The Hanging Tree (1959)

Character study of a Doctor who saves a local criminal from a mob who are trying to hang him, but then tries to control the life of the young man, realizing that he can exploit his secret.

Directors: Delmer Daves, Karl Malden, Vincent Sherman
Cast: Gary Cooper, Maria Schell, Karl Malden, George C. Scott, Karl Swenson, Virginia Gregg, John Dierkes, King Donovan, Ben Piazza, Emile Avery, Fern Barry, William 'Billy' Benedict, Danny Borzage, Annette Claudier, Martin Eric, Frank Hagney, Dick Hudkins, John Hudkins, Jack Kenny, Dorothy Klewer, Baron James Lichter, Cactus Mack, Fred Marlow, Harold Millen, Kansas Moehring, Bob Morgan, Charles Morton, Karen Norris, Bud Osborne, Boyd Stockman




In 1873, on the Gold Trail, Montana, the mysterious and controlling Dr. Joseph Frail arrives in the small town of Skull Creek with miners in a gold rush. Dr. Frail buys a cabin on the top of a hill and he sees the smalltime thief Rune wounded and chased by a mob that wants to hang him. Dr. Frail helps and heals Rune; but in return, he demands that the young man becomes his bond servant. The alcoholic healer and preacher George Grubb tells to the locals that Dr. Frail, who is an excellent gambler and gunfighter, is a devil and has a mysterious past but nobody gives attention to his words. Soon the stagecoach is robbed by thieves that kill the passengers but the coachman survives and three days later he reaches Skull Creek. He tells that the horses had speed down the hill with a young woman inside the stagecoach. The men organize a pursuit and the rude Frenchy Plante finds the Swedish Elizabeth Mahler burnt and blind. Dr. Frail and Rune take care of her and they learn that Elizabeth and…
~ Claudio Carvalho

Extras:
- Trailer

IMDb