The Ox-Bow Incident
Encyclopedia
The Ox-Bow Incident is a 1943 American western
film
directed by William A. Wellman
and starring Henry Fonda
, Dana Andrews
, Mary Beth Hughes
, Anthony Quinn
, William Eythe
, Harry Morgan
and Jane Darwell. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
.
In 1998, The Ox-Bow Incident was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry
by the Library of Congress
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film was adapted from the 1940 novel of the same name, written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
.
in 1885 and begins with Art Croft (Harry Morgan
) and Gil Carter (Henry Fonda
) riding into the town of Bridger's Wells. They go into Darby's Saloon and find that the atmosphere is subdued, in part because of the recent incidents of cattle-rustling
(the stealing of livestock) in the vicinity. Everyone wants to catch the thieves.
Gil learns that his former girlfriend left town at the start of the spring and he now drinks heavily to drown his sorrows. Art and Gil are possible rustler suspects simply because they are not often seen in town. The townspeople are wary of them, and a fight breaks out between Gil and a local rancher named Farnley (Marc Lawrence
). Immediately after the fight, another man races into town on horseback, goes into the saloon and announces that a rancher named Larry Kinkaid has been murdered. The townspeople immediately form a posse
to pursue the murderers, whom they believe to be the cattle rustlers. The posse is told by the local judge that it must bring the presumed rustlers back alive for trial, and that its deputization by a deputy (the sheriff being out of town on business) is illegal, but little heed is taken of this. Art and Gil join the posse as well, as much to avoid being its target as to participate. Davies (Harry Davenport), a man vehemently opposed to forming the posse because of its capacity for "mob rule", also joins. Among the other people in the posse are "Major" Tetley (Frank Conroy
) and his son, Gerald (William Eythe
). The major informs the posse that three men with cattle bearing Kinkaid's brand have just entered Bridger's Pass, and therefore shouldn't be too difficult to catch.
On their journey, members of the posse encounter a stagecoach. They try to stop it, but the stagecoach guard assumes that it is a stickup, and shoots, accidentally wounding Art in the left shoulder. In the coach are Rose Mapen (Mary Beth Hughes
) – Gil's old girlfriend – and her new, obviously rich husband, Swanson (George Meeker
).
Later in the night, in the Ox-Bow canyon, the posse finds three men sleeping on the ground, with what are presumed to be stolen cattle nearby. The posse interrogates the men: a young, well-spoken man, Donald Martin (Dana Andrews
); a Mexican named Juan Martínez (Anthony Quinn
) who claims to be unable to understand English; and a delusional old man named Alva Hardwicke, portrayed by veteran Hollywood character actor/silent film director Francis Ford
(brother of famed film director John Ford
). Martin claims that he purchased the cattle from Kinkaid, but that he received no bill of sale because the sale took place out on the range. No one believes Martin, and it is therefore decided that the three men are to be hanged at sunrise.
Martin, as his last wish, writes a private letter to his wife and asks Davies, the only member of the posse that he trusts, to deliver it. Davies reads the letter, and, hoping to save Martin's life, gives it to the others to read. Because of the letter's eloquence, Davies believes that Martin is innocent and does not deserve to die. However, Martin finds out that his letter has been read, and becomes angry at the betrayal of his privacy.
During the argument, the Mexican, who is actually a gambler named Francisco Morez, tries to escape and is shot. The posse discovers that Juan is able to speak "American" and ten other languages and that he has Kinkaid's gun. Major Tetley wants the men to be lynched immediately because he does not want any of the rustlers to escape through the courts. A vote is taken on whether the men should be hanged or taken back to face trial. Only seven of the group (of approximately twenty-five people), among them Davies, Gerald Tetley, Gil and Art, vote to take the men back to town alive; the rest support immediate hanging. Gil tries to stop it, but is overpowered. The group must choose three people to hit the horses out from under the condemned men. Farnley and Jenny Grier (Jane Darwell), the only woman in the posse, volunteer, and Gerald Tetley is ordered by his father to be the third. While the others hit the horses of the old man and Morez, Gerald Tetley does not, and the horse therefore simply walks out from under Martin. Farnley shoots Martin to kill him.
After the lynching, the posse heads back towards Bridger's Wells. On the way, they meet Sheriff Risley (Willard Robertson
). They tell him with pride of their actions, but the sheriff replies that Lawrence Kinkaid was not killed, is under the care of the doctor in Pike's Corner, and that the men who shot him have already been arrested. Risley strips the deputy of his badge and asks Davies, who he knows would not have supported a hanging, to tell him who was involved. "All but seven," Davies replies. "God better have mercy on you," the sheriff tells the posse. "You won't get any from me."
The men of the posse gather back in Darby's Saloon and drink in silence. Major Tetley returns to his house and locks the door so his son cannot come in. His son yells at him through the door, telling him what he thinks of him. Major Tetley walks into another room and shoots himself. In the saloon, Gil reads Martin's letter out loud to Art while the other members of the posse are listening. In the closing scene, mirroring the initial scene, Gil and Art ride out of town to deliver the letter to Martin's wife and family.
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by William A. Wellman
William A. Wellman
William Augustus Wellman was an American film director. Although Wellman began his film career as an actor, he worked on over 80 films, as director, producer and consultant but most often as a director, notable for his work in crime, adventure and action genre films, often focusing on aviation...
and starring Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
, Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
, Mary Beth Hughes
Mary Beth Hughes
Mary Beth Hughes was an American film, television, and stage actress best known for her roles in B movies.-Early life and career:...
, Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
, William Eythe
William Eythe
William Eythe was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage.-Early life and career:Born in Mars, Pennsylvania, a small town located about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, he was interested in acting from a young age. He attended Carnegie Tech University and studied acting and he began...
, Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
and Jane Darwell. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
.
In 1998, The Ox-Bow Incident was selected for preservation in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
by the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film was adapted from the 1940 novel of the same name, written by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark
Walter Van Tilburg Clark was an American novelist, short story writer, and educator. He ranks as one of Nevada's most distinguished literary figures of the 20th century and is known primarily for his novels, his one volume of stories, as well as his uncollected short stories...
.
Plot
The Ox-Bow Incident takes place in NevadaNevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
in 1885 and begins with Art Croft (Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
) and Gil Carter (Henry Fonda
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
) riding into the town of Bridger's Wells. They go into Darby's Saloon and find that the atmosphere is subdued, in part because of the recent incidents of cattle-rustling
Cattle raiding
Cattle raiding is the act of stealing cattle.In Australia, such stealing is often referred to as duffing, and the person as a duffer...
(the stealing of livestock) in the vicinity. Everyone wants to catch the thieves.
Gil learns that his former girlfriend left town at the start of the spring and he now drinks heavily to drown his sorrows. Art and Gil are possible rustler suspects simply because they are not often seen in town. The townspeople are wary of them, and a fight breaks out between Gil and a local rancher named Farnley (Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C...
). Immediately after the fight, another man races into town on horseback, goes into the saloon and announces that a rancher named Larry Kinkaid has been murdered. The townspeople immediately form a posse
Posse comitatus (common law)
Posse comitatus or sheriff's posse is the common-law or statute law authority of a county sheriff or other law officer to conscript any able-bodied males to assist him in keeping the peace or to pursue and arrest a felon, similar to the concept of the "hue and cry"...
to pursue the murderers, whom they believe to be the cattle rustlers. The posse is told by the local judge that it must bring the presumed rustlers back alive for trial, and that its deputization by a deputy (the sheriff being out of town on business) is illegal, but little heed is taken of this. Art and Gil join the posse as well, as much to avoid being its target as to participate. Davies (Harry Davenport), a man vehemently opposed to forming the posse because of its capacity for "mob rule", also joins. Among the other people in the posse are "Major" Tetley (Frank Conroy
Frank Conroy (actor)
Frank Parish Conroy was a British film and stage actor who appeared in many movies, notably The Little Minister, The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, The Threat, The Royal Family of Broadway, The Young Philadelphians and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
) and his son, Gerald (William Eythe
William Eythe
William Eythe was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage.-Early life and career:Born in Mars, Pennsylvania, a small town located about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, he was interested in acting from a young age. He attended Carnegie Tech University and studied acting and he began...
). The major informs the posse that three men with cattle bearing Kinkaid's brand have just entered Bridger's Pass, and therefore shouldn't be too difficult to catch.
On their journey, members of the posse encounter a stagecoach. They try to stop it, but the stagecoach guard assumes that it is a stickup, and shoots, accidentally wounding Art in the left shoulder. In the coach are Rose Mapen (Mary Beth Hughes
Mary Beth Hughes
Mary Beth Hughes was an American film, television, and stage actress best known for her roles in B movies.-Early life and career:...
) – Gil's old girlfriend – and her new, obviously rich husband, Swanson (George Meeker
George Meeker
George Meeker was an American character movie and Broadway actor who became more of a legend off-camera than on. Meeker made several movies such as Crime Inc. , and Thief in the Dark and played an uncredited part in All Through the Night .Meeker has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.-External...
).
Later in the night, in the Ox-Bow canyon, the posse finds three men sleeping on the ground, with what are presumed to be stolen cattle nearby. The posse interrogates the men: a young, well-spoken man, Donald Martin (Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
); a Mexican named Juan Martínez (Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Antonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
) who claims to be unable to understand English; and a delusional old man named Alva Hardwicke, portrayed by veteran Hollywood character actor/silent film director Francis Ford
Francis Ford (actor)
Francis Ford was a prolific film actor, writer, and director. He was the older brother of film director John Ford. He also appeared in many of John Ford's movies, including Young Mr. Lincoln and The Quiet Man.He starred in the 1912 two-reeler The Deserter by Thomas H. Ince and acted in over 400...
(brother of famed film director John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
). Martin claims that he purchased the cattle from Kinkaid, but that he received no bill of sale because the sale took place out on the range. No one believes Martin, and it is therefore decided that the three men are to be hanged at sunrise.
Martin, as his last wish, writes a private letter to his wife and asks Davies, the only member of the posse that he trusts, to deliver it. Davies reads the letter, and, hoping to save Martin's life, gives it to the others to read. Because of the letter's eloquence, Davies believes that Martin is innocent and does not deserve to die. However, Martin finds out that his letter has been read, and becomes angry at the betrayal of his privacy.
During the argument, the Mexican, who is actually a gambler named Francisco Morez, tries to escape and is shot. The posse discovers that Juan is able to speak "American" and ten other languages and that he has Kinkaid's gun. Major Tetley wants the men to be lynched immediately because he does not want any of the rustlers to escape through the courts. A vote is taken on whether the men should be hanged or taken back to face trial. Only seven of the group (of approximately twenty-five people), among them Davies, Gerald Tetley, Gil and Art, vote to take the men back to town alive; the rest support immediate hanging. Gil tries to stop it, but is overpowered. The group must choose three people to hit the horses out from under the condemned men. Farnley and Jenny Grier (Jane Darwell), the only woman in the posse, volunteer, and Gerald Tetley is ordered by his father to be the third. While the others hit the horses of the old man and Morez, Gerald Tetley does not, and the horse therefore simply walks out from under Martin. Farnley shoots Martin to kill him.
After the lynching, the posse heads back towards Bridger's Wells. On the way, they meet Sheriff Risley (Willard Robertson
Willard Robertson
Willard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
). They tell him with pride of their actions, but the sheriff replies that Lawrence Kinkaid was not killed, is under the care of the doctor in Pike's Corner, and that the men who shot him have already been arrested. Risley strips the deputy of his badge and asks Davies, who he knows would not have supported a hanging, to tell him who was involved. "All but seven," Davies replies. "God better have mercy on you," the sheriff tells the posse. "You won't get any from me."
The men of the posse gather back in Darby's Saloon and drink in silence. Major Tetley returns to his house and locks the door so his son cannot come in. His son yells at him through the door, telling him what he thinks of him. Major Tetley walks into another room and shoots himself. In the saloon, Gil reads Martin's letter out loud to Art while the other members of the posse are listening. In the closing scene, mirroring the initial scene, Gil and Art ride out of town to deliver the letter to Martin's wife and family.
Cast
- Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
as Gil Carter - Dana AndrewsDana AndrewsDana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
as Donald Martin - Mary Beth HughesMary Beth HughesMary Beth Hughes was an American film, television, and stage actress best known for her roles in B movies.-Early life and career:...
as Rose Mapen / Rose Swanson - Anthony QuinnAnthony QuinnAntonio Rodolfo Quinn-Oaxaca , more commonly known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican American actor, as well as a painter and writer...
as Juan Martínez / Francisco Morez - William EytheWilliam EytheWilliam Eythe was an American actor of film, radio, television and stage.-Early life and career:Born in Mars, Pennsylvania, a small town located about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, he was interested in acting from a young age. He attended Carnegie Tech University and studied acting and he began...
as Gerald Tetley - Harry MorganHarry MorganHarry Morgan is an American actor. Morgan is well-known for his roles as Colonel Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H , Pete Porter on both Pete and Gladys and December Bride , Detective Bill Gannon on Dragnet , and Amos Coogan on Hec Ramsey...
as Art Croft (credited as Henry Morgan) - Jane Darwell as Jenny Grier
- Matt BriggsMatt BriggsMatt Briggs is an American novelist, and short story writer.-Biography:Matt Briggs was born in Seattle, Washington, which he still calls home. He grew up in the Snoqualmie Valley raised by working-class, counter-culture parents who cultivated and sold cannabis . Briggs has written two books set in...
as Judge Daniel Tyler - Harry Davenport as Arthur Davies
- Frank ConroyFrank Conroy (actor)Frank Parish Conroy was a British film and stage actor who appeared in many movies, notably The Little Minister, The Ox-Bow Incident, All My Sons, The Threat, The Royal Family of Broadway, The Young Philadelphians and The Day the Earth Stood Still...
as Maj. Tetley - Marc LawrenceMarc LawrenceMarc Lawrence was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C...
as Jeff Farnley - Paul HurstPaul Hurst (actor)Paul Causey Hurst was an American film actor and director.-Career:Born in Traver, California, and raised on a ranch, he appeared in hundreds of films during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. However, he got his start painting scenery as part of the backstage crew during the silent movie era...
as Monty Smith - Victor KilianVictor KilianVictor Arthur Kilian was an American actor who was blacklisted by the Hollywood movie studio bosses in the 1950s....
as Darby - Chris-Pin Martin as Poncho
- Willard RobertsonWillard RobertsonWillard Robertson was an American actor. He appeared in 146 films between 1924 and 1948. He was born in Runnels, Texas and died in Hollywood, California.-Selected filmography:*Graft *Shanghaied Love...
as Sheriff - Leigh Whipper as Sparks
- Margaret HamiltonMargaret HamiltonMargaret Hamilton was an American film actress known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz...
as the house keeper - Billy Benedict as the young man