Ed Begley

In *Hang 'Em High*, the story begins with Jed Cooper, a former lawman, as he drives a herd of cattle across the Oklahoma Territory. His character is demonstrated as he saves a foundering calf from drowning. Suddenly, he is surrounded by a posse led by the vindictive Captain Wilson. The posse accuses Cooper of murder and cattle theft, refusing to believe his protests or examine the bill of sale he presents as proof of his innocence. Swiftly and mercilessly, they decide to lynch him. The men string him up on a tree and leave him to die, abandoning him as a symbol of their rough brand of frontier justice. Yet Cooper's fate takes an unexpected turn when he is found, still barely alive, by U.S. Marshal Dave Bliss. The marshal rescues him, cuts him down, and brings him to Fort Grant, where Cooper is determined to clear his name. At Fort Grant, Cooper appears before Judge Adam Fenton, the sole judge in the territory, known for his firm, no-nonsense approach to upholding law and order. After reviewing the facts and realizing Cooper's innocence, Judge Fenton releases him. However, rather than dismissing Cooper's grievances, Fenton sees an opportunity to recruit him as a deputy U.S. marshal, noting his skill and resilience. Fenton offers Cooper a badge and a mandate to bring criminals to justice under the law, warning him against seeking personal revenge. He urges Cooper to see this as an opportunity to channel his anger constructively, by upholding legal justice in a lawless land. Cooper, still reeling from the trauma of his near-death experience, reluctantly agrees, setting his sights on capturing the men responsible-not out of vengeance, he insists, but to see justice served. Cooper's journey as a marshal leads him across rugged terrain and into dangerous encounters as he pursues the members of the posse who wronged him. He arrests several criminals along the way, grappling with the ethical complexities of frontier justice. Some of the posse members beg for mercy, claiming they acted out of fear, while others remain defiant. His encounters reveal the fragility of law in a place where vigilante justice often prevails. At each step, Cooper is forced to confront his own sense of morality and the fine line between justice and revenge. Although tempted by the thought of exacting personal retribution, he remains committed to his role as a marshal, bringing each man in to face a trial. The tension escalates as Cooper confronts Captain Wilson and the last of his lynchers. The final showdown embodies the central conflict of the film, exploring whether true justice can ever be served in a place where life is cheap and justice often subjective. Cooper's dedication to upholding the law, despite his personal vendetta, ultimately underscores the film's message about the cost of revenge and the harsh, often flawed nature of frontier justice. In the end, *Hang 'Em High* delivers a powerful meditation on the themes of justice, morality, and the toll of vengeance. Cooper's journey is not just one of survival but of reckoning with the violent world he inhabits, as he chooses to abide by the law even when tempted to forsake it. His choice marks him as a figure of integrity in a world where such values are rare, leaving the audience with a nuanced perspective on what justice truly means in the unforgiving landscape of the American West.

An underground gambling joint managed by Danny Haley (Charlton Heston) is closed down by a police raid led by wise cop Capt. Garvey (Dean Jagger) and Danny finds solace with girlfriend Fran Garland (Lizabeth Scott) who works as a night-club torch song singer. Danny is comfortable with Fran but still carries wounds from a former marriage and feels pressured to commit when he doesnt have a stable income. Danny meets former American soldier Arthur Winant (Don DeFore) while visiting Fran at her nightly club performance and Winant tags along with Danny to a late-night poker game. Playing cards with Dannys cohorts ulcerous Barney (Ed Begley, Sr.) and nasty-mouthed Augie (Jack Webb) isnt something Danny enjoys and when the crooked card players rook sucker Winant of five-thousand dollars that he was holding for his company theres a certain satisfaction that theyve made some money. When Winant is discovered the next morning hanged from the chandelier in his hotel room, the news lists it as suicide but Capt. Garvey believes something else is at play and questions Danny about it. When Barney is killed and hanged a general search goes out for the dead Arthur Winants reportedly crazy brother Sidney whom it is believed is tracking down all those responsible and exacting revenge for his brothers losing his money.

While recuperating from wartime back injuries at a hospital, veteran Bob Corey is visited on Christmas Eve by a beautiful stranger with an even stranger message. Bob Corey, recovering from a series of operations in a veterans' hospital, learns that his friend, Steve Connelly, with whom he intended to buy a ranch, has disappeared under circumstance that indicate he may have been involved in a murder. Accompanied by his nurse, Julie Benson, with whom he has fallen in love, Bob follows a series of clues and incidents, including three more murders, that leads to a gambler, masquerading as an undertaker to avoid taxes on his illegal income, and has a whole lot to do with his friend's predicament. —Anonymous

In Tulsa, after a rancher dies during a feud with a major oil company, his daughter, driven by revenge, starts digging for oil herself. It's Tulsa, Oklahoma at the start of the oil boom and Cherokee Lansing's rancher father is killed in a fight with the Tanner Oil Company. Cherokee plans revenge by bringing in her own wells with the help of oil expert Brad Brady and childhood friend Jim Redbird. When the oil and the money start gushing in, both Brad and Jim want to protect the land but Cherokee has different ideas. What started out as revenge for her father's death has turned into an obsession for wealth and power. —A.L.Beneteau <albl@inforamp.net> Tells of the burgeoning oil industry in 1920s Oklahoma centered on Tulsa, which has experienced an economic boom because of it, and the often confrontational juxtaposition with the established cattle ranching community, the two industries largely fighting for use of the same land. On one far end is oil man Bruce Tanner, who believes in pumping out as much oil as quickly as possible to maximize wealth no matter the consequence to others. On the other end is native landowner and rancher Jim Redbird, who is not averse to the extra income from pumping for oil on his land as long as it does not negatively affect his ability to ranch. In the middle is geologist Brad Brady who initially comes into the business to maximize the possibility of striking oil as opposed to pure speculation, but who ends up believing a better use of his efforts is to advocate for the best use of the land for both industries. The story centers on Jim's friend Cherokee Lansing, one-quarter Cherokee hence her name, she the daughter of a rancher. She initially wants retribution not only for the lost income from the oil industry, but for the death of her father a direct result of oil on the land. She however begins to believe a better focus for her efforts is to beat the oil men at their own game by finding and pumping as much oil as possible, which could jeopardize her burgeoning romantic relationship with Brad. —Huggo

Wealthy invalid Leona Stevenson finds herself completely alone in her New York City townhouse. Thinking that her husband Henry would be home, she gave her nurse and the servants the night off. But Henry never came home from work and Leona is frantically trying to locate him. His office number is busy. In desperation, Leona telephones her husband's secretary, Miss Jennings, at home. She learns that Henry left the office with a Mrs. Lord and did not return. In flashbacks, it is revealed that Leona is the spoiled only child of J.B. Cotterell, the owner of a pharmaceutical company based in Chicago. Her mother died in childbirth and Leona grew up believing that she had a heart ailment. In college she met Henry Stevenson, who came from a dirt-poor background. Although he is dating her best friend Sally, Leona makes a play for him and succeeds in taking him away from Sally. Against the wishes of her father, Leona marries Henry and he goes to work for her father. But he is unsuccessful in persuading Leona that they need a home of their own instead of living with Mr. Cotterell. Leona has a fainting spell and requires a nurse to take care of her. This has happened many times over the years and Mr. Cotterell blames Henry for this latest episode. Henry tries to find other employment but Mr. Cotterell has put the word out not to hire him. Returning to the present time, Leona takes a call from a Mr. Waldo Evans. He has called several times wanting to speak to Henry but won't say what he wants. In telephoning Henry's office again, Leona is accidentally connected to a conversation in which two men are talking. They cannot hear her but she hears them plotting a murder. A woman is to be killed in her home at 11:15 that night. An overheard train will cross the tracks and the cop on patrol always takes a break at that time. No one else will be in the house and their client has arranged to leave a downstairs window unlocked. Their client wants them to make it look like a robbery and he doesn't want the woman to suffer. Leona is horrified and calls the operator, demanding that the call be traced. But the operator doesn't understand what she means about being cut in on a conversation and refers her to the police. The officer who takes Leona's call doesn't believe her. In frustration, Leona hangs up but continues to worry about the unfortunate woman who is set to die. In looking through the telephone messages that came in earlier that day, Leona finds one from the mysterious Mrs. Lord. She telephones the woman and demands to know what is going on with her and Henry. To her surprise, Mrs. Lord turns out to be her old friend Sally. By now Leona is thoroughly bewildered. Sally explains in a low voice that her husband works for the District Attorney and that Henry is in trouble. She came to his office to warn him. Then she hangs up abruptly after telling Leona that she will call back when she can speak privately, as her husband is home. Leona cannot imagine what sort of trouble Henry could be in. She telephones her father in Chicago but he is having a party and doesn't give her a chance to explain why she is calling. He is surprised and angry that she is in the house alone and promises to have a talk with Henry. The phone rings again and it is Western Union with a telegram from Henry. He is en route to a pharmaceutical convention and will telephone her later. Then Sally calls from a pay phone, having told her husband that she was going out for beer. She doesn't know exactly what trouble Henry is in, only that it is very serious. Earlier that week she followed her husband and one of his colleagues to a deserted house on Staten Island. It appeared to be a drop-off point and Sally heard Henry's name mentioned. Sally is forced to hang up because the drugstore is closing, leaving Leona frustrated and upset. Mr. Evans calls again and this time Leona demands to know why he keeps bothering her. She is a bedridden invalid and cannot take this kind of stress. Mr. Evans reveals that he knows all about her, having been a Cotterell employee for many years. He is in charge of a laboratory; first in Chicago and now in New Jersey. One night when he was working late, Henry stopped by. He looked around the laboratory and asked where the narcotics were kept. Mr. Evans showed him but felt uneasy about it, even though Henry was the boss's son-in-law. Later Henry offered Mr. Evans a ride home as it was raining and his bus was late. During the ride, Mr. Evans shared his desire to retire and return to England. He would like to purchase a horse farm but doubts he will be able to afford it. Henry agrees and offers to cut Mr. Evans in on a deal. If he will hold back some of the narcotics, Henry has a purchaser. They will each receive a large cut, which will go a long way toward purchasing the horse farm. Mr. Evans is horrified and refuses, but greed overtakes him and eventually he agrees. All goes well until Mr. Evans receives a sudden transfer to the New Jersey plant. Henry assures him that it is routine, as he would have been arrested if they were found out. Mr. Evans declares that he wants out but Henry won't allow it. He has already decided to act on his own instead of going through their purchaser, a Mr. Morano. Their share of the money will be a lot more. Henry and Leona move to New York, where Mr. Evans purchased the deserted house on Staten Island. He takes the drugs there and someone in a boat picks them up. Unfortuately, Mr. Morano traces them there and is waiting in the house when Mr. Evans arrives. He wants $200,000 as compensation for the business they took away from him. If they don't pay, they will be killed. When Henry protests that he doesn't have that kind of money, Mr. Morano reminds him that he has a rich wife. An accident can be arranged and he would inherit her money. Henry is sickened but realizes he has no choice. Mr. Evans closes the conversation by giving Leona a message for Henry. The game is up as the police have arrested Mr. Morano. Mr. Evans has burned down the Staten Island house. After midnight he can be reached at a certain number, which Leona writes down. It turns out to be the number of the city morgue. Mr. Evans obviously intends to commit suicide rather than be arrested. Leona telephones her father again but there is no answer. She begins to realize that the phone conversation she overheard was about her. She is the woman who is to be killed that night. Believing that her heart is about to give out, she telephones her doctor and begs him to come over. He can't, although he tells her that the results of a recent examination were very good. She does not have heart trouble at all. The doctor sent her a letter with this information but Leona never got it. She calls a nurse's registry but they don't have anyone they can send over at a moment's notice. Hysterically, Leona tries to get out of bed but she can't make her legs move. Then Henry telephones from the train station in Connecticut and Leona tells him she knows everything. She asks why he didn't come to her for the money, that she would gladly have given it to him because she loves him so much. Then she hears a noise downstairs and screams at Henry that someone is in the house. He orders her to get out of bed and yell out the window for help. But Leona is paralyzed by terror. He admits to having arranged her murder and tells her unless she does as he says, he will burn. The two plainclothes detectives who have been following Henry close in on the phone booth. Then Henry hears Leona's dying scream as she is stabbed. Henry calls back, the killer picks up the phone, says "Sorry wrong number" and hangs up.