The Hanged Man (1974)

Steve Forrest is James Devlin, a gunman convicted of murder and sentenced to hang.

Only he survives the hanging and awakes to new psychic powers. He might even be immortal.

What will he do with his second chance at life?

Well, there’s a widowed woman named Carrie Gault (Sharon Acker) trying to protect her mine from the greedy Lew Halleck (Cameron Mitchell).

Hallack runs a silver smelter and plans to stake claim to as many mines as possible with the help of a young gunfighter named Billy Irons (Brendon Boone).

Carrie’s only help is her young son Benjamin and an old man (Will Geer) who refuses to give anyone his name until he’s on the verge of dying.

But she’s about to get help from James Devlin as well.

Steve Forrest as James Devlin, feeling the touch of the hangman’s noose in The Hanged Man (1974)

Cameron Mitchell as Lew Halleck, the man who wants the Gault mine in The Hanged Man (1974)

Review:

A pilot for a TV series that, thanks to someone’s good judgment, wasn’t made.

The plot has Devlin coming to the rescue of the widow of the very man he was hanged for killing.

And she and her young son accept him with open arms. The son even lets Devlin use his dad’s razors to shave around his rope scar!

As for the climax, it plays out in the silver smelter — earth’s version of hell, I suppose.

Lots of familiar faces from older Westerns show up in bit roles, including Dean Jagger, Ray Teal and Hank Worden.

Sharon Acker as Carrie Gault, determined to hold her land in spite of Halleck’s henchmen in The Hanged Man (1974)

Bobby Eilbacher as Benjamin Gault’ Carrie’s young son in The Hanged Man (1974)

Directed by:
Michael Caffey

Cast:
Steve Forrest … James Devlin
Dean Jagger … Josiah Lowe
Will Geer … Nameless
Sharon Acker … Carrie Gault
Brendon Boone … Billy Irons
Rafael Campos … Father Alvaro
Barbara Luna … Soledad Villegas
Cameron Mitchell … Lew Halleck
Ray Teal … Judge Bayne
Bobby Eilbacher … Benjamin Gault
Hank Worden … Ab Wickes

Runtime: 74 min.

Will Geer as Nameless, the old man who helps the Gault family in The Hanged Man (1974)

Brendon Boone as Billy Irons, Halleck’s fast gun in The Hanged Man (1974)

Memorable lines:

Priest to Devlin, onthe night before he’s scheduled to hang: “You reject salvation.”
James Devlin: “No. Just hyprocrisy.”

James Devlin: “I’ll answer for my sins on my feet. Not on my knees, like some death-bed Christian.”

Lew Halleck, about his methods of doing business: “A man can’t eat the walnuts unless he cracks a few shells.”

Sheriff to Devlin: “I hear there’s a death certificate made out in your name. Don’t think that puts you beyond the law. Get out of line, and I’ll see you marched back up those 13 steps.”

Dean Jagger as Josiah Love, the attorney who defended Devlin at his murder trial in The Hanged Man (1974)

Rafael Campos as Father Alvaro, the priest who tries to comfort Devlin on the eve of his hanging in The Hanged Man (1974)

Barbara Luna as Soledad Villegas, Devlin’s lover, realizing he’s not dead in The Hanged Man (1974)

Steve Forret as James Devlin, helping the Gault family defend their property in The Hanged Man (1974)