The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Lamar Trotti (writer)
Walter Van Tilburg Clark (novel)

Release Date:

21 May 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Western

Tagline:

LYNCH LAW RULES THE MOB! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

Two drifters are passing through a Western town, when news comes in that a local farmer has been murdered and his cattle stolen...

Plot Keywords:

Justice | Posse | Cult Western | 1880s | Nevada

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins

Cast

Henry Fonda	...	Gil Carter
Dana Andrews	...	Donald Martin
Mary Beth Hughes	...	Rose Mapen / Rose Swanson
Anthony Quinn	...	Juan Martínez / Francisco Morez
William Eythe	...	Gerald Tetley
Harry Morgan	...	Art Croft (as Henry Morgan)
Jane Darwell	...	Jenny Grier
Matt Briggs	...	Judge Daniel Tyler
Harry Davenport	...	Arthur Davies
Frank Conroy	...	Maj. Tetley
Marc Lawrence	...	Jeff Farnley
Paul Hurst	...	Monty Smith
Victor Kilian	...	Darby
Chris-Pin Martin	...	Poncho
Willard Robertson	...	Sheriff

Also Known As:

Strange Incident (UK)

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | South Korea:12 (2003) (DVD rating) | West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #8590) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Sara Allgood was originally cast in the role of "Jennie 'Ma' Grier," but was replaced by Florence Bates. Bates was then injured in a horseback riding scene, necessitating her replacement by Jane Darwell, who appears in the finished film.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Despite being of Mexican decent, Anthony Quinn repetitively replies "No Sabe" to questions. The correct conjugation of "I don't know" in Spanish is "No Se".

Quotes:

[Carter and Croft are out with the posse]
Gil Carter: Doin' this in the middle of the night's crazy.
Art Croft: Thought you liked excitement?
Gil Carter: I got nothin' particular against hangin' a murderin' rustler; it's just I don't like doin' it in the dark. There's always some crazy fool who'll lose his head and start hangin' everybody in sight.
Art Croft: Us?
Gil Carter: Funnier things have happened.
Art Croft: Well we didn't have to come.
Gil Carter: Look kinda funny if we hadn't, wouldn't it?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Biography Special: The Fondas (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Great Camp Meeting in the Promised Land

Classically brilliant

This small, quiet western is big and loud when it comes to message. Beyond being a great film, written and directed brilliantly, with performances to match, it's a cautionary tale of the dangers of "group-think". Which we've all witnessed and been the victims of today in what happened with this misinformation amassed by the FBI and CIA in the War On Terror. A particularly brilliant scene is when henry Fonda reads a letter written by one of the men wrongly hanged at Ox Bow. The director obscures most of his face as he reads the letter so that the words of the soon-to-be dead man resound. The father/son relationship of two of the killers is so poignant. For an old-time western, this film is very today, very modern. The book which inspired the film is just as good. And the film is true to that book.