I don't understand this board's aversion to melodrama, not in the least.The first 45 mins or so are great, but the writer(s) took way too long for the recovery of Maria Schell's character and then Coop gets left out of the shuffle in the last act. Ben Piazza was miscast and added nothing to the movie, and the tension between him and Cooper is pretty much ignored in the final act where his character is merely a bystander. The love triangle angle was half-assed when it should have driven home the movie, with Piazza's scorned character having to decide whether or not to save Cooper. The gold angle should have come earlier in the film and the fallout should have developed a lot slower - they pretty much go from finding nuggets to looters burning down the town in two minutes. Also, there is some bad dialogue which explains subtext. With all that said, this looks gorgeous, has great sets and is masterfully directed. It's a few steps short of the three Glenn Ford collaborations (which I think all are masterpieces) but overall a worthy, but flawed western.8/10
I don't understand this board's aversion to melodrama, not in the least.
I thought it was pretty good, and Groggy rated it an 8/10. What more do you want from the board? (Actually, I know I don't count. So it's just Groggy that agrees with you. Poor you).
Sounds like you loved it.
An 8 out of ten is something that I feel is worth revisiting at some point. Outside of the flaws in the script, the miscasting of one of the leads, an odd bit character badly played by George C Scott, The Hanging Tree is a unique, innovative, beautifully made film.