History Film / TheOxBowIncident

* VigilanteInjustice: In the story, a rancher is murdered and the deputy rallies a mob to solve the crime. [[spoiler: They hang the suspects without due process and the story famously harpoons the concept of vigilante justice by revealing that the cattle rancher wasn't actually dead and they had actually hung 3 innocent men.]]

* DownerEnding: Big time.

-->-- '''Sheriff'''

Bridger's Well, Nevada, 1885: A rancher named Larry Kinkaid has been murdered by cattle rustlers. Deputy Butch Mapes forms an illegal posse to bring back the suspects alive for trial. Once they catch up to them, the posse, under the influence of Major Tetley (Frank Conroy), decide to hang them on the spot. Meanwhile, drifters Art Croft (Harry Morgan) and Gil Carter (Fonda) are among the few who want to see the crooks tried fairly in court.

* BigBadEnsemble: Deputy Butch Mapes, Major Tetley, and Jeff Farnley are the three posse members pushing most aggressively for the lynching.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Of the old western vigilante mindset.

* ARealManIsAKiller: ''Savagely'' deconstructed with Major Tetley and his son, as the Major's belief in this leads to the deaths of three innocent men.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Ruthlessly deconstructed with Tetley and his son Gerald. Gerald wants his father's approval, unfortunately, the Major is a vicious KnightTemplar who gets three innocent men hung. When Gerald [[CallingTheOldManOut calls him out]] on this, the Major shoots himself.

A 1940 [[TheWestern Western]] novel by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, ''The Ox-Bow Incident'' was adapted into a film in 1943 by director Creator/WilliamAWellman. That film, starring Creator/HenryFonda, Creator/DanaAndrews and Creator/AnthonyQuinn, received its only UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination for Best Picture.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Gerald is often mocked by his father for being weak and feminine, and his actor, William Eythe, was gay.

* DisneyDeath: Kinkaid

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Gil Carter is a rude, unpleasant drunk who loves to start fights, but he's kind to the black farmhand Sparks and is the ''only'' person who actually tries to forcibly stop the lynching.

* CompositeCharacter: In the film, Sparks is a composite of himself from the book and Osgood the preacher, and Farnley is a composite of himself and Winder.

* ARealManIsAKiller: ''Savagely'' deconstructed with Major Tetley and his son, as the Major's belief in this leads to the deaths of three innocent men.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gerald Tetley gets in a [[CallingTheOldManOut very scathing one]] against his father, the instigator of this whole thing, after his actions led to the deaths of three innocent men. It's so vicious that Colonel Tetley [[DrivenToSuicide kills himself.]]
-->'''Gerald Tetley:''' I saw your face. [[YouMonster It was the face of a depraved, murderous beast]]. Only two things ever meant anything to you: power and cruelty. You can't feel pity. You can't even feel guilt. You knew they were innocent, but you were crazy to see them hanged. [[ForcedToWatch And to make me watch it]]. I could've stopped you with a gun, just as any other animal can be stopped. But I couldn't do it because I'm a coward. Aren't you glad you made me go? Weren't you proud of me? How does it feel to have begot a weakling, Major? Does it make you afraid there may be some weakness in you, too? That other men might discover and whisper about? Open the door! I want to see your face. I want to know how you feel now!

Bridger's Well, Nevada, 1885: A rancher named Larry Kinkaid has been murdered by cattle rustlers. Deputy Butch Mapes forms an illegal posse to bring back the suspects alive for trial. Once they catch up to them, the posse, under the influence of Major Tetley (Frank Conroy), decide to hang them. Meanwhile, drifters Art Croft (Harry Morgan) and Gil Carter (Fonda) are among the few who want to see the crooks tried fairly in court.

* WhatTheHellHero: Martin, one of the men that get executed, becomes angry with Davies for trying to share the farewell letter intended for just his wife with mob, as it broke his privacy.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Ruthlessly deconstructed with Tetley and his son Gerald. Gerald wants his father's approval, unfortunately, the Major is a vicous KnightTemplar who gets three innocent men hung. When Gerald [[CallingTheOldManOut calls him out]] on this, the Major shoots himself.

* StunnedSilence: The shot near the end where the camera tracks along the bar, showing ''every'' member of the posse drinking in silence.

* ARealManIsAKiller: ''Savagely'' deconstructed with Major Tetley and his son, as it leads to the deaths of three innocent men.

* WellDoneSonGuy: Ruthlessly deconstructed with Tetley and his son Gerald. Gerald wants his father's approval, unfortunately, the Major is a vicous KnightTemplar who gets three innocent men hung.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gerald Tetley gets in a [[CallingTheOldManOut very scathing one]] against his father, the instigator of this whole thing, after his actions led to the deaths of three innocent men.