The Hanging Tree (1959)

Gary Cooper is Doc Joe Frall, a physician haunted by his past. He rides into a Montana boom town and winds up taking two misfits of sorts under his wings.

The first is a young man named Rune (Ben Piazza), who’s being chased for stealing from a sluice box and has a shoulder wound.

The doctor hides him from his would-be captors, nurses him back to health, but expects him to work off his debt, using the bullet he took from his shoulder for leverage. That bullet — and the wound itself — is proof of who Rune really is.

The second is a young woman named Elizabeth Mahler, who was heading west with her father when their stage was held up. He was killed; she was thrown from the runaway stage and isn’t found until days later, badly sunburned and blinded as a result of her injuries.

As with Rune, Frail takes great care in nursing her back to health. He also helps restore her vision.

But once she’s healed, he asks her to leave the mining camp; Frail is a man careful not to get too close to anyone.

Elizabeth refuses and goes into a partnership with Rune and a brute named Frenchy Plante (Karl Malden) as they purchase and begin working their own gold claim.

They finance the venture by pawning an heirloom Elizabeth owns, or so they think.

In truth, the heirloom is worthless; their venture is being funded by the doctor, who can’t help but caring about these two patients.

Gary Cooper as Doc Joe Frail, a man with a dark past he feels he has no right to forget in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Maria Schell as Elizabeth Mahler, testing her eyes for the first time in bright sunlight in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Review:

Delightfully different and wonderfully well done. Easily one of Cooper’s best Westerns, even if it isn’t as well known as “High Noon” or “Man of the West.”

He’s a man still scared by a past that included setting fire to his own home after finding his wife with his brother. That’s why he’s afraid to get close to anyone now; that’s why he’s changed his named to Frail.

Malden is superb in his supporting role, a selfish man looking for attention at every turn — even over the fact that it’s his canteen “the lost lady” clings to. In the end, he wants gold, of course, but he wants the lost lady as well.

George C. Scott plays the half-mad Dr. George Grubb in his first screen role, and longtime character actress Virginia Gregg is the storekeeper’s wife, who tries to label Elizabeth a harlot for being “paid for” by Doc Frail.

Marty Robbins contributes an excellent title tune.

Ben Piazza as Rune, forced to do the doc’s bidding lest he reveal the young man’s secret in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Karl Malden as Frency Plante, the miner always looking for a new grubstake in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Directed by:
Delmar Daves

Cast:
Gary Cooper … Doc Joe Frail
Maria Schell … Elizabeth Mahler
Karl Malden … Frenchy Plante
George C. Scott … Dr. George Grubb
Karl Swenson … Tom Flaunce
Virginia Gregg … Edna Flaunce
John Dierkes … Society Red
King Donovan … Wonder
Ben Piazza … Rune

Runtime: 106 min.

Title tune: “The Hanging Tree”
performed by Marty Robbins

Karl Swenson as Tom Flaunce, owner of the general store and a friend to Doc Frail in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Virginia Gregg as Edna Flaunce, determined to learn whether or not Elizabeth is a ‘kept’ woman in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Memorable lines:

Miner at opening: “Every new camp has to have its hanging tree. Makes folks feel respectable.”

Rune: “I ain’t no servant.”
Doc Frail: “Well, all forms of life can be taught, even fleas. Yes, you can be my bond servant.”

Doc Frail: “Any questions about my life or my way of life?”
Rune: “That faith healer wasn’t far wrong. If you ain’t the devil, he’s sittin’ on your shoulder.”

Doc Frail to Elizabeth, as she’s trying to regain her sight: “I’m going to leave you here. You’re standing on the edge of a cliff. I don’t advise you to go through life with your eyes closed.”

George C. Scott as Dr. Grubb, the fanatic who labels Doc Frail as ‘the devil’ in The Hanging Tree (1959)

John Dierkes as Society Red, about to lose an expensive hand of poker to Doc Joe Frail (Gary Cooper in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Doc Frail: “You’re getting out of here tomorrow on the eastbound stage.”
Elizabeth: “Stage? Where am I going?”
Doc Frail: “New York. Back to Switzerland. Wherever people go when they know they’ve come the wrong way.”

Doc Frail, trying to convince Elizabeth to leave: “In six weeks, this could be a ghost town, with no one left in it.”
Elizabeth: “I’ll be here. I’ll plant ghost wheat and I’ll raise ghost cattle. And right here, I’ll build my ghost house.”
Doc Frail: “With ghost money?”
Elizabeth: “I will get some money. Somehow I will, even if it’s only to pay you for your services.”

Gary Cooper as Doc Joe Frail, showing kindness to a malnourished young patient in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Maria Schell as Elizabeth Mahler, learning the painful truth about her grubstake in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Ben Piazza as Rune, looking for a helping hand after being caught stealing from a sluice box in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Karl Malden as French Plante, firing the signal shot to incidate he’d located the ‘lost lady’ in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Ben Piazza as Rune and Maria Schell as Elizabeth Mahler find a reason to rejoice in The Hanging Tree (1959)

Gary Cooper as Doc Joe Frail, arriving in a Montana boom town and looking to buy property in The Hanging Tree (1959)