Very wellmade western message movie, it's appeal for a cynical scumbag like yours truly lies in the fine performances, the tightness necissitated by a short running time and a studio setting that (strangely enough, for a western) works in the films favor.

I tend to really dislike westerns. Some shots, like the ones where the characters are contrasted heavily with the cloudy sky, are very effective metaphorically. The story itself offers some important lessons. But I found it quite boring.

Better than 12 Angry Men.

Brilliant. The love story was pointless but it truly is a heartbreaking film. I felt guilty afterwards. It was really touching. Definitely worth a look.

Good acting, average plot.

Excellent study of mob mentality with strong individual characterizations. A brilliant western.

For a large part set across a gorgeously haunting Gothic backdrop with the hollow noise of a grotesque mob dying away into the mist, The Ox-Bow Incident really is outstanding aesthetically, paced to a pitch of brooding dread and despair. But as happens so often with films about justice, its quite beautiful subtleties are overshadowed by familiarly empty, manipulative moralising which at its most sensible boils down to "think before you act", at its worst a load of romantic rubbish.

It really is like the Western version of 12 Angry Men (which came out over a decade later!). The fact that it released during such a xenophobic era of America makes its message on mob rule even more significant. It also serves as a great contrast to the standard-fare Westerns; there's not even a single shoot-out in the film, yet it remains taut and engaging throughout its relatively short run-time.

A powerful statement about the force of law in the hands of the average man and its consequences, The Ox-Bow Incident is a fantastic movie that quickly snowballs from a relatively light exposition to its stirring climax. Henry Fonda delivers a fine performance while supported by an excellent ensemble cast.

A movie like this is so simple and minimal, but yet capable of so much. For some reason, it felt heavily edited or unfinished even (the aforementioned love story, the mexican's character, the soldier's son, the short length) but what is presented is presented in a way that affected me very strongly. Nobody makes westerns like this, they never did, and they probably won't again. Anthony Quinn was outstanding.

969

A dark, somber, fantastic story. (Loses a few points for a strange love-arc that went nowhere.)

Terrific. A movie with the exact opposite attitude of most other Westerns

An interesting and thoughtful film, though a bit ponderous and didactic. Wellman's compositions often catch the eye--a tree branch, a rope swinging, the brim of a cowboy hat. Yet everything seems a bit too staged. It's a disturbing milieu for sure, but without the narrative drive or the flat out embrace of a more poetic rendering, its flaws stand out all the more.

One of those message movies that has a problem being subtle, but it still works. The tension and suspense are handled with lots of finesse, and there are a few very good performances. A little underdeveloped though, with the biggest throwaway love subplot ever to fill up some time.

Starts off mediocre but builds up into something pretty good, with an even better ending. A lot of the character development seemed pointless as their actions during the second half spoke way more than anything in the first half (particularly the pointless love story) ever could have.

A near perfect look at the importance of laws in society and the dangers of mob mentality. The movie's only flaws are an undeveloped love story that doesn't fully fit with the rest of the film, and that it's a little short.

Predictable, maybe, but pithy. Mob justice goes wrong, as mob justice so often does.

A Western of unusual sensitivity. Ostensibly simple and blunt, but delicate and nuanced to the keen eye, and so very powerful. It slightly preempts a later Henry Fonda film, 12 Angry Men, but only slightly, and this one is more somber.