The Hanged Man

There's a line in Macbeth when the new king of Scotland has his best friend killed, then sees his ghost at a state dinner. He says something to the effect that back in the day, "When the brains were out, the man stayed dead." Oh, if only everyone who got hanged in movies and television stayed dead, keeping Mac happy and Banquo resting peacefully.

But Steve Forrest just looked and acted dead in ABC's The Hanged Man, a series pilot that went nowhere, thanks to the saner heads at the network. The mini-movie--an interminable 74 minutes of back lot cheesiness and dreadful acting--is available on video in dollar stores across the nation.

You can read the other reviews for a synopsis. I will just tell you that there are constitutional safeguards against cruel and unusual punishment for prisoners.

No such safeguards are in place for TV viewers.

The Producers intent to became it in a TV series what they previously labeled as Pilot where James Devlin (Steve Forrest) is suppose not guilty man by an insolved murder, due he'd bad background as gunfighter, he is sentenced to death by hanging, turns out that Devlin after be hanged strangely back to the life without further explanations, something alike unearthly by the way, aftermaths he left the town aiming for never going back, meanwhile wandering adrift finds himself in a settlement where allegedly has a huge orebody of silver belonged to gorgeous widow Carry Gault (Sharon Acker) left by his dead husband, with a sole elder work Nameless (Will Geer).

Oddly enough such place drawn attention of the greedy Lew Halleck (Cameron Mitchell) due such mining area will supply his large silver's foundry at outskirts of town, nonetheless Carry wasn't willing to sell the area for two main reasons, firstly she believes that was sit down in a precious ore minerals mainly silver, second by the Halleck's harsh way trying buy the mining claim for lowest price, pushing the widow thru warmongering manner, to worsen her allied Devlin didn't get any romantic interest in the eye candy-derisible widow, it' a crying shame.

This small TV picture is high regarded in Brazil, mainly by inusual offering and a strong supporting casting as Dean Jagger, Will Greer, Cameron Michell, Barbara Luna, Ray Teal and mainly the blonde bombshell Cary Acker among others, sadly a tiny dealer has earmarked a warn-out lousy DVD copy to ashamed the buyer at the extent to give up to watch it for so bad print, thanks to our weather-friend Youtube where is available a decent clean image with classic dubbed version, unfortunately the forthcoming series never sees the light.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First watch: 1996 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD-Youtube / Rating: 6.5.

James Devlin (Steve Forrest) is a tough man who made his living with his gun. However, he's been convicted of murder an is awaiting a hanging. The killing was in self-defense but his reputation alone was enough to guarantee a death sentence. When this unrepentant man is hung, however, something very strange happens. Though clearly dead, hours later he comes to life and spends much of the rest of the film trying to figure out why as well as what his place will now be in the world. Soon, a jerk named Halleck (Cameron Mitchell) gives him a reason for being...and he makes it his life's work to fight this man and protect the widow who Halleck is trying to bully. Oh, and did I mention that the widow is a widow because her husband was the man that Devlin killed??

This is a decent film and mildly enjoyable. I think if they'd played the supernatural angle more, it would have been a more interesting film...and then possibly might have been picked up as a series. On the other hand, by 1974, westerns had pretty much come and gone....and why the network would revive the genre is tough to understand.

Released to TV in 1974 and directed by Michael Caffey, "The Hanged Man" is a Western starring Steve Forrest as a condemned man who miraculously survives a hanging and decides to help a widow (Sharon Acker) prevent a ruthless land baron (Cameron Mitchell) from chasing her off her remote desert ranch. Will Geer is on hand as an old-timer on the ranch while BarBara Luna plays the condemned man's babe. Brendon Boone appears as the lead henchman while Rafael Campos plays a priest.

"The Hanged Man" was a pilot for a series that never materialized. Producers would make these pilots long enough to be released as a self-contained movie to recoup their losses in the event it wasn't picked up and this was the case with "The Hanged Man." Despite being a TV movie, it has a generally realistic vibe. The premise is interesting, the cast is fine and the movie's short-and-sweet. But it lacks the pizazz to cull it from its TV Western mediocrity. There's a reason it wasn't picked up for a series. Still, it's worth checking out if you favor the actors and late 60s/early 70's Westerns.

Speaking of the actors, the movie features two alumni from the late 60's Star Trek TV series: BarBara Luna appeared in the acclaimed 2nd Season episode "Mirror, Mirror" while Sharon Acker appeared in the 3rd Season Golden Turkey "The Mark of Gideon." BarBara later appeared on two 2nd Season episodes of Buck Rogers and the 25th Century as Hawk's (totally hot) babe.

The film runs 73 minutes and was shot in Old Tucson & Mescal, Arizona, and Red Rock Canyon State Park, Cantil, California.

GRADE: C+

I realize THE HANGED MAN was just a pilot, so expectations should be managed in terms of quality.

That said, Steve Forrest, Cameron Mitchell, and Will Geer deliver good performances and more could have been made with the premise of a man who survives hanging, and who at first seems to reject God, then seems to accept Him and ultimately runs from death again. The religious aspect in the movie is not clear.

Direction OK, photography rather basic. It would never have been a masterpiece but I think an opportunity was lost to come up with a better film.