The Hanging Tree

directed by Delmer Daves
Category: "Western"
Year of Release:1959
Date Added:02/18/2026
Date Watched:02/18/2026
Description:Dr. Joseph Frail (Gary Cooper) wanders into a mining camp and sets up practice. He's running from a past in which he (may have) killed his wife after she cheated on him with his brother. A stagecoach is robbed, and the only survivor is a young woman, Elizabeth (Maria Schell), who is lost in the mountains. A posse searches for her, and she is found by Frenchy (Karl Malden). Frail nurses her back to health, and she falls for him. He doesn't want to love her because of his past, so she goes off and starts a gold claim with Frenchy and Rune, a young man that Frail saved from hanging. When the mine makes good, Frenchy gets drunk and attacks Elizabeth. It's not the first time he's tried, and Frail warned him not to try again. So this time, Frail kills Frenchy. The townfolk decide to hang Frail, but Elizabeth offers them her mine and all the gold for Frail's life. The men of the town get drunk and burn the town down and fight over the gold. Frail and Elizabeth end up together after all.
My Rating:6

Reviews for The Hanging Tree

Review - Hanging Tree, The

OK for a while, and then it started to drag. The silliness about a tree falling over and revealing bags and bags of huge nuggets was annoying, as was Frenchy riding into town throwing gold around and bragging about his find. As was the town's decision to hang Frail even though they all saw that Frenchy had a gun and was shooting back. There seemed to be about 800 men milling around, which was a lot for a town with four buildings and a couple tents.
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