on character lifts this film above the realm of the ordinary. Add to that a memorable title song sung by Marty Robbins, an appealing music score by Max Steiner, a no-nonsense script based on a story by Dorothy Johnson and on location filming in the mountains outside of Yakima, Washington, and what you have is one really fine Western.
Helpful•557
- matchettja
- May 23, 2006
- Permalink
- How long is The Hanging Tree?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Drvo za vesanje
- Filming locations
- Nile, Washington, USA(gold mining town set)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,350,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $8,992
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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