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Hang 'em High poster

Movies that feel likeHang 'em High (1968)

Marshall Jed Cooper survives a hanging, vowing revenge on the lynch mob that left him dangling. To carry out his oath for vengeance, he returns to his former job as a lawman. Before long, he's caught up with the nine men on his hit list and starts dispensing his own brand of Wild West justice.

If you loved Hang 'em High, the closest films we have are Duck, You Sucker (1971), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) and The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). All three share Hang 'em High's gritty feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Straight Time (1978).

πŸ… 93% Rotten Tomatoesβ˜… 7 IMDb β†—TMDB β†—dir. Ted Postgrittycontemplative
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If Hang 'em High hit the spot, these will too

Duck, You Sucker poster
Duck, You Sucker
1971 Β· dir. Sergio Leone
πŸ… 92%β˜… 7.5westernPrime Video

Western built on grit, twice over

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than Hang 'em High does

At the beginning of the 1913 Mexican Revolution, greedy bandit Juan Miranda and idealist John H. Mallory, an Irish Republican Army explosives expert on the lam from the British, fall in with a band of revolutionaries plotting to strike a national bank. When it turns out that the government has been using the bank as a hiding place for illegally detained political prisoners -- who are freed by the blast -- Miranda becomes a revolutionary hero against his will.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance poster
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
1962 Β· dir. John Ford
πŸ… 95%β˜… 8.1western

Gritty drama in both cases

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

The Ox-Bow Incident poster
The Ox-Bow Incident
1943 Β· dir. William A. Wellman
πŸ… 90%β˜… 8western

Both are built on the same subject: lynching

The difference: Made in the 1940s, in a different era of the craft

A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

Magnum Force poster
Magnum Force
1973 Β· dir. Ted Post
πŸ… 69%β˜… 7.2drama Β· crime Β· action

The same hand behind both of them: Ted Post

The difference: Sits closer to crime than Hang 'em High does

"Dirty" Harry Callahan is a San Francisco Police Inspector on the trail of a group of rogue cops who have taken justice into their own hands. When shady characters are murdered one after another in grisly fashion, only Dirty Harry can stop them.

Fort Apache poster
Fort Apache
1948 Β· dir. John Ford
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.4western

Both lean on grit more than on western

Owen Thursday sees his new posting to the desolate Fort Apache as a chance to claim the military honour which he believes is rightfully his. Arrogant, obsessed with military form and ultimately self-destructive, he attempts to destroy the Apache chief Cochise after luring him across the border from Mexico, against the advice of his subordinates.

Giant poster
Giant
1956 Β· dir. George Stevens
πŸ… 86%β˜… 7.6drama Β· western

Both keep coming back to the same thing: judge

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.

The Searchers poster
The Searchers
1956 Β· dir. John Ford
πŸ… 87%β˜… 7.8western

The same western instincts

As a Civil War veteran spends years searching for a young niece captured by Indians, his motivation becomes increasingly questionable.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon poster
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
1949 Β· dir. John Ford
πŸ… 91%β˜… 7.2drama Β· western

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.

The Wrong Man poster
The Wrong Man
1956 Β· dir. Alfred Hitchcock
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.4crime Β· dramaMax

One thread runs through both: falsely accused

In 1953, an innocent man named Christopher Emmanuel "Manny" Balestrero is arrested after being mistaken for an armed robber.

Pickpocket poster
Pickpocket
1959 Β· dir. Robert Bresson
πŸ… 93%β˜… 7.5crime Β· drama

The same preoccupation in both: prison

Michel takes up pickpocketing on a lark and is arrested soon after. His mother dies shortly after his release, and despite the objections of his only friend, Jacques, and his mother's neighbor Jeanne, Michel teams up with a couple of petty thieves in order to improve his craft. With a police inspector keeping an eye on him, Michel also tries to get a straight job, but the temptation to steal is hard to resist.

Straight Time poster
Straight Time
1978 Β· dir. Ulu Grosbard
πŸ… 82%β˜… 7.4crime Β· drama

Common ground: prison

After being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just go by the rules. He soon finds himself back in jail at the hands of a power-hungry parole officer.

Stagecoach poster
Stagecoach
1939 Β· dir. John Ford
πŸ… 100%β˜… 7.8westernPrime VideoMax

Western in the same key

A group of people traveling on a stagecoach find their journey complicated by the threat of Geronimo, and learn something about each other in the process.

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The best-reviewed films that share Hang 'em High’s defining feeling.