Clint Eastwood in Hang 'Em High
Yesterday it was health care, today it is Clint Eastwood. That’s right, the man, the myth, the legend in all his squinty-eyed glory. By the way, if you were wondering why I called this blog “The Multifarious Pen”, this is why. Not because I am so skilled at different types or styles of writing, but because I go from health care to Clint – because it if fun and I like it!
I must admit that I (along with my wife, I might add) have been on a Clint Eastwood kick as of late. That is to say that, thanks to Netflix instant streaming, I have been going crazy adding ‘ol Clint’s movies to my queue. Roll your eyes if you want, but to my surprise I have found these late 1960 and 1970 Westerns have some things to say in some very powerful and profound ways.
So as not to bore you to death, I will only mention one for now that I have recently watched: Hang ‘Em High.
In Hang ‘Em High, Eastwood plays a retired Sheriff who is starting a life as a cattle rancher. As he is moving his purchased cattle to his homestead, he is intercepted by a posse from the town he had left. The posse believes that he is the murderer of the owner of the cattle, essentially a cattle rustler, and falsely accuse him of the crime. Eastwood is tried and hanged on the spot. The posse rides off, believing justice has been served, and Eastwood is left for dead. Luckily, a passing marshal of the Oklahoma territory finds him hanging from the rope, cuts him loose and Eastwood survives. He recovers and is later found innocent by the judge who oversees the only court in Oklahoma for the designated territory. That is only the beginning of the movie. The judge ends up persuading Eastwood to take a job as a marshal, because the territory is so large and there are so few people who have the fortitude necessary to ride after the outlaws in the back country.
The movie asks some very interesting questions, not the least of which is “Whose right is it to judge?” What I found most interesting and compelling about this movie is that it did not portray the judge as a cruel, heartless tyrant, but as a stern seeker of the truth, and who was genuinely concerned with the progress of the state (Oklahoma). Conversely, Eastwood plays the role of the one who is always confronting the judge about his judgments and the sometimes brutal nature of their outcome. Eastwood also bargains for the life of a man who he thinks is innocent, in a scene that makes us forget about the typological Eastwood character. There are also several very lucid dialogues between the judge and Eastwood, where the judge offers exposition on justice and his duty, even going so far as saying “I wish there was someone between me and God” – where he acknowledges the flawed nature of any justice system based on the judgments of man. These scenes often render Eastwood speechless, because the judge fully embraces his imperfection, yet the need for a justice system that is not seen as weak to those who would seek to exploit it, and for the good of the Oklahoma territory, which was not yet a state in the Union.
The writers of Hang ‘Em High got a lot of things right. I found myself expecting that Eastwood’s point of view, which was extreme on both ends of the scale, and sometimes apathetic, to dominate, but they did not. In fact, the reality that there has to be some justice present, even if that justice is imperfect, was the dominant theme. And, historically, the Wild West was tamed by men like the judge, who demanded justice and not arbitrary, or ad-hoc, adjudication. His demand to “bring them in alive” was the driving force that eventually made the Wild West a place where people could live out life in civil society. Eastwood’s acquiescence to this philosophy indicated his willingness to be held under it, even if he did not agree with it one-hundred percent – he still saw the value in such a system. Likewise, the judge never once gave the impression that he had all the answers, only that judgement was left to his office alone and no other.
These are the gems that I love to find in cinema, old and new, and the reason I love to watch good movies.
I have also watch some other movies recently: Dr. Strangelove, Joe Kidd (Eastwood), and Moby Dick (yes, the original with Gregory Peck). Each one has been very interesting in their own way. Since I’m on the Eastwood wagon, I’ll write about Joe Kidd next!
