Classic 40s Movie: “The Ox-Bow Incident”

September is Classic 40s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from George “Clay” Mitchell.

Title: The Ox-Bow Incident

Year: 1943. It was completed in 1942, but according to a story, the studio didn’t know how to market the film.

Writers: Written for the screen by Lamar Trotti, based on the novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark

Lead Actors: Henry Fonda, Dana Edwards, Mary Beth Hughes, Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan, Harry Davenport

Director: William A. Wellman

IMDb Plot Summary: When a posse catches up three men suspected of killing a local farmer, some of them become strongly divided on whether or not to lynch the men.

Why I Think This Is A Classic 40s Movie

It seems so atypical to the standard fare of Westerns to churn out of Hollywood at the time.

“The Ox-Bow Incident” straddles between a drama and noir with the set dressing of a Western. The movie wasn’t very popular at the time, but it it did have positive reviews and was even nominated for

Best Picture at the 16th Academy Awards (Casablanca won).

The movie an examination of the moral implications of justice vs. revenge and mob rule, and reason vs. rumors and suspicion.

I thought this was one of Fonda’s best performances (he didn’t get a nomination), akin to his work in “The Grapes of Wrath”. Frances Ford’s role as Alva, one of the accused, was done really well. Alva threw enough red herrings into the mix for a decent fish meal and to keep me off balanced as to guilt or innocence of the three men caught by the mob.

My Favorite Moment In The Film

When Davis (Davenport) tries to read Martin’s (Edwards) letter aloud to the posse, but Martin argues his letter is private, thus dooms himself.

My Favorite Dialogue In The Movie

Part of Martin’s letter to his wife read by Gil (Fonda):

“Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It’s everything people ever have found out about justice and what’s right and wrong. It’s the very conscience of humanity.”

Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie

How Wellman was able to keep everything on track. It could have easily fallen into a period piece.

Wellman kept the Western feel and many of themes (cultural separations, resistance to change, stotic hero, honor) intact, even when the hero doesn’t even use a gun and fails at saving the men from the mob.

He and his friend were the only ones who left the town as they arrived.

If I recall correctly, there’s only one gun fired at another person throughout the entire movie.

Thanks, Clay. To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!

We already have a set of classic 50s movies, 60s Movies, 70s movies, 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 40s movies. And thanks to the GITS community, we’ve got 30 movies in the works, one for each day of the month!

Those who I put in bold have already sent me their posts. If you haven’t sent yours to me, please do so as soon as you can!!!

Act of Violence — Eric Rodriguez
Arsenic and Old Lace — Katha
Bicycle Thieves — Megaen Kelly
Brief Encounter — Emily Bonkoski
Casablanca — Paul Graunke
Double Indemnity — Susan Winchell
Five Graves to Cairo — Jeff Gibson
Foreign Correspondent — Doc Kane
His Girl Friday — John Henderson
It’s a Wonderful Life — David Laudenslager
Key Largo — Will King
Laura — Melinda Mahaffey Icden
Les enfants du paradis — Brendan Howley
Mrs. Miniver — Traci Nell Peterson
Notorious — Christine Henton
Now Voyager — Melissa Privette
Out of the Past — Brantley Aufill
Rope — Lance Morgan
The Bank Dick — Bob Saenz
The Best Years of Their Lives — Shaun Parker
The Big Sleep — Ipsita Barik
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir — Annie Wood
The Long Voyage Home — Vincent Martini
The Lost Weekend — Liz Warner
The Maltese Falcon — Roy Gordon
The Ox-Bow Incident — Clay Mitchell
The Philadelphia Story — Kristen Demaline
The Sin of Harold Diddlebock — David Joyner
The Third Man — Harry Cooke
To Have and Have Not — Felicity Flesher

Thanks to everyone who steps up for this ongoing project!

For the original post explaining the series, go here.

For all of the 40s movies featured in the series, go here.

Click REPLY and see you in comments about today’s classic 40s movie!