An interesting American made “weird western” that premiered on the small screen. Starring the veteran TV star Steve Forrest (1925-2013), it began as the pilot for a proposed series that was later padded to 74 minutes and exhibited as a standalone ABC TV movie on March 13, 1974. Western buffs know the early seventies as the era of the so-called revisionist western, which gave us gritty and downbeat oaters like DIRTY LITTLE BILLY (1972), PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (1973) and HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER (1973), and this gothic-infused film has a similar feel.
James Devlin is a gunslinger who’s set to be hanged. Much is made of the burial preparations—the engraving of Devlin’s tombstone, the digging of the grave where he’s set to be buried—while Devlin discusses the meaning of the Tarot with a preacher, during which our “hero” demonstrates the ability to read minds. The hanging goes ahead the following day, yet Devlin inexplicably comes back to life shortly afterward. “Perhaps the answer lies beyond our understanding,” the preacher concludes.
In his new undead guise Devlin becomes a literal avenging angel, confronting an evil land baron looking to take over a farm owned by a young widow and her son. Devlin has a tendency to turn up unexpectedly in the bathrooms of his enemies, and has retained his mind-reading abilities; he’s also, we learn, quite handy with guns and explosives. The climax takes place, appropriately enough, in a boiler room in which smoke and fire predominate.
As directed by the episodic TV veteran Michael Caffey (1930-2017) THE HANGED MAN is crisp and atmospheric in its depiction of the old west, and not a little spooky. The fact that this film was intended as the start of a series is evident in the great set-up and uninspiring open-ended resolution. There are a couple of the expected western movie shoot-outs, neither of them very exciting, and very little overall suspense, seeing as how the hero has already been killed once—and so is clearly invulnerable.
As for Steve Forrest, this can safely be termed one of his stand-out roles, combining as it does the bad guy menace with which he made his name and the leading man virtue into which he was trying to transition. He also exerts a genuinely eerie presence that adds to the gothic aura. The film doesn’t entirely do Forrest’s efforts justice, but in the category of glorified 1970s TV pilots it’s certainly above average.
Vital Statistics
THE HANGED MAN
Andrew J. Fenady Productions/American Broadcasting Company
Director: Michael Caffey
Producer: Andrew J. Fenady
Screenplay: Ken Trevey
(“Created by” Andrew J. Fenady)
Cinematography: Keith C. Smith
Editing: Nick Archer
Cast: Steve Forrest, Dean Jagger, Will Geer, Sharon Acker, Brendan Boone, Rafael Campos, Barbara Luna, Cameron Mitchell, Ray Teal, Bobby Eilbacher, William Bryant, Steven Marlo, John Mitchum, Michael Masters, Bill Catching, hank Worden, John Pickard