Hangman's Knot is almost as basic as Roger Corman's pinchpenny Five Guns West - its action is limited to some raw territory up by Lone Pine (familiar turf in the later Ranown pictures) and a stage station that might be the same rental set used for the Corman film. A spirited cast goes through the motions of a stock script. The desperate Rebels know nobody will believe that their attack on the Yankees was a sincere military raid. Everyone's after the gold, and north-south enmity is behind most character motivations. Young Claude Jarman Jr. of The Yearling fame plays a southern orphan that bitter northern widow Jeanette Nolan will eventually look to for a substitute son.

The script is efficient and the acting is by the numbers. Randolph Scott is his dependable self and he has some good tangles with standout hothead Lee Marvin, who at the time specialized in colorful bad men. Marvin would eventually become the first Ranown-cycle villain for Scott to pair off against in Seven Men From Now. Richard Denning is his familiar handsome weasel character. Donna Reed's part is fairly lame - she's resentful at first, she deflects a rape attempt by Marvin and then promptly falls into Scott's manly arms. Marking time until From Here to Eternity, this is no career highlight for her.

Hangman's Knot has a decent reputation with western fans. The color is good and the basic situation is interesting for the time: soldiers-turned-thieves versus outlaws pretending to be a posse. The posse leader is played by familiar baddie Ray Teal, backed up by Guinn "Big Boy" Williams from the old Errol Flynn western days. Scott also rounded up other old timers Monte Blue and Clem Bevans.

The best thing in the film is the calm performance by Frank Faylen, "Ernie" the taxi driver from It's a Wonderful Life. He's the one who almost gets hung, and he has an engaging spirit that fits in well with Huggins' serious aspirations.

Columbia TriStar's DVD of Hangman's Knot looks just fine; the Technicolor materials are in fine shape. The stock music score (see the list of music 'donors' above, courtesy the IMDB) attests to the talent of unsung studio music editors, who were often called upon to dress up yet another program picture and make it sound as if it had original music.

There are no extras. Instead of a trailer for this film, there's a mix of other western trailers and video promos. The cover illustration makes Randolph Scott look like Grady Sutton, or an adult Kewpie doll.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Hangman's Knot rates:
Movie: Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: none
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: June 15, 2004