LYNCH LAW RULES THE MOB!

Starring: Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Harry Morgan, Frank Conroy, Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Jane Darwell, Matt Briggs

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"You don't even care whether you've got the right men or not. All you know is you've lost something and somebody's got to be punished." - Donald Martin

Why watch this? This is a twist on the old West's posse - what if they catch the wrong people?

Plot Summary: In a small Western town, news arrives that a local rancher has been murdered and his cattle stolen. With the sheriff out of town, a posse forms to track down the perpetrators. When the posse finds three men with cattle bearing the rancher's brand, a heated debate ensues about whether to administer immediate justice or wait for the sheriff and a formal trial.

Dad's Preview: The American Western film is a great vehicle for the morality tale. It's easier to depict how people will act in a setting where many laws had to be enforced by the citizens, not the government. In this film a rancher has been murdered and a mob forms to bring justice. They find three men with cattle and assume these men are the murders. The mob, led by the tyrannical, bigoted Major Tetley, sets to hang the men. This is a great exercise in the evils of mob mentality and groupthink.

Lamar Trotti; 20th Century Fox