The Ox Bow Incident

The OxBow Incident is a 1943 American Western Film Noir directed by William A. Wellman and starring Henry Fonda, Dana Andrews and Mary Beth Hughes, and featuring Anthony Quinn, William Eythe, Harry Morgan and Jane Darwell. Two drifters are passing through a Western town, when news comes in that a local farmer has been murdered and his cattle stolen. The townspeople, joined by the drifters, form a posse to catch the perpetrators. They find three men in possession of the cattle, and are determined to see justice done on the spot.

In Bridgers Wells, Nevada in 1885, Art Croft Harry Morgan and Gil Carter Henry Fonda ride into town and enter Darbys Saloon. The atmosphere is subdued due to recent incidents of cattlerustling. Art and Gil are suspected to be rustlers because they are rarely seen in town.A man enters the saloon and announces that a rancher named Larry Kinkaid has been murdered. The townspeople immediately form a posse to pursue the murderers, whom they believe are cattle rustlers. A judge tells the posse that it must bring the suspects back for trial, and that its formation by a deputy the sheriff being out of town is illegal. Art and Gil join the posse to avoid being its target. Davies Harry Davenport, who was initially opposed to forming the posse, also joins, along with Major Tetley Frank Conroy and his son Gerald William Eythe. The major informs the posse that three men and cattle bearing Kinkaids brand have just entered Bridgers Pass. ........

Source: Wikipedia