The Hanged Man (1964)

To me, this movie is perfection.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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

Watching this film on a poor-picture YouTube download is not ideal, admittedly, but it is also bogged down by a near-lethargic performance from Robert Culp, an ineffective location change from Mexico to New Orleans during Mardi Gras, leaden dialogue, funereal pacing, and the writing out of the major Thomas Gomez character from the original to be replaced by a fairly pointless performance by J Carrol Naish. Hard to believe this was directed by Don Siegel but it fails to rise above 1960s TV-movie status. Edmond O'Brien tries to bring some life to the proceedings - his corrupt Hoffa-like character is the most likable player. Norman Fell also shines, and Vera Miles tries her best with the little the script gives her to do. Noir fans should stick to the original, which is a classic. For Don Siegel completists only.

This is a fine noir film, made even better by an exceptional cast, particularly Robert Culp. The writing, directing, and acting are well-done, and the Mardi Gras background is a great way to end it. Culp has always been one of my favorite actors, so I would love to see this again. It's a crying shame that films like this are not available on DVD, especially since so many lousy movies are. Any movie featuring Robert Culp is worth having.The supporting cast is great, too...Edmond O'Brian, Vera Miles, Brenda Scott, Pat Buttram, Edger Bergen, and Randy Boone give fine performances. Don Siegel directs the feature, and he's also one of my favorite directors. It's also nice to hear the hit song, Girl From Ipanema in the soundtrack. Everything jells in this great gangster noir movie.Someone please put this movie out on DVD!

This 1964 TV movie was directed by Don Siegel and is a remake of the 1947 Robert Montgomery picture Ride the Pink Horse, which was adapted from a Dorothy Hughes novel. The first version is slow, needlessly pictorial, and for the most part not well acted. Siegel's version is tight as a drum, very exciting, and set in New Orleans at Mardi Gras time rather than a Southwest whistle-stop. It is highly energetic and almost surreal in its use of color and some very fancy editing, fancy even for a theatrical film, and almost unheard of in a TV one, of which it is an early example. The plot is fairly standard thriller stuff, but the handling of the material is masterful. Robert Culp is a fine hero and Edmond O'Brien a not altogether loathsome villain. The rest of the cast,--Vera Miles, J. Carrol Naish, Pat Buttram--are likewise superb. I am amazed that this one has not been rediscovered. It's one of those movies that seems almost like a throwaway genre piece that is really an intricate and beautifully crafted piece of work. This forgotten Siegel tour de force ought to be on video.