7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Character study of a Doctor who saves a local criminal from a mob who are trying to hang him, but then tries to control the life of the young man, realising that he can exploit his secret.
Starring: Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, George C. Scott, Karl SwensonWestern | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Romance | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The Hanging Tree was one of the final films to star Gary Cooper, a beloved icon of the old studio
system, whose popularity was inextricably bound with the image of tough, laconic rectitude he
projected in classics like High Noon and Sergeant York
(for both of which he won Oscars).
Cooper died just two years after release of The Hanging Tree—of cancer, at the relatively young
age of 60—and looking back now, it seems eerily timely that his last major project was a role
quietly subverting the stalwart "white hat" image the actor had cultivated for much of his career.
Based on a novella by Dorothy M. Johnson, a prolific writer of Western fiction (she also created
The Man Who
Shot Liberty Valance) and directed by Western veteran Delmer Daves, The
Hanging Tree is an early milestone on the path that would take Westerns from formulaic oaters
to moody morality plays. The frontier anti-heroes who would later populate the cinema of
Peckinpah, Leone and Eastwood are among the latter-day descendants of Cooper's Dr. Joseph
Frail in The Hanging Tree.
The Hanging Tree wasn't widely seen for many years, primarily due to rights issues. For a long
time, the only available video version was a full-frame transfer from a less-than-pristine print that
occasionally played on Turner Classic Movies. But in 2012, with all rights issues resolved, the
Warner Archive Collection released the film on DVD in its original aspect ratio, and the response
was so favorable that WAC began to investigate the feasibility of a Blu-ray release. While a hi-def version initially seemed
unlikely due to the nature
of the elements in Warner's vault, patience,
further investigation and the technical finesse of Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility have
now brought The Hanging Tree to Blu-ray in a stunning presentation.
Though released in 1959, The Hanging Tree was shot in 1958 by cinematographer Ted D.
McCord (The Sound
of Music). The film falls
within the period when Kodak's motion picture
film stock was subject to the deterioration now known as "yellow layer collapse" (discussed at
greater length here). The usual
alternative to a color
OCN, a timed interpositive, did not exist for
this film. The only other extant element was a so-called "color reversal negative", or CRI, from
the Seventies, which was good enough for a standard definition DVD but of insufficient quality
for Blu-ray.
WAC did not expect much from The Hanging Tree's negative, given its experience with
previous projects from the era of yellow layer collapse, but when the OCN was retrieved and
reviewed, it was found to be in surprisingly good condition. The decision was made to attempt a
scan of the OCN, and as per current Warner policy when dealing with original elements, the scan
was performed at 4K by Warner's Motion Picture Imaging facility. MPI spent many hours
correcting the raw scan for color and density, and WAC subjected the result to its usual thorough
cleaning to eliminate scratches, damage and age-related wear.
The resulting 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is a revelation, which instantly vaults to the top of
WAC's already impressive list of restored classics. The town of Skull Creek springs vividly to
life, with its combination of rickety wooden structures and ratty tents, all of it surrounded by
roughly hewn fences, water wheels and sluices. The cabin where Doc Frail sets up his practice is
conveniently situated on a cliff overlooking the town, allowing the camera to alternate between
looking down on the expanses below and up at the doctor's domain, and the Blu-ray renders both
perspectives with superb sharpness and detail. The film's richest colors are the greens and
browns of the surrounding forest, compared to which Skull Creek's inhabitants have the drab and
dusty appearance of people living on the fringe of civilization. (Even the gaudier attire of the
town's prostitutes looks the worse for wear.) Blacks in interiors are solid and dark, but scenes set
at night outdoors have the unnatural dimness and lack of contrast that are typical of day-for-night
photography. Opticals (notably, dissolves and the opening titles) retain the softness that was an
unavoidable side effect of that process, but the Blu-ray presentation is simply providing an
accurate reproduction of the source. The film's grain pattern is exceedingly fine (except in
opticals, which accentuate the grain) and naturally rendered.
WAC has encoded The Hanging Tree at its usual high average bitrate, here 34.98 Mbps.
The Hanging Tree's mono soundtrack has been taken from the magnetic master, cleaned of any age-related deterioration and encoded as lossless DTS-HD MA 2.0. It's a surprisingly robust track, effectively conveying key effects like hoof beats, gun shots, rainfall and water rushing through the ramshackle sluices constructed by the miners. Other examples can't be mentioned without spoilers but are equally well-reproduced. The dialogue is clear and natural-sounding. The title song performed by Marty Robbins was written before filming began, and composer Max Steiner had to figure out ways to build an orchestral score around it, just as he had for "As Time Goes By" in Casablanca. The three-time Oscar winner remained as inventive as ever, and The Hanging Tree's musical accompaniment is yet another of the film's delights, faithfully rendered on Blu-ray.
The sole extra is the film's trailer (1080p; 1.78:1; 2:47), which has been remastered in 1080p. It contains inserts specially shot for the trailer in which Cooper and Maria Schell address the audience directly, breaking the proverbial fourth wall.
The Hanging Tree doesn't fit the traditional mold of a Western, which probably accounts for the
lukewarm reaction it initially received from audiences accustomed to a genre known for clear distinctions
between good guys and bad. But the film doesn't quite feel "modern" either. A product of the
waning days of the studio system, it seems perched between two eras, which makes it especially
fascinating to watch today. Cooper's gravitas anchors the tale and leaves no doubt who the hero
is, but from moment to moment you're never quite sure what kind of hero he'll turn out to be.
WAC's new Blu-ray restores the film's striking visuals, allowing it to be seen anew in its full
Technicolor glory. Highly recommended.
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