This holiday season, while you’re hanging the decorations, don’t forget to Hang ‘Em High. Clint Eastwood‘s groundbreaking 1968 Western has a new streaming home, and it won’t cost you a fistful of dollars. Hang ‘Em High is now streaming for free on PlutoTV for a limited time. In 1968, Eastwood had returned to Hollywood after making the “Dollars Trilogy” of spaghetti Westerns for director Sergio Leone. They were unlike any Western ever made in America, and they became a hit with critics and audiences; they also made Eastwood a star, as he had previously only been known for his TV roles.
For his first ever leading role in a Hollywood film, he was presented with the script for Hang ‘Em High, a harder-edged Western that took its cue from the violent, anti-heroic characters of Leone’s films. He agreed to make the movie, and set up his own production company, The Malpaso Company, to co-produce it with United Artists, giving Eastwood a great deal of creative control over the project. Eastwood brought on Ted Post, who had directed him in several episodes of the TV Western Rawhide, to helm the film; that ensured that Eastwood had enough latitude to change the script as he saw fit, foreshadowing his own debut as director a few years later with Play Misty For Me.
What Is ‘Hang ‘Em High’ About?
Eastwood stars as Jed Cooper, a man who’s wrongfully lynched for rustling in the Oklahoma Territory. Saved by Marshal Dave Bliss (Ben Johnson, The Last Picture Show), Cooper’s recruited as a lawman by Judge Adam Fenton (Pat Hingle, Batman). In the course of his duties, he tracks down the other members of the posse, including Wilson (Ed Begley Sr., 12 Angry Men), Stone (Alan Hale, Gilligan’s Island), and Miller (Bruce Dern, Nebraska). Cooper’s uncomfortable with Fenton’s Draconian deployment of the death penalty, but the judge insists that it’s necessary to bring order to the lawless territory until it can become a state. Along the way, Cooper romances a widow (Inger Stevens, Madigan) who’s seeking justice herself.
Hang ‘Em High cemented Eastwood as the quintessential Western star of the New Hollywood era. It was also a huge financial success, becoming United Artists’ biggest opening ever, beating out all the James Bond films it had released at the time. While reviews at the time were mixed, in the context of Eastwood’s career, it has become better regarded, and currently holds a 92% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Hang ‘Em High is now streaming on PlutoTV. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
- Release Date
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July 31, 1968
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Inger Stevens
Rachel Warren
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Pat Hingle
Judge Adam Fenton
