The Tall T (1957)

Very well executed

Thanks for the memories!

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

At just 78 minutes, little screen time is wasted in this splendid tight suspenseful western which rewards repeat viewings. Randolph Scott plays the unbending tough all American hero to perfection, while his alter ego the villainous Richard Boone is another piece of perfect casting. Based on The Captives a short story by Elmore Leonard which gives the story it's rugged and brutal texture even though the west it portrays is the usual 1950's comfort western setting, a far cry from the authentic west, but then this great little movie is selling a mythical legend not a history lesson. The direction by Budd Boetticher with a script by Burt Kennedy are both way above the average, to produce a western, that might only of been a B picture, but lives long in the memory, after far more expensive film's are long forgotten. Enjoy 8/10!

Can't recommend this movie, although it starts out pleasantly, with some fun horsing around and conversations. Richard Boone does make a forceful, charismatic, if none too smart, leader of his little bandit gang of 3. Arthur Hunnicutt, as usual, does make a charismatic laid back hillbilly, during the brief time he's in the story. But most everyone of the main characters, except Randy(as Brennan) seems incredibly stupid, pathologically murderous and/or weak and cowardly. Even Brennan does a stupid thing in losing his horse in a bet out on the range, thus forcing him to walk many miles home, resulting in his encounters with the remainder of the sorry main characters.The wealthy heiress-to-be newly wed Doretta(Maureen O'Sullivan) is not so plain to my eyes that she need have grabbed the first gold digger who came along in handsome Mims. I don't know how old Doretta was supposed to be, but Maureen was nearly 50, thus we can't expect her to be too fresh faced. However, as Randy was only a decade older, she does make for a more credible possible romantic partner for Randy than the younger women who usually played the leading lady in his prior films.It appears that this is Doretta's first marriage, thus presumably, she has spent her life as big daddy's spoiled daughter: not the most appealing nor spirited damsel for Scott to rescue. Her new husband, Mims, is revealed as an incredibly cowardly dim wit in telling the bandits that his bride's father is very wealthy, hence they might as well demand a big ransom for the bride's release!(hoping this will redeem himself in the eyes of the bandits and thus spare him from their murderous inclination).Why didn't the bandits just hold up the stage in some lonely spot instead of killing the way station manager and his small boy, and throwing their bodies down the well, of all places?! Now, they will be hunted down as brutal murderers, not just highwaymen. The bandits should have demanded that the ransom money be brought to them, or that they, as a group, meet somewhere else to exchange money for hostage. By spitting up between guarding the hostages(Doretta and Brennan) and going for the money, they weakened their strength in both endeavors and risked the suspicion that the one going for the money might run off with it all. Even more unbelievable, Billy Jack, the now lone guardian of the two hostages, is talked into trying to rape Doretta, by an unbound Brennan!! Chink supposedly hears the shot that killed Billy Jack, even though he should have been miles away by then, to check on Frank and the money! And, if Frank had not taken an unexplained liking to Brennan, sparing him as a potential savior of Doretta, we wouldn't have any story at all! Yes, this little murderous bandit gang is even more dim witted than the unrealistically suggestion-prone Hammond brothers, in Randy's last film: "Ride the High Country"I like the several other Boetticher-directed westerns starring Randy I've seen better than this implausible tale. It could also use a more telling title.

Disingenuous questions aside, this is a pretty good western. I figure I'm as good an authority on westerns as you can find as I grew up on westerns of the '40's and '50's. And it doesn't get any better than good,old Randolph Scott.Having said that, I often wonder if Budd Boetticher was a tad overrated as a director. He seems to have chosen westerns as his oeuvre but I feel that he might have done better work in film noir. For instance, why make "The Tall T" as a western and not a contemporary noir? Most cowboys were uneducated and the dialogue and bon mots contained in his pictures were more suited to noir - which "The Tall T" could have been. He fleshes out his characters and adds more dimension than perhaps they should have, certainly western characters.The acting was uniformly good with Scott and Richard Boone carrying the load with backup by Maureen O'Sullivan. Ditto the music score. The pacing, however, was uneven as most action comes at the beginning and the end of the movie. The balance of the film is a bit talky, to add 'dimension' to the characters, no doubt.Not really complaining, just wondering out loud about Boetticher's credentials. "The Tall T" is a good western, especially for fans of good,old Randolph Scott. But like most western heroes, he was a man of few words....

Pat Brennan (Randolph Scott) has a small spread that he works by himself, miles from nowhere. On a ride into town to buy a bull, he stops by the stagecoach station for some easygoing conversation, and promises to by the stationmaster's young son some candy. Once in town, he meets an old friend, the coach driver (always-awesome Arthur Hunnicutt) who is in the process of insulting sleazy Willard Mims (John Hubbard) for marrying into money in the form of plain-jane old maid Doretta (Maureen O'Sullivan), daughter of the richest man in the area. Instead of buying a bull from Tenvoorde, his old boss, Brennan allows himself to get suckered into betting that he can ride it and thus win it for free, but instead loses his horse and gets a dunking. He's walking back towards the coach station when he gets picked up by a private stage, driven by muleskinner Ed (Hunnicutt) and carrying the newlywed Mims. Unfortunately, something has happened at the station....After a couple of reels of easygoing fun and character development, we're in a different world as The Tall T rapidly shifts from lighthearted and almost comedy mode to a grim hostage drama, as Brennan and the Mims have to figure out how to stay alive after being captured by Frank (Richard Boone) and his two gunslinging helpers Chenk (with an i) (Frank Silva) and Billy Jack (Skip Homeier). A simple enough plot, but as with Seven Men From Now Boetticher and screenwriter Burt Kennedy kick this tale up several notches by making the chief outlaw every bit as interesting and watchable as Lee Marvin's Masters was in the previous film. Frank is closer to Brennan's age, clearly fairly smart and somewhat educated, always ready with a flip, brief comment - in fact in the early scenes his to-the-point dialog almost mirror's Scott's usual taciturnity - and he clearly sees a kinship between himself and the rancher, which helps to keep Brennan alive and the story with it.As in the earlier film, the woman has made a poor choice of husbands, though in this case we know pretty much from the start that Sims is despicable, and it's quite clear that he values his own skin more than this plain-jane he's married just for her father's dough; he is the one who comes up with the idea to ransom them all for daddy's money, and is quick enough to leave when offered the chance, without her. When he gets his, it's clear that the outlaws consider him lower than themselves, and Frank says as much to Brennan. Brennan has no answer - honor to him is felt and lived, not talked about; he knows that Frank isn't - or wasn't - as low deep down as his two henchmen (especially Silva's truly psychotic character, played with gusto by this specialist in scumbags) - but he knows that as Frank stays with them, he's brought down to their level, not keeping them from sinking. And this is what seals his fate, ultimately; if there was a chance for redemption there, he long since passed it by.Beautifully filmed in Lone Pine, CA - the same location as Seven Men From Now and two further films in the series - once again Boetticher is in command of all the elements. The performances are uniformly fine, with Boone especially fantastic - the violence is quick, sometimes unexpected, no more than necessary but all the more potent for that. The score by Heinz Roemheld is stirring and romantic and seems to belong to a "bigger" film, but then this film is bigger than its budget and running time would suggest. Another terrific entry in the cycle.