IMDb > The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Ox-Bow Incident
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The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
8.2/10   8,165 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
William A. Wellman
Writers:
Lamar Trotti (writer)
Walter Van Tilburg Clark (novel)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Ox-Bow Incident on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 May 1943 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama | Western more
Tagline:
LYNCH LAW RULES THE MOB! (original print ad - all caps)
Plot:
Two drifters are passing through a Western town, when news comes in that a local farmer has been murdered and his cattle stolen... more | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 wins more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Old Ass Movies: Go West With ‘The Ox-Bow Incident’
 (From FilmSchoolRejects. 28 June 2009, 9:45 AM, PDT)

Pre-Code Wellman and Godard's Code Unknown
 (From IFC. 31 March 2009, 7:17 AM, PDT)

User Comments:
A Fabulous Study of Mob Mentality more (84 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Henry Fonda ... Gil Carter

Dana Andrews ... Donald Martin
Mary Beth Hughes ... Rose Mapen / Rose Swanson

Anthony Quinn ... Juan Martínez / Francisco Morez
William Eythe ... Gerald Tetley
Harry Morgan ... Art Croft (as Henry Morgan)
Jane Darwell ... Jenny Grier
Matt Briggs ... Judge Daniel Tyler
Harry Davenport ... Arthur Davies
Frank Conroy ... Maj. Tetley
Marc Lawrence ... Jeff Farnley
Paul Hurst ... Monty Smith
Victor Kilian ... Darby
Chris-Pin Martin ... Poncho
Willard Robertson ... Sheriff
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Strange Incident (UK)
more
Runtime:
75 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Spanish
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)
Certification:
UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2006) | South Korea:12 (2003) (DVD rating) | West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (PCA #8590) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was the last movie ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture which received no other Academy Award nominations. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Gil Carter (Fonda) pulls his gun out twice when the mob first arrives at the Ox-Bow. more
Quotes:
Major Tetley: Other men with families have had to die for this sort of thing. It's too bad, but it's justice.
Donald Martin: Justice? What do you care about justice? You don't even care whether you've got the right men or not. All you know is you've lost something and somebody's got to be punished.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Fonda on Fonda (1992) (TV) more
Soundtrack:
Great Camp Meeting in the Promised Land more

FAQ

What happened to the members of the lynch mob?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
Is this movie based on a novel?
more
24 out of 34 people found the following comment useful.
A Fabulous Study of Mob Mentality, 29 April 2005
10/10
Author: brocksilvey from United States

Before "12 Angry Men" there was "The Ox-Bow Incident," a bleaker and never less than fascinating exploration of the nature of mob violence. Unlike "12 Angry Men," this film has no clear-cut heroes. It takes place in a more primitive, wilder time and location, and the principal question at the crux of this movie's conflict is whether or not three suspected cattle thieves should be punished without due legal process. A small group is in favor of letting the frontier town sheriff handle the situation, while a much larger group smells only blood (and in some cases are motivated by personal vengeance) and convince themselves of the suspects' guilt without listening to any of the evidence. It's quite a frightening movie in its own way, and it has a stark look at odds with the average studio film being churned out at the time (1943). Henry Fonda is quite good, as usual, in the closest thing the movie has to a main character, but it seems pointless to single him out in what is obviously such an ensemble effort, and in a movie that only lasts a mere 75 minutes or so and has such a large cast, each actor manages to color his/her character with delightful details, sometimes with no more than a single line of dialogue or one reaction shot.

"The Ox-Bow Incident" is a fantastic film. I don't think it's well-remembered now, but I'm thrilled to see it on DVD and hope that it will be rediscovered.

Grade: A

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