"The Ox Bow Incident" with Henry Fonda and Harry Morgan (1942)

Henry Fonda has starred in some of the most controversial films in the history of Hollywood. His stellar performance in “The Grapes of Wrath”; in which he plays a migrant worker; is indicative of the many roles he would play in the future. In “The Wrong Man” he plays an ordinary working stiff who is falsely accused of a crime he did not commit. Even in the midst of the McCarthy Era witch hunts he defied the system, making “12 Angry Men” at a time when questioning anything was suspect. So, it is no surprise that he would be the star of William Wellman’s screen adaptation of “The Ox Bow Incident”, which deals with vigilante justice.

What makes this film so daring is that it was filmed and released just after the United States entered the Second World War, and Japanese-Americans were being interred in detention camps, even as their sons were fighting in our armed forces for freedom.

When Gil Carter, played by Henry Fonda, rides into a town plagued by cattle rustling, he and his sidekick Art Croft, played by Harry (Henry) Morgan, become caught up in a lynching of 3 rustlers suspected of murder the town’s most popular resident. The Sheriff is out of town and the Judge is too timid to control the mob. Only Gil and Art, along with the son of the local Militia’s Major, and an old Negro man, are willing to question the execution without trial. The evidence is circumstantial at best, but the dead man must be avenged at all costs.

A posse is formed and the 3 men are captured and hung. As the men proudly head back to town the Sheriff arrives at the scene, informing them that he has captured the real killer. When he hears what the men have done in his absence he is disgusted and heads back to town, vowing that each and every man involved in the unlawful mob action will be prosecuted. The men head back to town and contemplate what they have done while awaiting their own trials for murder. Gil and Art ride out of town, left to wonder about the human condition, and what drives men to do what they do.

This was only one of many daring scripts which Mr. Fonda was willing to tackle during trying times. It is also what sets him apart from so many other actors in his ability to truly portray the common man, and all of the problems encountered when you are willing to stand up for what you believe to be right.

TCM Archives - Forbidden Hollywood Volume 3

This video collection should be called the William Wellman Edition. It is 3 discs with 2 films on each one. All the films are directed by William Wellman and have social statements to make concerning the Great Depression.

The films are all Pre-Production Code (1933 or older) and none shy away from volatile topics, such as morphine addiction in "Heroes for Sale", which deals with a wounded World War One Veteran and his stuggle to regain a normal life. Just as they do today, the returning Veteran needed help. And just like today, he didn't get it.

Barbara Stanwayck gets more than she bargained for, but gives more than she thought herself capable of, in "The Purchase Price" which explores the still ongoing practice of mail order brides and women as a commodity.

Another one of these outstanding films deals with the subject of unwed motherhood in "Frisco Jenny." This is the story of a woman who, through a series of circumstances, loses custody of her son. He is raised to be a fine upstanding citizen and becomes Head District Attorney in San Francisco. He lands a big case involving a Prostitution Ring and murderess. The woman charged in the crime, for which he has asked the death penalty, is his mother. He can save her if she will cooperate - but if she does and reveals herself as his mother then his life will be ruined. She is a woman forced to make the ultimate choice.

But the real gem of the whole collection is "Wild Boys of the Road." This one deals with the issue of child runaways during the Depression. They would form whole communities, usually around railroad yards. They actually had elected officials and routine job assigments such as collecting trash and keeping the area clean. They were places of refuge for families displaced economically. In "Wild Boys of The Road" these scenes are beautifully and realistically recreated. And when the police are ordered to tear gas and kick them out of their makeshift homes, it gives you a fair idea of the injustices being heaped upon the average displaced American of the Depression Era. Just think of the Vetran's Bonus Army and their March on Washington. It happened in the same year that this film was released.

William Wellman was a maverick director who said on film what was in his heart. The films are a subtle form of leftist propaganda, to be sure. But the heart and soul of William Wellman will live on in his films for centuries. They portray hope for the Human Condition. They are testaments to "man's better angels". And besides that, they're damn good films.