Review: The Ox-Bow Incident
Blu-Ray: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
Nevada, 1885: Two drifters; Gil Carter (Henry Fonda) and Art Croft (Harry Morgan, credited as Henry Morgan), ride into the town of Bridger Wells and discover that a local rancher has been killed and his cattle stolen by a gang of rustlers. The townspeople are up in arms over the death of the beloved rancher and vow to catch and punish who did it. With the sheriff away, a posse is formed and they precede to hunt down the villains and hang them on the spot (Dana Andrews and Anthony Quinn in early major roles). Gil Carter and Art Croft join the posse solely because they don’t want the mob to become ‘suspicious’ of them. It’s the sort of ‘good’ soul searching ‘it’ll be okay in the end’ film that Hollywood studios churned out by the dozen back in the day. Fast and Furious for the 40s if you will, underlining ‘good human behaviour’.
Ford’s performance as the films moral compass is of course outstanding, as is all the acting, which helped to garner it a Best Picture nomination at the 1943 Academy Awards. The story itself is entertaining but rather self-righteous, but having said all that, regulars will know that I am a sucker for a cowboy film, and this is no different. As much as I want to say ‘they’re all the same’!! I did really like this movie. Of course we have another ace package from Arrow Films. This film, in black and white looks amazing, every part of Henry’s very handsome face shines out of the screen.
The Ox-Bow Incident is available to buy now.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- New 4K digital restoration by Twentieth Century Fox
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Uncompressed Mono 1.0 PCM Audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by American West historian Dick Etulain and William Wellman Jr
- Introduction by Peter Stanfield, author of Hollywood, Westerns and the 1930s: The Lost Trail and Horse Opera: The Strange History of the Singing Cowboy
- Scene-select commentaries by Stanfield
- Henry Fonda: Hollywood’s Quiet Hero, a 45-minute documentary on the actor from the Biography series
- Stills gallery
- Theatrical trailer
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Vladimir Zimakov
- Fully illustrated collector’s booklet containing new writing by Nick Pinkerton
Review by Tina (co-host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Arrow Films.
