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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"The Ox-Bow Incident" concerns itself with a murder and a lynching -- hardly standard Hollywood fare and probably the primary reason why the film, on its initial release, did not do well at the box office. However, "The Ox-Bow Incident" is one of the finest westerns you are likely to see. Director, William Wellman, known for his grim, stark and frank nature, fills the screen with sweeping social commentary and imbues his lead character, Gil Carter (Henry Fonda), with the righteous every-man perspective that would become Fonda's hallmark and a main staple in American cinema in the decade's that followed. The plot concerns itself with the lynching of men who may or may not be innocent of a crime. Wellman's direction rightfully focuses on the men doing the lynching and the psychological aftermath that is to be considered when one man takes another's life.
The transfer quality is fantastic! After the rather shoddy work done on their studio line's "Mark of Zorro" and "The Ghost & Mrs. Muir," I was not holding out much hope for their subsequent B&W releases. Nevertheless, "The Ox-Bow Incident" has been remastered with the utmost care and attention to detail. The gray scale is impeccably rendered. Blacks are black. Some fading is evident but nothing that will distract. Film grain and age related artifacts are kept to a bare minimum. There is no trace of edge enhancement, pixelization or shimmering of fine details for a film like presentation that is visually smooth. The audio -- remixed to stereo, is nicely cleaned up and well balanced with minimal background hiss.
An audio commentary that is rather ho-hum and a "Biography" special on Henry Fonda that suffers from too much to say, but not enough time to say it in, are the only extras.
The bottom line: Very nice transfer. Well worth the average film collector's time and money. |
