Hang 'em High

Set in Oklahoma in 1889, Hang 'em High follows Jed Cooper, a former lawman who is wrongly accused of stealing cattle and hanged by a group of men acting as their own judges. He survives, and once his innocence is established, Judge Adam Fenton offers him a position as a marshal. Rather than put the matter behind him, Cooper sets out to bring in the men who strung him up so they can face a proper trial, a task that puts him in conflict with the very legal system he serves.

The film was directed by Ted Post, the first of four features listed for him in chronological order, and was written by Leonard Freeman and Mel Goldberg. Clint Eastwood plays Cooper, heading a cast that includes Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, Pat Hingle, Ben Johnson and Charles McGraw, with 41 credited performers in all. It was produced by Freeman with Malpaso Productions, alongside United Artists and Leonard Freeman Production, on a budget of about two million dollars, and it returned roughly seven million dollars worldwide.

Audience responses were solid rather than rapturous, with a rating of 7 out of 10 on IMDb from nearly 42,000 votes and 6.9 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller sample of 888. A critics' rating of 6.5 out of 10 from 13 reviews places professional assessment slightly below the general audience on IMDb.