User Reviews

If you're an avid Western movie fan, how could you pass up a title like "Ride to Hangman's Tree"? Unfortunately, that ride occurs in the first ten minutes of the movie, and the tree would never have lived up to it's name, even if it wasn't blown up by Don Galloway. The timber was just a dry husk, and if Jack Lord and James Farentino had actually been strung up on it, they probably would have hurt themselves when the sickly branch gave way.

There's really not a lot to recommend here, as the opening sequence leaves you scratching your head with the way it introduces the principal players. The identity of the Black Bandit is revealed almost immediately with no fanfare, and if the idea was for Farentino to use the phoniest Spanish accent he could come up with, he definitely succeeded.

From a strictly voyeuristic point of view, the main reason to catch this flick is seeing Melodie Johnson in as many profile shots as the director could manage to set up. Quite comical actually, as no one could be that physically endowed who isn't Dolly Parton. I also got a kick out of the stagecoach that was used during the robbery by the three amigos right after the botched hanging; it looked like it was brand new, that is to say, made for a 1960's movie.

Primarily, director Alan Rafkin helmed only two westerns during his forty-year career in Hollywood, and both constituted remakes. "Ride to the Hangman's Tree" (1967) rehashed director George Sherman's superior "Black Bart" (1948) with Dan Duryea and Yvonne De Carlo, while "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968) with Don Knotts was a second take on director Norman Z. McLeod "The Paleface" (1948) with Bob Hope. Ostensibly, most of Rafkin's credits were television situation comedies. "Ride to the Hangman's Tree" qualifies as a tongue-in-cheek horse opera about a trio of career Texas outlaws who survive the eponymous tree, go their separate ways, and reunite in California during a gold strike. Howard Christie, who most will remember as the producer of "Laredo," had been producing movies and television shows since 1945 with several "Abbot and Costello" farces as well as sagebrushers such as "Smoke Signal," "Showdown at Abilene," "Joe Dakota," "Last of the Fast Guns," "No Name on a Bullet," "The Raiders," and "Gunfight in Abilene." Most of those westerns were lighthearted oaters like "Laredo." Comparatively, Christie was somebody like A.C. Lyles except he made remakes. Sometimes, he even remade his own oaters, with "Showdown in Abilene" becoming "Gunfight in Abilene."

Guy Russell (Jack Lord of "Dr. No"), Matt Stone (James Farentino of "Ensign Pulver"), and Nevada Jones (Don Galloway of "Rough Night in Jericho") are three buddies who rob banks until Guy and Matt are captured during a double bank robbery. They are taken to Boot Hill where the authorities plan to hang them when Nevada intervenes, blows up the tree, and gets the drop on the lawmen. Not long afterward, our heroes part company, but they hold up a stagecoach before they split the blanket. When Matt informs them that he is quitting to go to California, Guy relieves him of his share of the robbery and take his horse. Matt gets to Sacramento, California, where he meets an old acquaintance, attorney named Jeff Scott (Robert Yuro of "The Hell with Heroes") and begins robbing Wells Fargo stagecoaches as a desperado called 'Black Bart' who wears a black sack over his head, rides a black horse, and wields a double-barrel sawed-off shotgun. To complete his masquerade, Matt appropriates an ersatz Mexican accent. Eventually, it is only a matter of time until Guy and Nevada arrive in Matt's stomping ground. They sign on as coachmen to Wells Fargo. A Wells Fargo detective smokes out our heroes. When Nevada brings the coach back to town with his passenger, the passenger turns out to be the detective and he orders the arrest of Nevada. Meantime, the strongbox that Nevada threw out to Black Bart contained nothing, and Guy pursued Black Bart to Matt's ranch where his house guest, singer and dancer Lillie Malone (Melodie Johnson of "Coogan's Bluff"), is entertaining Matt's guests. When Matt walks into his office, Guy is waiting for him and demands his share of the loot. Matt explains that the strong box was empty. Naturally, Guy refuses to believe him.

The chief difference between "Ride to the Hangman's Tree" and "Black Bart" is that the remake staged the double hold-up that the original used merely as exposition on the way to the hangman's tree. Just when Rafkin's version is getting interesting, the action grinds to an abrupt halt. Guy and Matt have managed to escape from a blazing shack that they holed up in after an abortive hold-up. Things look dire for them. Inexplicably, except to save on the film's budget, Nevada shows up and saves them. The three ride away, except Matt makes plans to go straight and leaves Guy and Nevada to ride back to his ranch. End of movie! What could have been a promising remake, just skids to a stop.