The Hanged Man (1974)

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.

The Hanged Man was a movie pilot for a TV series that was never picked up? You learn something new every day.Also at the start of the movie, it says this movie was produced by Bing Crosby Productions.I never knew Bing Crosby had his own production company so I looked it up & never realized his company produced so many TV shows & movies.Interesting.As for The Hanged Man...... Was this suppose to just be a Western or was there more to it? It seemed like there was a meaning behind the movie (If you get a 2nd chance at life, take it & make the most of it, Miracles are just second chances, etc, etc, etc) or am I just reading way too much into it? There were a few scenes that made me think & seemed like they had some type of meaning to them.I just can't figure it out. The Hanged Man is worth taking a look at least once if you're a Western fan.If you're not then I'll leave it up to you.It is an interesting movie.I LOVED that fiery ending

The title role of The Hanged Man is played by Steve Forrest who plays a notorious gunfighter who was duly hanged for a crime he committed and declared dead. But the only problem was the report of his demise was greatly exaggerated. Whether he was cut down too soon or the rope wasn't tight enough or some unseen power intervened, point is that Forrest is still walking around and breathing. And he's reflecting on a new chance at life because his old life had led him up thirteen steps to the hangman's noose. And he's legally dead.His first chance at redemption comes in helping widow Sharon Acker and her little boy Bobby Eilbacher fight off the designs of mining tycoon Cameron Mitchell. He's not too squeamish about his methods and has young gunslinger Brendon Boone on his payroll who despite the mystique surrounding Forrest is eager for showdown.This unsold TV pilot which was produced by Bing Crosby didn't break any new ground and westerns on television were getting scarce. Around this time Bonanza and Gunsmoke ended their runs and the few that have succeeded them up to this time haven't had their staying power. Speaking of Bonanza this was Ray Teal's farewell role and Bonanza fans will remember his semi-regular presence as sheriff Roy Coffey of Virginia City.The Hanged Man might have been picked up for a television series fifteen years earlier when westerns were a glut on the market. As it is western fans will have little reason to complain.

If you have the opportunity to pick this one up for a buck like I did, it won't be the worst dollar you ever spent. Not only that, but it was packaged on a DVD along with "The Gun and The Cross" starring Marjoe Gortner, so in a two for one deal, it stacked up for an entertaining afternoon.One curious thing though, the DVD sleeve described Steve Forrest's character James Devlin as having the power to read minds after surviving a lynch mob hanging. I was paying attention, but never really came up with that conclusion. In fact, the one supernatural reference had to do with a tarot card depicting the 'hanged man', signifying one who changes his way of life by surrendering to a higher being. This Devlin does after surviving the gallows, playing out the remainder of the film as Jack Palance, wasn't that an uncanny resemblance? I kept thinking Curly Washburn from "City Slickers". The other unintentionally distracting element for me was the name of the town where the story takes place called Goshen. That's a small town in New York not far from where I live, and I had to picture it being further out West.Something I never thought about, and maybe it was made up for the picture, but up until the point Devlin is declared legally dead, there's some discussion about whether he might have to hang again. At one point it was mentioned that the steps up to the hangman's noose numbered thirteen, unlucky in itself, but with added symbolism regarding a death sentence.Along with Forrest, you have decent support from Dean Jagger, Will Geer, and Devlin's nemesis Halleck, portrayed by Cameron Mitchell. Probably unintentional, the movie's fiery finale envelops Devlin in an eerie glow hinting at some Ghost Rider imagery, a comic book character that started out as a Western. You can pretty much see the ending coming from a mile off, and in that respect, you'd have more of a mind reading ability than Devlin. Still, it's not the worst Western you'll come across, and along with it's DVD counterpart, makes for a couple of hours of satisfying Western diversion.