Professional Documents
Culture Documents
film guide
406641-2
THE HANGMAN
produced by
Les Goldman
c1964
12 minutes color
LC#FIA 64-709
recommended for use in
Social Studies, Contemporary Issues
grade level
Secondary Grades, College
and Adult Groups
objectives
As a result of seeing this film viewers will:
1. realize that human beings are interdependent, and that all have
responsibilities in the community of man.
2. understand that an individuals failure to protect the rights of other
members in his society can ultimately lead to the deprivation of his own
rights and freedom.
3. gain a deeper insight into how tyrannical forces may achieve eventual
dominance over a society by playing up on the prejudices, fears, apathy,
and self-indulgence of its members.
4. become more aware of their own obligations to the common good of their
own community.
summary of the film
Based on Maurice Ogdens award-winning poem, and narrated by Herschel
Bernardi, this animated film creates a chilling metaphoric journey of the forces of
evil as they grow and flourish in the fertile soil of apathy and social
irresponsibility.
In ballad form, a man tells the story of his town, the Hangman who comes to it,
and his own personal confrontation of truth with him. When the Hangman first
appears in the town, the scaffold he built was small, and the citizens merely
wondered who the criminal, what the crime Once they discovered the victim
was not a criminal, but simply a man who came from another land, they did little
more than breathe a sigh of relief. The man to die was not one of their own, but
rather an alien. During the hanging, no one spoke, certain that the executioner
would be gone after completing his business. But the following day, an amazed
citizenry discovered the Hangman still at his gallows, and laughing as he told
them that the exercise of the preceding day was only a thing I do to stretch the
rope when the rope is new. Suddenly, one of the townsmen cried, Murderer!
The Hangman grabbed him as the rest shrank quickly back and a second
execution took place. That very night, the scaffold grew larger:
Fed by the blood beneath the chute
The gallows tree had taken root
The third victim was a Jew according to the Hangman, a usurer and infidel.
The fourths crime was that he was black, and his color caused discomfort to
others. Rapidly, the numbers for the scaffold increased, and though the
townsfolk made some mild objections, they were easily overridden by the
Hangmans glib replies and ever-increasing authority. Soon, all questions and all
objections ceased entirely:
And sun by sun, and night by night,
The gallows grew to monstrous height.
Until finally, they cast their shadow across the town.
At last, there was no one left in the town, but the narrator of our story. When the
Hangman called his name, he went to the courthouse square confident that he
had done no wrong, and, by his silence, had given nothing but loyalty and
obedience to the executioner. The Hangman stretched his rope once more and
the man cried that he had been tricked, that the scaffold had been built for other
men. As he stood on the gallows, the realization came to the man that he had
actually created his own death. I did no more than you let me do, the Hangman
said. The man discovered, too late, that humans are responsible beings, and, as
such, must stand together for the common good or answer for the
consequences. As the Hangman strapped him with the rope, the man listened
desperately for a voice to cry, Stay! But there were no voices forthcoming. The
square was empty of all life. The man himself had helped see to that.
before viewing the film
I. Suggested Topic for Discussion
1. What is meant by the expression, The Family of Man?
a. Has our apathy and irresponsibility towards the aged in our society
accounted for much of their suffering and might not we ourselves
experience directly the results of this neglect when we become
elderly?
b. Can the students extrapolate the theme of this film to applications
in politics, business, civil rights, and ecology?
Suggested Projects and Activities
1. Have the students wright a poem specifically, a ballad using the
same town, Hangman, townspeople, and first-person narrator as those
in Maurice Ogdens poem. Have the students, however, reverse the
outcome of the story, illustrating individual and community attitudes
and actions that arrest the progress of the Hangman and eventually
defeat him.
a. It might also be an exciting project for the students to have seer
of their ballads serve as lyrics to be set to music by any budding
composers in the class.
2. The theme that we are all responsible humans has been a subject for
novelists, playwrights, essayists, and poets throughout history. Have
the students research this theme in other works of literature, select a
work that especially appeals to them, and then report on it to the class.
Make sure that the selections are varied, encompassing a wide literary
range. Some suggestions that might be made to the students could
include: Hemingways For Whom the Bell Tolls; Arthur Millers
Incident at Vichy; John Donnes Devotions Upon Emergent
Occasions, Number 17 (i.e. No man is an islandEvery mans death
diminishes me because I am involved in mankind).
3. Set up a debate or a panel discussion centering on the issue of
pacifism. As the students prepare their cases for or against it, have
them consider such questions as: How far should one go to protect
the rights and freedoms of others? Is there such a thing as a just war
or are all wars unjust? Are there limits to individual responsibility in the
community of man? Were we meeting our human responsibilities in
Vietnam?
4. Secure copies of Maurice Ogdens poem, Hangman. As a communal
project, have the students make a series of drawings illustrating the
entire story. Suggest that they do not attempt to copy the style of the
films artwork but rather, use their own inventiveness to make a
statement that might be pertinent to their own current society.
related McGraw-Hill media
For information about the film and rights, address inquiries to:
CRM Learning
2218 Faraday Avenue, Ste. 110
Carlsbad, CA 92008
1-800-421-0833