It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Not as Good as the Boetticher-Scott Films, This One Inevitably Draws Comparison as it is Rich in Conflict and Moral Regards. There are Some Attractions in this Above Average Western. Technicolor, Randolph Scott, and Lee Marvin are the Highlights. Surfacing from the Simplistic Yet Classic Tale of Greed and Men of Varying Scruples, are Some Rich Side-Characters from Familiar Character Actors.Donna Reed is the Love Interest and Only in Hollywood is it Required She Falls in Love with the Honorable Soldier in an A Day and A Night. The Romance is Quick and Not Really Believable and is the Movies Shortcoming.Overall, Worth a Watch Because it is Better than the Standard Stuff of Westerns in the Fifties, A Decade that Saw a Plethora of Pictures Set in the Wild Frontier. Fans of Scott Should Like it and Western Movie Fans can Add this to a Checklist of the Better Ones.

Confederate special ops are sent to the Gold Country in Nevada to rob a gold shipment and then take the gold to Confederate Texas. After killing everyone, they find out that the war was over a month ago and now they are nothing more than robbers and killers. That description fits Lee Marvin's part fairly well, as when confronted by the leader of the squad played by Randolph Scott about killing the guy who was supposed to be helping them escape, Marvin answers that that's what they've been doing through the whole war. Chased by a posse of guys who are far worse than they are, they hijack a stage coach with young Donna Reed who plays a nurse, and her coach mate played by Richard Denning. The posse is led more or less by Ray Teal in another one of his classic cutthroat roles (see him in Along The Great Divide). The posse's problem is that there is no honor amongst thieves and their greed as much as other factors gets the better of them, but not before several tense scenes unfold in the way station where Scott and his men are holed up with Reed, Denning, and the father and daughter (who have their own issues) who run the place. Gold subverts just about every one in the movie, especially the cold opportunist played by Denning. That Confederate genteelness that you hear so much about in 50's westerns seems to contrast well with the greed and violence that seems about to erupt. It really doesn't extend much to Marvin's part who gets carried away with Donna Reed's good looks as he has her up against the fireplace, provoking a great fist-fight scene with southern gentleman Scott. Though the script doesn't always stand out and at times is a distraction, (maybe the story itself has some problems) this is still a western worth watching for a lot of reasons.

I was kind of torn as to whether to give this movie a 6 or a 7. After all, while entertaining and well done compared to most westerns, it also suffers a bit from a claustrophobic feel as well as a lot of similarity to other films--even other Randolph Scott films. I'll give it a 7, simply because even a mediocre Scott film is better than the norm.The film starts with Scott leading a raiding party of Confederates on a Union gold shipment. The problem is that they don't realize that the war is over--and that by killing these troops and taking the gold that they might be viewed as crooks, not men serving their country. Instead of returning the gold and surrendering (which probably would have kept them from a hanging), they decide to keep the gold and make a run for it. Scott says he's keeping the gold and plans on using it to rebuild the South, but the rest of the gang isn't so strongly inclined. However, before the whole thing degenerates into an all-out brawl for the money, an outside force intervenes. Various posses are looking for them once the dead soldiers are found and one group that corners them isn't particularly interested in bringing anyone to justice--they just want to steal the gold and kill everyone to get rid of witnesses--forcing the ex-Confederates to strongly bond together--except for a problematic guy played by Lee Marvin--a very typical 1950s role for him.The film benefits from excellent acting all around and despite some very familiar story elements and clichés, is quite entertaining. HOWEVER, there is one seriously bad problem and one smaller one with the film. First, the really bad. In a fight between Marvin and Scott, you can very, very clearly see that they are stuntmen and this might just be the worst non-deliberate example I've seen (I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCKA's is worse, but clearly meant to be as white guy with a mustache doubles for a black woman). They obviously are not Marvin or Scott--it's not even close. The other smaller problem are some story elements that, if you think about them, make no sense. Why did Scott and his men hold up the wagon? This made no sense, nor did Donna Reed suddenly falling for Scott at the end (an obvious cliché). Regardless, Scott fans will love this and non-western lovers will probably find it all tolerable at best.

Hangmans Knot is only slightly better than the average western of its time. However there is one huge difference between this film & film of today.Randolph Scott was a top rated STAR of his time,he was able to carry a movie all by himself, BUT the powers that be back then always surrounded there star with major featured players who were well known at the time. In todays film, you are lucky if you even recognize any one else but the star.The supporting cast of Hangmans Knot is a who's who of players, some were well known, some just starting out & some old timers who seemed to be in many films.The cast here includes. Donna Reed,Lee Marvin,Claude Jarmen Jr, Clem Bevans, Jeanette Nolan, Frank Faylen, Richard Denning among others.The payroll was not inflated either, as nearly every one of them were on contract to the studio.Roy Huggins of TV fame both wrote & directed this film & it is quite violent for its time.Do not expect a great film, it is just a slightly better than average routine western of its time.In fact the only annoying note is the overly romantic kiss between Randolph Scott & Donna Reed at next to last scene . Back then it was required to have either or both a comic bit or a clinch.The running time is only 81 minutes BUT there is more action than in todays 2 hour films.They thankfully did not have endless song scores to stop the action..It was filmed in Technicolor in an area just north of Los Angeles that was wide open space back then. Today its all homes & shopping centers.Ratings: *** (out of 4) 82 points (out of 100) IMDb 7 (out of 10)