The Ox-Bow Incident Overview:

The Ox-Bow Incident (1943) was a Crime - Drama Film directed by William A. Wellman and produced by Lamar Trotti.

The Ox-Bow Incident was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1998.

Academy Awards 1943 --- Ceremony Number 16 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best Picture20th Century-FoxNominated
.

The Ox-Bow Incident BlogHub Articles:

Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews in "The Ox-Bow Incident"

By Stephen Reginald on Aug 27, 2020 From Classic Movie Man

Henry Fonda and Dana Andrews in "The Ox-Bow Incident" The Ox-Box Incident (1943) is an American western film directed by Wiliam A. Wellman, starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, and an extraordinary supporting cast that includes Anthony Quinn, Harry Morgan, Mary Beth Hughes, and Jane Darwell. The... Read full article


Review: The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Apr 23, 2019 From 4 Star Films

We know the score. Two drifters ride into town. They sidle up to the bar for some shots, looking for something to do in a lazy Nevada dust-hole. Their faces are equally familiar to anyone who has ever seen even a few of the old oaters. Feisty Henry Fonda as Gil Carter and his more even-keeled pal Ar... Read full article


Top Picks: The Ox-Bow Incident

By Amanda Garrett on Apr 23, 2015 From Old Hollywood Films

This week, we're celebrating Anthony Quinn's 100th birthday with a look at one of his most underrated films, The Ox-Bow Incident (1943). Here he is at far left with Dana Andrews; Henry Fonda; Frank Conroy, and Jane Darwell. Anthony Quinn was one of old Hollywood's greatest character actors. He... Read full article


The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

By Beatrice on Sep 21, 2014 From Flickers in Time

The Ox-Bow Incident Directed by William A. Wellman Written by Lamar Trotti from the novel by Walter Van Tilberg Clark 1943/USA Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation Repeat viewing/Netflix Rental Number 168 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Gil Carter: Hangin’ is any man’s busin... Read full article


The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Aug 8, 2014 From 4 Star Films

Starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews, Harry Morgan, Anthony Quinn, and many more, the film begins with two drifters (Fonda and Morgan) who enter a small western town. Soon it gets around that a man is dead and some of his cattle were also stolen. Hurriedly, a posse is put together and they ride off to... Read full article


See all The Ox-Bow Incident articles

Quotes from The Ox-Bow Incident

[Gil Carter reading Martin's letter]
Gil Carter: "My dear Wife, Mr. Davies will tell you what's happening here tonight. He's a good man and has done everything he can for me. I suppose there are some other good men here, too, only they don't seem to realize what they're doing. They're the ones I feel sorry for. 'Cause it'll be over for me in a little while, but they'll have to go on remembering for the rest of their lives. A man just naturally can't take the law into his own hands and hang people without hurtin' everybody in the world, 'cause then he's just not breaking one law but all laws. Law is a lot more than words you put in a book, or judges or lawyers or sheriffs you hire to carry it out. It's everything people ever have found out about justice and what's right and wrong. It's the very conscience of humanity. There can't be any such thing as civilization unless people have a conscience, because if people touch God anywhere, where is it except through their conscience? And what is anybody's conscience except a little piece of the conscience of all men that ever lived? I guess that's all I've got to say except kiss the babies for me and God bless you. Your husband, Donald."


[Carter and Croft are out with the posse]
Gil Carter: Doin' this in the middle of the night's crazy.
Art Croft: Thought you liked excitement?
Gil Carter: I got nothin' particular against hangin' a murderin' rustler; it's just I don't like doin' it in the dark. There's always some crazy fool who'll lose his head and start hangin' everybody in sight.
Art Croft: Us?
Gil Carter: Funnier things have happened.
Art Croft: Well we didn't have to come.
Gil Carter: Look kinda funny if we hadn't, wouldn't it?


Gil Carter: [Gil and Art discuss their uneasiness about certain members of the posse] Besides, I like to pick my own bosses.
Art Croft: Whether we picked 'em or not, we sure got 'em.
Gil Carter: That's what I don't like. That Smith, and Bartlett, shootin' off their mouths... Farnley... and that renegade Tetley, struttin' around in his uniform pretending he's so much. He never even *saw* the South until after the war, and then only long enough to marry that kid's mother and get run outta' the place by her folks.
Art Croft: I figured there was somethin' fishy about him, dressin' up like that.
Gil Carter: For sure. Whydya' suppose he'd be livin' in this neck 'o the woods if he didn't have something to hide?


read more quotes from The Ox-Bow Incident...

Facts about The Ox-Bow Incident

Sara Allgood was originally cast in the role of "Jennie 'Ma' Grier," but was replaced by Florence Bates. Bates was then injured in a horseback riding scene, necessitating her replacement by Jane Darwell, who appears in the finished film.
The role played by Henry Fonda was originally offered to Gary Cooper, who turned it down.
The rights to Walter Van Tilburg Clark's book were originally acquired in 1941 by Harold Hurley, a former Paramount producer who tried unsuccessfully to make a distribution deal with United Artists. Modern sources note that director William A. Wellman bought the rights from Hurley and then interested Twentieth Century-Fox production chief Darryl F. Zanuck in producing the story. Zanuck agreed on the condition that Wellman direct two other films for the studio, Thunder Birds [Soldiers of the Air] and Buffalo Bill.
read more facts about The Ox-Bow Incident...
Share this page:
Visit the Classic Movie Hub Blog CMH
Best Picture Oscar 1943











See more Best Picture awards>>
National Film Registry

The Ox-Bow Incident

Released 1943
Inducted 1998
(Sound)




See All Films in National Registry >>
Also directed by William A. Wellman




More about William A. Wellman >>
Also released in 1943




See All 1943 films >>
More "Book-Based" films



See All "Book-Based" films >>