The Hanging Tree

The Hanging Tree (1959) is an American Western starring Gary Cooper that you can watch online on iFILM, set in a rough Montana gold-mining camp.

Doc Frail is a physician running from his own history. In the camp he cuts a young thief named Rune down from the noose and keeps him on as a servant. Soon he's also caring for Elizabeth, a stagecoach survivor left temporarily blind and shaken after an attack. Frail nurses her sight back and falls for her, but greed, superstition and a mob of prospectors close in on them both.

Director Delmer Daves builds a tense, psychological Western where the noose at the edge of town is a standing threat, not set dressing. George C. Scott makes his film debut here as a fevered faith healer, and the title song picked up an Oscar nomination. It's one for viewers who want character over gunfights. Stream The Hanging Tree online on iFILM.