The Ox-Bow Incident

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This article is about the film. For the book of the same name, see The Ox-Bow Incident (novel).
The Ox-Bow Incident
The Ox-Bow Incident poster.jpg
Original movie poster
Directed by William A. Wellman
Produced by Lamar Trotti
Written by Lamar Trotti
Based on The Ox-Bow Incident 
by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Starring Henry Fonda
Dana Andrews
Music by Cyril J. Mockridge
Cinematography Arthur C. Miller
Editing by Allen McNeil
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s)
  • May 21, 1943 (1943-05-21)
Running time 75 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $565,000[1]
Box office $750,000 (rentals)[2]

The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1943 American western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.[3]

In 1998, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."[4] The film was adapted from the 1940 novel of the same name, written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark.[5]

Contents

Plot [edit]

In Bridger's Wells, Nevada in 1885,[6] Art Croft (Harry Morgan) and Gil Carter (Henry Fonda) ride into town and enter Darby's Saloon. The atmosphere is subdued due to recent incidents of cattle-rustling. Art and Gil are suspected to be rustlers because they are rarely seen in town.

A man enters the saloon and announces that a rancher named Larry Kinkaid has been murdered. The townspeople immediately form a posse to pursue the murderers, whom they believe are cattle rustlers. The posse is told by a judge that it must bring the suspects back for trial, and that its formation by a deputy (the sheriff being out of town) is illegal. Art and Gil join the posse to avoid being its target. Davies (Harry Davenport), who was initially opposed to forming the posse, also joins, along with "Major" Tetley (Frank Conroy) and his son Gerald (William Eythe). The major informs the posse that three men and cattle bearing Kinkaid's brand have just entered Bridger's Pass.

The posse encounters a stagecoach. When they try to stop it, the stagecoach guard assumes that it is a stickup, and shoots, wounding Art. In the coach are Rose Mapen (Mary Beth Hughes), Gil's ex-girlfriend, and her new husband, Swanson (George Meeker).

Later that night in Ox-Bow Canyon, the posse finds three men sleeping, with what are presumed to be stolen cattle nearby. The posse interrogates them: a young, well-spoken man, Donald Martin (Dana Andrews); a Mexican, Juan Martínez (Anthony Quinn); and an old man, Alva Hardwicke (Francis Ford, brother of film director John Ford). Martin claims that he purchased the cattle from Kinkaid but received no bill of sale. No one believes Martin, and the posse decides to hang the three men at sunrise.

Martin writes a letter to his wife and asks Davies, the only member of the posse that he trusts, to deliver it. Davies reads the letter, and, hoping to save Martin's life, shows it to the others. Davies believes that Martin is innocent and does not deserve to die.

The Mexican, a gambler named Francisco Morez, tries to escape and is shot and wounded. The posse discovers that Juan has Kinkaid's gun.

Major Tetley wants the men to be lynched immediately. A vote is taken on whether the men should be hanged or taken back to face trial. Only seven, among them Davies, Gerald Tetley, Gil and Art, vote to take the men back to town alive; the rest support immediate hanging. Gil tries to stop it, but is overpowered.

After the lynching, the posse heads back towards Bridger's Wells and meets Sheriff Risley, who tells them that Lawrence Kinkaid is not dead and that the men who shot him have been arrested. Risley strips the deputy of his badge.

The men of the posse gather in Darby's Saloon and drink in silence. Major Tetley returns to his house and shoots himself. In the saloon, Gil reads Martin's letter while members of the posse listen. Gil and Art deliver the letter to Martin's wife.

Cast [edit]

All cast members are deceased.

Production [edit]

Filming took place from late June to early August 1942. Additional sequences and retakes were made from mid-August to late August 1942.[7]

Reception [edit]

La Furia Umana's Toshi Fujiwara said the film is "one of the most important westerns in the history of American cinema".[8]

Accolades [edit]

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture at the 16th Academy Awards.

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, p. 242, ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
  2. ^ Solomon, Aubrey (1989). Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, p. 220, ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1.
  3. ^ "1943 (16th annual) Academy Award winner for Outstanding Motion Picture". Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  4. ^ "National Film Registry, 1998". Retrieved 2008-05-16. 
  5. ^ "The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)." The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). FilmSite, n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2012. <http://www.filmsite.org/oxbo.html>.
  6. ^ Detailed synopsis
  7. ^ tcmdb entry
  8. ^ Fujiwara, Toshi (Autumn 2012). "Confidential Report: THE OX-BOW INCIDENT (1943)". La Furia Umana (14). ISSN 2037-0431. Retrieved Jan. 3, 2013. 

External links [edit]

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