The Hanging Tree (1959)

(On Cable TV, April 2021) Since westerns often degenerate into a morass of overused tropes, I was surprised to stay interested in The Hanging Tree at least throughout its establishing act. Here, we follow not a gunman, but a doctor trying to establish himself in a small town dealing with a gold rush. But the doctor is not necessarily an admirable protagonist, as he saves a criminal from death then uses his leverage to press him into servitude. Things get more interesting when a woman, the survivor of a stagecoach attack, is moved in his new offices, and they start making romantic plans for each other. The problem is that this isn’t necessarily a nice western — the lead character is a hyper-controlling deceiver (it’s a good thing that he’s played by the steadfast Gary Cooper), and the townspeople aren’t all upstanding citizens. (Plus, there’s a faith healer who is not welcoming of real doctors.)  It all conflagrates at some point, and it’s almost a surprise if it all ends on a somewhat positive note (although one wonders how long it can last — at the very least, someone’s going to move away). The colour cinematography takes good advantage of the landscape, and the feeling of a gold mine boomtown is portrayed convincingly. I wouldn’t classify The Hanging Tree as a great western, but it does have that elusive compelling quality that many better pictures lack — it may be imperfect, abrasive and meandering, but it holds our attention well enough.