Man, a lot of future TV stars in this film: Lorne Greene ("Bonanza" 1959-1973); Jack Lord ("Hawaii Five-O" 1968-1980); Tina Louise ("Gilligan's Island" 1964-1967); and Fess Parker ("Daniel Boone" 1964-1970); Robert Taylor could be considered for "The Detectives" (1959-1962) but he's mainly known for his films.
The Hangman is about a Marshall known as "The Hangman" who comes to a town looking for a man named John Butterfield, but he doesn't know what he looks like, and no one in town helps him. Jack Lord plays Johnny Bishop, the man the Marshall thinks is Butterfield. He knows that Salah Jennison (Tina Louise) knows what Butterfield looks like but refuses to identify him, even for $500 (in today's dollar that's around $3,000.)
Everyone basically loves Johnny Bishop; why give up a guy you like? Salah is beholden to Johnny because after her husband died he was there for her in her grief. The Marshall has grief, too, he was on the way to California with his brother when they were held up and his brother died and he became a lawman to bring his killers to justice and just never stopped.
Overall it's a pretty good film. There is some overdramatized scenes mainly by the supporting cast but even by Taylor such as when Louise gets off the stage; he stares at her dramatically as if he couldn't believe she was in town even though he knew she was coming (even if a bit late.) Maybe it was anger and surprise that she finally showed up, I don't know. Even though it has a bit of a cliché happy ending of Johnny riding off and the Marshall pretending to shoot at him and the girl following the Marshall to California (yes, all those things were cliché in 1959), I still enjoyed it.
The Hangman is about a Marshall known as "The Hangman" who comes to a town looking for a man named John Butterfield, but he doesn't know what he looks like, and no one in town helps him. Jack Lord plays Johnny Bishop, the man the Marshall thinks is Butterfield. He knows that Salah Jennison (Tina Louise) knows what Butterfield looks like but refuses to identify him, even for $500 (in today's dollar that's around $3,000.)
Everyone basically loves Johnny Bishop; why give up a guy you like? Salah is beholden to Johnny because after her husband died he was there for her in her grief. The Marshall has grief, too, he was on the way to California with his brother when they were held up and his brother died and he became a lawman to bring his killers to justice and just never stopped.
Overall it's a pretty good film. There is some overdramatized scenes mainly by the supporting cast but even by Taylor such as when Louise gets off the stage; he stares at her dramatically as if he couldn't believe she was in town even though he knew she was coming (even if a bit late.) Maybe it was anger and surprise that she finally showed up, I don't know. Even though it has a bit of a cliché happy ending of Johnny riding off and the Marshall pretending to shoot at him and the girl following the Marshall to California (yes, all those things were cliché in 1959), I still enjoyed it.