This movie isn't really remotely similar to Rashomon, but it reminded me of it because it's the type of movie that really makes you think. The Ox-Bow Incident is a classic western about a lynch mob out for revenge for the murder of a local farmer. The murder isn't shown, and the deceased is never seen onscreen, but the characters in the film feel so passionately about their fallen comrade, they immediately form a posse. A couple of men, namely Henry Fonda, Harry Morgan, and Harry Davenport, are opposed to the movement, but even though they make their case that the townspeople should wait for the deputy to return-he's out at the moment-no one listens to them. But, since Henry Fonda gets first billing, he doesn't wait around while the angry mob tracks down the killers; he and the Harrys go with them to try and talk them out of it.
While he'd have to wait another ten years before winning his first Oscar, this movie marked a turning point in Anthony Quinn's career. In the early forties, he was relegated to playing "ethnic parts", but in The Ox-Bow Incident, his character is written to be intelligent and cultured-as well as ethnic. Audiences took notice of him, and in the next couple of years he started getting bigger roles. However, it's Dana Andrews who really shines. The angry mob catches three men, Tony, Dana, and Francis Ford. Dana, a family man and the main spokesman of the three, maintains his innocence and gives a performance not many men would feel comfortable giving in 1943. He weeps and begs and shows enormous vulnerability; perhaps this movie was as much his audition for The Best Years of Our Lives as it was Henry Fonda's audition for 12 Angry Men.
If you like movies that make you talk about it afterwards, like Town Without Pity or The Outrage, check out The Ox-Bow Incident. It's a pretty famous classic, but it's also very heavy. You might want to put the kids to bed before you press play.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to adult material and violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
While he'd have to wait another ten years before winning his first Oscar, this movie marked a turning point in Anthony Quinn's career. In the early forties, he was relegated to playing "ethnic parts", but in The Ox-Bow Incident, his character is written to be intelligent and cultured-as well as ethnic. Audiences took notice of him, and in the next couple of years he started getting bigger roles. However, it's Dana Andrews who really shines. The angry mob catches three men, Tony, Dana, and Francis Ford. Dana, a family man and the main spokesman of the three, maintains his innocence and gives a performance not many men would feel comfortable giving in 1943. He weeps and begs and shows enormous vulnerability; perhaps this movie was as much his audition for The Best Years of Our Lives as it was Henry Fonda's audition for 12 Angry Men.
If you like movies that make you talk about it afterwards, like Town Without Pity or The Outrage, check out The Ox-Bow Incident. It's a pretty famous classic, but it's also very heavy. You might want to put the kids to bed before you press play.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to adult material and violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.