Hang em High (M4)

Trying to catch up on Clint's western phase. This is a worthy movie with sufficient depth, dealing with the Oklahoma territory and a judge who has sole responsibility for being the law. as such he is in charge of hanging (the hanging judge was sober/he hadn't had a drink). played by pat hingle. clint is lynched on a false charge of stealing cattle. a sheriff cuts him down as he hangs and takes him to prison where his claims are found to be true. the judge hires him as a marshal. clint tries to arrest one of the men who was responsible for his lynching (near lynching) and he guns him down when the man draws on him. the judge warns him in the future bring back the men alive. eastwood arrests bruce dern for rustling and dern was also involved in the lynching. together with dern two young men were also arrested for rustling and despite their youth and their general goodness they are hung as well, disgusting eastwood with the judge's justice that knows no nuance. when eastwood can't be bribed to forget the near lynching, those responsible (ed begley and two lackeys) try to shoot him down, but eastwood survives. inger stevens nurses him back to strength. stevens is also set on revenge for a killing of her husband and the rape that she suffered but when she nurses eastwood back to health, she forgets her fixation on vengeance and is willing to live again. after eastwood recovers he kills begley and his lackeys. he agrees to remain as marshal when the hanging judge shows a modicum of mercy. not a great movie but the script contains enough nuance about revenge, pure justice, mercy and the hanging judge is interesting enough or the acting is interesting enough to give the movie a B minus.