MovieChat Forums > Hang 'Em High (1968) Discussion > Gallows in the Town Square

Gallows in the Town Square

posted 11 years ago by eric-1501
10 replies | jump to latest

Does anyone really think any town would have placed it's gallows in the Town Square like Fort Grant had them? Looks mighty gruesome to me.

"Could be worse."
"Howwww?"
"Could be raining."

[–] ck1-5 11 years ago

Yes. Public hangings used to be quite a crowd pleaser.

[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 11 years ago

The cinematic Ft. Grant is in reality called Ft. Smith, Arkansas. And yes, the gallows (which could accommodate six condemned prisoners) was in public view. So even if it offends the OP's delicate sensibilities, the film is correct in depicting the gallows in the open.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae

[–] jayrussell1993 11 years ago

Kinda amazing, but guess it's not too much different than the blood & murder
we all watch on TV every night.

[–] DeepFriedJello 11 years ago

Not so much different than public beheadings, stoning, burning at the stake.
Or on the milder side, stocks, pillory or other public humiliation.

[–] eric-1501 9 years ago

1800s' version of a big screen TV!

[–] kfckid-365-296572 9 years ago

It was not intended as entertainment, it's intent was to frighten and discourage would be criminals

[–] strntz 8 years ago

It was not intended as entertainment, it's intent was to frighten and discourage would be criminals

I agree.

Even in private, the thought of being dragged to a gallows and hung has to be brutally frightening, even more so when done in public.

Now imagine those who actually watch the executions and the actions and emotions of those about to die. I imagine watching such a spectacle would have an enormous impact on all but the hardest of criminals.

I'm not sure today's executions are much of a deterrent, at least nowhere near the level that a public one would be.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

[–] skat1140 8 years ago

Whatever you want to attribute the intent to be, is up to you. The fact is that public hangings were entertainment.

In the Jim Crow South, they'd set up picnic tables while waiting for the lynching of innocent black men.

[–] strntz 8 years ago

The fact is that public hangings were entertainment.

Whether it's entertainment to some people isn't the question. There's no doubt that these public spectacles were entertainment to many, but public executions weren't carried out for that reason.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

[–] arwel 8 years ago

Public executions in the past were a deterrent and an entertainment. Britain stopped doing public hangings in 1868, but the last public guillotining in France took place in 1939 - there's actually a 21-second long video of it on YouTube.