¨Hanging tree¨ results to be a good western set in a gold-mining camp and remains consistently agreeable and attractive . Set in Montana , 1873 , it takes place at a mining village called Skull Creek where arrives a frontier doctor named Joseph Frain (Gary Cooper as a good guy , as usual , being last western Gary Cooper starred in) . The doctor rescues a young thief named Rune (Ben Piazza) from a lynch mob . The doctor temporarily nurses and devotes his time to Elizabeth Mahler (Maria Schell) a strange girl . Unfortunately, however, the doctor with a dark past (it was left ambiguous whether the doctor had killed his unfaithful wife) may place his patient in considerable risk . The nasty (Karl Malden as a bad guy) attempts to rape Elizabeth but Cooper comes to his rescue . Later on , the townspeople took the doctor out to ¨The hanging tree¨ but this time is helped by his friends .

This first-rate but slow-paced Western draws its riveting tale and power from the interaction of finely drawn roles as well as drama and action . A fine and thought-provoking film in which Daves keeps straight face and magnificent control of rhythm in spite of some highly unlikely situations . Masterfully made and including excellent performances , breathtaking background shots and impeccable close-ups . ¨Hanging tree¨ which look a fairly and realist sighting at a mining camp . It stars genre stalwart Gary Cooper as a doctor-gambler-gunslinger who has a rather sinister past , he is a good professional treating a blind girl and saving a rogue thief . Maria Schell as blind woman is awesome too . Furthermore , George C Scott's screen debut as a fanatic preacher . Good adult Western with exciting battle of wits between an obstinate doctor , a beautiful blind woman and a nasty miner . This laid-back Western contains sensitive songs sung at the beginning and ending by Marty Robbing composed by Jerry Livingstone and written Marck Davis , being deservedly nominated for Oscar , in addition an emotive musical score by the classic Max Steiner . Colorful cinematography by Ted McCord , filmed in State of Washington nearly Yakime , where was expressly built a mining village . Well produced by Cooper and his Production Company called ¨Baroda¨ and some scenes were realized by Karl Malden by illness of Delmer Daves . ¨Hanging tree¨ turns out to be stylish, well paced , solid, meticulous and with enjoyable look . This perfectly acted movie is gripping every step of the way . Rating : Above average , worthwhile watching , still a memorable film

The motion picture was well directed by Delmer Daves - including his characteristic use of landscape- , though he fell ill during filming and Karl Malden took over for several days until Daves recovered. Daves was a Western expert for the reason he lived a long time of his boyhood with the Navajo and Hopi Indian tribes as he realized the notorious trail-blazing ¨Broken arrow¨ the first movie for many years not treat the Indians as cannon-fodder for the cavalry , which made the picture unpopular in some quarters . He went on directing the suspenseful ¨3:10 to Yuma¨, other pro-Indian as ¨The last wagon¨ and about Modoc Indians as ¨Drum beat¨ , the Shakespearian style of ¨Jubal¨ , ¨Return of the Texan¨ and ¨Cowboy¨ which a fairly spectacle about a long cattle drive . From 1959 Delmer Daves becomes embroiled for the remainder of his career with teenage love epics and very popular at the Box-office as ¨A summer place¨, ¨Parrish¨, ¨Susan Slade¨, and ¨Rome adventure¨, among others .

This is a very good movie that could have been a lot better with two small changes. George C. Scott's role was completely unnecessary to the film and should have been excised. He was too good an actor for such a dopey character. Also, they call Karl Malden 'Frenchie' throughout the film, but why?! He seems to be attempting a French accent here and there--but rarely. It's a shame, as otherwise it's a really, really good film.

Gary Cooper plays a doctor that comes into a crappy mining town. You don't know exactly what he's done in the past, but he's got a heck of a reputation with the gun. So, folks mostly leave him alone...that is, except for stupid 'ol Frenchie--but more about that later.

Early in the film, Doc saves a stupid young man (Karl Swenson) and as a result, he announces that the kid is his indentured servant. Either that, or he'll tell the other miners that the kid was the guy they shot who was trying to steal from their sluices! The kid isn't happy, but he doesn't seem to have any choice.

It gets a lot more interesting when a stagecoach is attacked outside town. Everyone but a lady is killed and the Doc takes her in and nurses her back to health. Tongues wag in this horrible town--in particular those of the viperous 'ladies' (Virginia Gregg is great as the leading slimy lady). You can tell there is some sexual tension developing between them.

However, some other form of sexual tension has developed. Frenchie is clearly a sex offender in training and Doc warns him to stay away from the lady. But, he doesn't listen and the doctor beats the snot out of him. You know that eventually this will mean one of them will try to kill the other. But, what makes this an exceptional film is the ending--an ending that has a lot to say about greed and the baser nature of mankind. See the film--I really don't want to ruin the wild ending.

Overall, a very well written film...aside from Scott! Cooper is great in one of his last roles--a real plum one. Watch this one.

Unless one wants to count They Came To Cordura as a western which also came out in 1959, The Hanging Tree was Gary Cooper's farewell to the western genre which he did so much to popularize. Although in his career Cooper played a variety of roles, he is probably most identified with the western. Certainly that second Oscar for High Noon cemented that identity.

Cooper is a doctor/gunfighter/gambler, a rather interesting combination of professions. But he needs all of them to survive in the gold mining camp where he's set up practice. It's a temporary home for the camp is a temporary town. Unless a mother lode is found, when the stream is panned out, the miners move on.

The miners are an interesting lot, the usual men with needs, the usual women who satisfy them for a price and some married folk with some puritan like wives. Oh, and there's a crazy religious fanatic walking around played by George C. Scott.

Cooper gets a pair of interesting patients who he takes more than a proprietary interest in. One is a young man who was shot robbing a sluice box played by Ben Piazza. Cooper patches him up and will not reveal who he is to the camp if he acts as servant to him. If The Hanging Tree had been made a decade later, one of those services no doubt would have been sex.

The threat is real for Piazza, with no law of any kind, the miners make their own law and enforce it with liberal use of an old gnarled oak called The Hanging Tree. One apparently is mandatory these camps. These guys aren't the Paint Your Wagon type miners.

Karl Malden does an excellent job playing one of those miners with some real needs. And he thinks he's got it made when he finds a sunburned and blind Maria Schell who survived a stagecoach holdup that killed her father. But she likes the strange and brooding doctor who saves her. She can't get close to Cooper however because of some things in his past.

The Hanging Tree was the first time that George C. Scott and Karl Malden worked together. Eleven years later they would team up for Scott's career role in the title role of Patton. Both Scott and Ben Piazza made their American film debuts in The Hanging Tree.

Karl Swenson and Virginia Gregg run the local mercantile. Swenson is one of the few in the town who befriends Cooper, but Gregg is the self appointed leader of the town morals committee. If Maria Schell wants to live in sin with Cooper, she ought to be with the other working girls at the saloon.

The Hanging Tree is photographed beautifully on location in Washington State serving as gold rush Montana of the 1870s. And the title song, sung by Marty Robbins was Oscar nominated for Best Song, but lost to High Hopes that year. Robbins had a hit record out of it as did Frankie Laine.

Delmar Daves, a most underrated director, does a fine job with his cast and story. This is a must for Gary Cooper fans.