Good setup but poor ending.A doctor, Dr Frail (played by the legendary Gary Cooper), moves into a gold rush town in Montana in the 1870s. He's a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails type with a few skeletons in his past. Then a stagecoach is robbed nearby and its female occupant becomes a patient...Interesting and intriguing from the word go. Gary Cooper is obviously the hero, but for once he is less than perfect. Good action and a hint of romance.Decent, but not great. The story is often uneven, going on tangents, and the plot not always consistent. The ending is so random and silly it almost ruins the movie.Solid performance from Gary Cooper in the lead role. Good support from Maria Schell, Karl Malden and Ben Piazza. George C Scott appears in his first cinematic role (though he had appeared in TV series and a TV movie before this).Only really worth watching if you're a Gary Cooper fan.

The song (The Hanging Tree) is the introduction as Doctor Joe Frail (Gary Cooper) rides into town. The song really takes you on a journey as this tale begins to unfold right before your eye's. As the story unfolds a young woman Elizabeth Mahler (Maria Schell) is rescued from the desert. Badly burned and blind from the exposure of the desert, Doc Frail treats her until she is well. While in Doc Frail's care,she begins to have feelings for the doctor that she's never seen. But, because of a haunted past, he can not return her affection.When her sight returns, she strikes-out on her own to look for gold and to lead her own life. She partner's up with Frency Plante (Karl Malden) and Rune (Ben Piazza) as they look for gold. As time goes on, Doc Frail begins to have feelings for Elizabeth but, she soon finds out that he has been doing something behind her back and now she finds it hard to forgive him. The ending to this wonderful tale is a true treat that all of you will enjoy. I know, I sure did. Believe me, you'll enjoy...The Hanging Tree.

The Hanging Tree is directed by Delmer Daves and adapted to screenplay by Wendell Mayes and Halsted Welles from a story written by Dorothy M. Johnson. It stars Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, Ben Piazza and George C. Scott. A Technicolor production, film was shot on location at the Oak Creek Wildlife Area, Yakima, Washington, with Ted D. McCord on cinematography duties, and Max Steiner scores the music.The Gold Trail, Montana 1878. Joseph Frail (Cooper), Doctor, Gambler and Gunslinger, arrives in the Gold mining town of Skull Creek looking to settle down and make a living. However, his past haunts him and after medically aiding Rune (Piazza) and Elizabeth Mahler (Schell), subsequently changing their lives, Frail finds this town and its people are less than enamoured with his presence.Slow but compelling, The Hanging Tree has a unique feel to it on account of its interesting location setting, the Gold Rush backdrop and the multi stranded characters that form the story. Not given much support at the box office on its release, it's a film that has gained a cult following over the years and it's now often referred to as an intelligent Western. The performances are smart, from a very good cast, and the story manages to steer away from conventional Western movie pitfalls. But what marks it out as a must see for Western fans is the work of Daves (and Malden who stepped in while the director was hospitalised with ulcers), where the expansive scenery is utilised for both authentic impact on the narrative, and also for the emotional conditioning of the characters.Personally I think it falls some way short of the great intelligent and psychological Westerns crafted by Boetticher and Mann. Yes there are complexities to the characters, but the script doesn't quite dig deep enough into them, which is particularly galling as regards Cooper's portrayal of Frail (an appropriate name given Coop's ailing health at the time). It's credit to Cooper that he still manages to bring the viewer into his pained world, helping to make the impact of the finale far better than it had any right to be if taken as written on the page. But it still rounds out as a thoroughly absorbing picture, one that's beautifully shot and scored with gusto by Steiner. Lovely hummable title song from Marty Robbins as well. 7/10

I watched my share of westerns when I was a kid, but as an adult, it's a rare western that can hold my attention. This one did.Gary Cooper plays Joseph Frail, a strange mix of a doctor, a gambler, and perhaps a gunslinger. As he rides into a new town he rescues Rune, a sluice robber, from Frenchy (a dirty and nasty man played well by Karl Malden), and makes the young sluice robber an indentured servant. A stagecoach robbery results in the disappearance of Elizabeth Mahler (played well by Maria Schell). She is found by Frenchy (as part of a search party), and he has immoral designs on her. Her time in the wilderness led to skin burns, temporary blindness, and dehydration from overexposure. Dr. Frail treats her, but, as he has a tendency to do, he becomes possessive, and eventually Mahler leaves his protection and teams up with Frenchy and the sluice robber, and they strike gold. Frenchy attacks Mahler, and Frail kills him, resulting in Frail being on the verge of a lynching. Mahler saves him by offering the lynching party all their gold. Cooper is superb here...perhaps one of his best performances. In fact, it's difficult to find a less than good to great performance in the whole film. Definitely one to watch!