The Tall T (1957) User Reviews (83)

Randolph Scott's Finest Hour.

[jpdoherty · 8/10 · 9 February 2010]

Columbia Picture's THE TALL T is one of the great westerns of the fifties! It is also one of the best westerns Randolph Scott would appear in under the banner of "Ranown" his jointly owned production company which he headed with his partner Harry Joe Brown. Not only that but it is arguably the best of Scott's westerns to be directed by his favourite director and friend Budd Boetticher. Beautifully photographed in Technicolor by the great Charles Lawton Jr. it boasts a superb screenplay by Burt Kennedy which derived from a story by Elmore Leonard. This, together with Boetticher's masterful direction and the cast's adroit performances turned it into a taut and suspenseful drama located in a remote and engaging western setting.

Scott is Pat Brennan making his way home to his ranch when the stagecoach he is on is held up by three desperate killers. A newly married woman on the coach (Maureen O'Sullivan) is taken hostage and held for a ransom from her affluent father. Her squeamish and cowardly new husband (John Hubbard) is killed along with the stage driver and Brennan and the woman are held until the ransom is paid and delivered. Eventually the opportunity comes about where Brennan sees the chance to thwart the gang's intentions and take them on in what is a well executed and action packed finale.

The cast couldn't be better! Scott, of course, is his usual granite-faced self. With that terrific voice, easy going manner and a way at delivering a line with a wry smile that is altogether appealing. Richard Boone who always excelled as a baddie doesn't disappoint here. As Frank Usher the leader of the errant trio he is unsmiling, cool and calculating. He must have kept his part here in mind when ten years later he would play a similar type role in Paul Newman's "Hombre" as the gang leader with the cracker of a name... Cicero Grimes. Playing his partners in crime here are Skip Homeier as Billy Jack the childish, naive and gullible gunman and the brilliant Henry Silva as Chink the hardened killer with a creepy effeminate demeanor ("hey Frank I've never killed myself a woman yet - have I?"). Usher has little time for them both and even less respect as he confides in Brennan "I don't like them - the way they are, always talking the same words about women, drinkin' and such". Accusingly Brennan retorts "You run with them!". As the only female in the picture Maureen O'Sullivan gives a fine performance as the unattractive and somewhat drab hostage and Arthur Hunnicutt is splendid as Rintoon the ill-fated stage driver.

Underlining this thriller of a western is the fine atmospheric score by Heinz Roemheld. Born 1n 1901 Roemheld had a voluminous output that would almost put Max Steiner to shame. During his lengthy career he either composed, conducted or arranged the music for almost 300 films. It is a wonder he was not better known. But he is remembered for his fine score in 1952 for the Kirk Douglas Warner picture "The Big Trees". Randolph Scott seemed to like his work as he had him score all of his Boetticher/Columbia films of which "Commanche Station" (1960) stands out. Heinz Roemheld died in 1985.

THE TALL T is a fondly remembered western and new generations have discovered it. It had a great star in Randolph Scott who remains an enduring icon of the Hollywood western alongside Gary Cooper, Joel McCrea, James Stewart and of course John Wayne.

"There Are Some Things A Man Can't Ride Around"

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 2 January 2009]

Borrowing elements from Stagecoach and Rawhide, The Tall T is one lean and mean collaboration from director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott. It's one of the best of the seven films the two men did together in the Fifties.

Scott's lost a horse on a bet with his old boss Robert Burton and is walking back to his place, a good 15 miles carrying saddle and other western gear. A stagecoach stops and driver Arthur Hunnicutt offers him a lift. It's not the regular stagecoach run, it's been hired by John Hubbard for him and his wife Maureen O'Sullivan. She's the only child of a millionaire mine owner and Hubbard was the bookkeeper for her father. It's made quite obvious from the beginning this is not a love match.

When the stagecoach gets to a way station, it's been taken over by outlaws Richard Boone, Skip Homeier, and Henry Silva. They think it's the regular coach run, but when they hear how O'Sullivan's father is worth millions, they decide on a kidnap.

The T in The Tall T might just stand for tension because that's what the film bristles with. Once Scott, O'Sullivan, and Hubbard are taken prisoner, the film's suspense doesn't let up for a minute. Scott is at his most forthright as a western hero in The Tall T.

Homeier and Silva play their usual punk roles to perfection. Boone is lean and mean as their leader, a worthy adversary for Scott. Of course it's the other two with their more than human weaknesses that leads to their downfall.

The Tall T is one of the best of Randolph Scott's westerns required viewing if one calls thyself a Randolph Scott fan.

Well done 50's Western with Randolph Scott, Richard Boone and Maureen O'Sullivan

[Wuchakk · 8/10 · 5 September 2021]

A former ranch ramrod (Randolph Scott) and members of a stagecoach in the Southwest (e.g. Maureen O'Sullivan) are threatened by a trio of ruthless killers (Richard Boone, Henry Silva and Skip Homeier).

"The Tall T" (1957) is a quality 50's Western with likable Randolph Scott in the heroic role. It has achieved a sort of cult status as the prime example of a classic Boetticher-Scott Western. The original story was written by Elmore Leonard, which explains the movie's similarities to the later "Hombre" (1967), not to mention Boone appears in both as the chief outlaw. There are also parallels to Scott's "Hangman's Knot" (1952), which was shot in the same area and shares some story elements.

I didn't recognize Maureen O'Sullivan of Tarzan fame, 23 years after her physical prime in "Tarzan and His Mate" (1934). While the script keeps having the male characters refer to her as a "plain" or "old maid," she's obviously fit and still alluring in the second half with her hair down. In truth, most men in the Old West would kill to gain the attentions of such a woman.

The film is taut at 1 hour, 18 minutes, and was shot at Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California.

GRADE: B+/A-

Classic of its kind.

[rmax304823 · 28 October 2004]

SPOILERS.

If you're attracted only to black-and-white dramas shot in the rain in Slovenia, you probably won't like this one.

It's a no-nonsense El Cheapo Western shot on a low budget, an elementary piece of exposition of masculine honor, with Boetticher, Scott, Kennedy, Richard Boone, and movie flats -- all at the top of their forms.

What distinguishes the half-dozen or so Westerns that came from Boetticher and Scott is not so much the plot, which is generally simple, but the slight twists in character and the occasional grace notes in the dialogue.

You have to love this dialogue. "Cookin'? That's WIMMIN's work!" And, said by Scott in all sincerity, "There are some things a man can't ride around." And, "There are ten head of wimmin for every man in Sonora. Course, most of them is just hurrah gals." And, "I'm not gonna get shot in the belly just 'cause you're feelin' sorry for yourself." And, "Why don't you just say it out in words?"

Basically the story has Scott and O'Sullivan (who, twenty years earlier had been Tarzan's delectable mate) held hostage by Boone and his two shallow young companions, Billy Jack (Skip Homeier) and Chink (Henry Silva). Boone, although a vicious murderer, is not entirely unsympathetic. He feels forced to "run with" these coarse companeros who live from moment to moment. They don't even know their own ages. They've been beaten and mistreated since they were kids. ("You run with them," says Scott reprovingly.) Boone, on the other hand, is sick of their talk about wimmin and such. He is lonely, has no family or wummin waiting for him. "Talk," he orders Scott at gunpoint, "about anything!" He dreams of someday having a spread of his own, with a couple of cattle, working the ground.

But the code -- I mean the movie code of the 1950s, not the Western code -- is an unforgiving one. He is, after all, a murderer. When O'Sullivan's cowardly new husband is given permission to ride off to freedom and desert his wife, Boone turns away and mutters, "Bust him, Chink." The coward's name is Willard Mimms -- Arthur Honeycutt draws out the vowel and imposes a dipthong on it when he pronounces the name -- "Mee-yums." We know Mimms is toast five seconds after we meet him.

Richard Boone is great as the heavy with the daydreams. In a particularly violent climax he is blinded by a shotgun, twirls around entangled in a burlap sheet, and collapses. Scott shows his range in this movie. He laughs at the beginning and becomes grim after being taken hostage. He even forcefully smothers O'Sullivan in passionate kisses. And I thought he only like horses and mules. Commanding too is the performance of Henry Silva, in pink shirt and suspenders. He's clever, the way a sewer rat is clever. He slouches when he walks, and he stands hipshot. His expression hardly ever varies. And his voice is matter of fact, even when he's eagerly anticipating dumping yet another body in the well.

It's quite a lot of fun, shot as it is in Movie Flats. That's Mount Whitney in the background, the highest peak in California's Sierra Nevada. The highest peak in the lower 48 for that matter.

Intelligent and simple Western by the trio Harry Brown-Scott-Boetticher

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 29 July 2010]

Very good Western about a rough confrontation with strong characterization. Compelling tale of a cowboy , Randolph Scott , and his nemesis, Richard Boone, and hoodlums , Skip Homeier and Henry Silva . In the Old west there are always the men who live breathe violence and the women who hold their breath . Having lost his horse in a wager , a hard-bitten man named Brennan (Scott) takes a stagecoach driven by his friend Ed (Arthur Hunnicutt) . Ed is carrying newlyweds , Willard (John Hubbard) and Doretta (Maureen O'Sullivan). At the next station the stagecoach and its passengers are kidnapped by a trio of gunfighters ( Homeier , Silva) led by a villain named Usher (Richard Boone). When Usher aware that Doretta is the daughter of a rich copper-mine owner, he decides to obtain a ransom but the events get worse.

This is a tremendously exciting story of a drifter who helps newlyweds and falls in love with the recent wife . It begins as a sluggish , slow-moving Western but follows to surprise us with dark , complex characters and solid plot . The simple tale is almost rudimentary though full of clichés, a good guy come to free newlyweds just in time to get the woman . Suspense and tension builds over the time in which the outlaws and the starring await a response to their demands . The action is brutishly cruel as when the nasties shoot without remission. The highlights of the film are the facing off between Scott and his enemies and the climatic showdown on the ending . Phenomenal and great role for Randolph Scott as tough guy , he's the whole show. He play perfectly as stoic, craggy, and uncompromising figure .Vivid and atmospheric musical score by Heinz Roemhelz and colorful cinematography reflecting marvelously the rocky,stony scenarios by Charles Lawton Jr . Watchable results for this offbeat Western.

The motion picture is stunningly directed by Budd Boetticher in bleak style . Boetticher formed a production company called ¨Ranown¨ along with Harry Joe Brown and Randolph Scott and as usual writer Burt Kennedy. The first Harrry Brown-Boetticher-Scott movie was 1956's " Seven men from now" , following ¨Decision at sundown(57)¨, ¨Buchanan rides alone(58)¨,¨Westbound(59)¨ ,¨Ride lonesome(59) ,in the decades since, they have produced and directed one Western ¨Comanche Station(60)¨ . Boetticher was a great expert on Western genre and also on the bullfighting world as ¨Bullfighter and the lady¨, ¨The magnificent matador¨ and ¨Arruza¨ . Rating : Above average. Well worth watching .

Tall T - stands for TENSION

[lwetzel · 10/10 · 31 January 2005]

**** I never really figured out what the Tall T exactly was. It doesn't matter. This is a great film and an outstanding western. The actors are all good, especially Randolph Scott as a western everyman (I always want to repeat the "Blazing Saddles" homage to Scott whenever I say his name)and Richard Boone as one of the most evil bad men in western film history. Skip Homeier and Henry Silva give great performances as two young guns who are teamed up with Boone. They are sexy and evil at once. The dialogue is biting, the situations are adult and dramatic, the scenery is superb, and the music complements the film's tension to a Tall T.

"...when our chance comes, we've got to take it."

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 17 January 2015]

There seems to be an aura of reverence for the Boetticher/Scott Western collaborations by any number of fans, but each time I see one I come away with the impression that I just watched a fairly competent movie but nothing really special. Ditto here with "The Tall T", I liked it well enough but it doesn't break new ground for the genre. What impressed me were the little things, like the mules instead of horses pulling the stagecoach in the early going; that was different. And the description of Randolph Scott's horse, it was a claybank; I never heard that one before. The term was used a couple of times, once by the young kid Jeff when he saw Pat Brennan (Scott) riding toward the way station, and later on by Rintoon (Arthur Hunnicutt) asking Brennan where his claybank was. It sounded cool, but I couldn't figure out what made it a claybank, it looked like a fairly average looking horse to me.

So Brennan finds himself in a desperate situation against an outlaw bunch headed by Frank Usher (Richard Boone). The other two desperadoes were kind of interesting, a cocky murderer by the name of Chink, admirably portrayed by Henry Silva, and a somewhat less than self confident gunman played by Skip Homeier. The dynamic here involves the seed of distrust Brennan plants with Chink when Usher takes off to secure a ransom demand from the wealthy father of a newlywed passenger (Maureen O'Sullivan) on the stage they just held up. Then Brennan conjures up a scenario for the kid intimating that the new widow Mims (Maureen O'Sullivan) might be open to a tryst with her husband put away by the bad guys.

The way Brennan takes out these two is convincing enough, but when Usher returns, I didn't quite understand why Brennan just didn't ambush him from the get-go. He had the time to set up for it, but instead allowed the competition to be met on fairer terms. From an earlier conversation between the two men, it was pretty transparent where this one was going, so I guess a more climactic showdown was called for. Personally, I would have taken the safer route.

One thing about Scott though, his character never loses his cool, even after learning about the station agent and his son in the well. You could tell he was seething but circumstances didn't warrant getting killed over it. You have to admire the man's supreme confidence and positive outlook on life, especially when it's all over and he confidently assures Doretta - "Come on now. It's gonna be a nice day".

One of the best of the Ranowns

[funkyfry · 10/10 · 5 November 2002]

Excellent low budget western with an intelligent script (thanks to Kennedy), tight directing and good acting. It tells its short, stark tale of abduction, murder, and attempted escape very well.

There was one moment early in the film where the way the camera moved just amazed me, but mostly there is nothing showy going on, just solid suspense and storytelling.

Scott is not his usual later era persona of the experienced but emotionally barren gunfighter -- instead he's refreshingly old-fashioned as an old ranch hand intent on striking it out on his own in the West.

First rate and very dark. 10 out of 10

THE TALL T (Budd Boetticher, 1957) ***

[Bunuel1976 · 7/10 · 5 December 2007]

This one’s the most highly regarded of seven Westerns director Boetticher and star Randolph Scott made together between 1956 and 1960; it was actually the last one that I caught up with (via a VHS-to-DVD source of a pan-and-scan print – which is quite acceptable apart from the last 10 minutes, where quality noticeably deteriorates).

On a first appraisal, however, I’m not sure I’d put it above SEVEN MEN FROM NOW (1956) – which I watched via Paramount’s exemplary SE DVD as part of their Batjac collection; as far as RIDE LONESOME (1959) is concerned, another much quoted effort in the so-called “Ranown Cycle”, it’s been a few years seen I saw it dubbed on late-night Italian TV...so I can’t make objective comparisons. The thing is that, even if a clear cut above Scott’s myriad other genre vehicles, the Boetticher titles are still essentially low-key Grade-B affairs (but perhaps I had set my expectations too highly in this case, given the THE TALL T’s quite irreproachable standing!); incidentally, that odd title always had me wondering...

Anyway, the film – running a terse 74 minutes in PAL mode – starts off rather slowly (and in uncharacteristically comedic vein) in order for us to get acquainted with the character of the hero; interestingly, though, seeing him come out a loser in a bet to ride a bull casts some initial doubt over his eventual capability in single-handedly outwitting a trio of badmen! The narrative picks up when the latter are introduced – they’re played by Richard Boone (terrific as usual), Henry Silva (who gets a nice early showcase as the sharp-shooting but impulsive “Chink”) and Skip Homeier (in a more standard lackey role). Unfortunately, overage heroine Maureen O’Sullivan isn’t all that sympathetic and is given little to do (then again, much of the time in the desert – she, Scott and two others were the occupants of a stagecoach held up by the gang – is spent eating or sleeping)! Genre fixture Arthur Hunnicutt appears as Scott’s sidekick, but is killed off too early; O’Sullivan’s husband (played by John Hubbard) is both selfish and spineless, and doesn’t think twice about ‘selling’ his wife to the bandits so as to gain his own freedom!

The film, in fact, has little action as such – but, when it comes, this is superbly handled (even involving some unexpected viciousness). As had been the case with SEVEN MEN FROM NOW, Burt Kennedy’s script (here adapting an Elmore Leonard story) is less concerned with plot mechanics than in delineating the ambivalent relationship between hero and outlaw leader (the latter’s no common villain – a cultured man with his own set of ideals, who seems to regret the way he’s forced to make his living and is openly contemptuous of the kind of people he has to associate with). Among the distinctive Boetticher touches one finds in the film are his having Scott subtly cause discord among the gang, the way he isn’t afraid to show the hero cheating in order to dispose of one of his nemeses, and also the director’s willingness to throw in a casual joke about the star’s lanky and imposing stature.

Finally, one hopes that a well-deserving release on DVD of the film and the other Scott/Boetticher titles (which has been rumored for some time) is really underway – especially when considering that much of the star’s lesser (but still enjoyable) work in the genre is readily available!

An unadorned, perfect western.

[guru_monk · 10/10 · 3 September 2005]

Movies like this are a lost art form. Simple, concise, they tell their stories without excess adornment. Its funny that as audience tastes have become progressively less refined movies have become more pretentious and obvious. If this movie was made today it would run nearly three hours with a turgid, Wagnerian musical score, and apocalyptic imagery. This film, on the other hand, is simplicity defined, and all the better for it. Its interesting to see the psychology of the characters; at one point Boone says that his cruel compatriots can't help the way they are, but it is more a way for his character to excuse his own actions away, as he secretly yearns for the kind of life Scott's character has--the difference being that Scott sticks to his own personal code, and Boone never even developed one. Little moments fill this movie and make it a fine Western: Scott sizing up a bull with an almost child-like look of joy on his face, Scott hitting his head on a stoop and Boone's unrestrained laughter. Best of all is the beautiful high desert imagery, another lost art being the art of properly filming in the desert without everything looking orange and shimmery. Maybe if modern Hollywood looked to its past rather than computers for salvation more people would go to their movies.

A good old western.

[michaelRokeefe · 7/10 · 7 March 2009]

THE TALL T is one of seven films that Randolph Scott stars for director Budd Boetticher. Scott plays Pat Brennan, a former ranch foreman that loses his horse on a bet he could ride a rough bull. He is picked up in the desert by a stagecoach carrying newlyweds Maureen O'Sullivan and John Hubbard. The stage driver(Arthur Hunnicutt)is shot during a high-jacking by a ruthless bandit(Richard Boone)and his two henchmen(Henry Silva and Skip Homeier). The cowardly new husband is easier to dislike than the three bandits holding them captive at a stagecoach station. Some wait and see tension dominates until some rapid fire bloodshed ends the film. There is question as to the meaning of the title THE TALL T that doesn't seem to be real explanatory in the script. Nonetheless well worth watching. Especially for Scott fans.

T is for Terror...

[poe426 · 10/10 · 11 March 2009]

Bud Boetticher rides again, with scribe Burt Kennedy ridin' shotgun. Toss in rugged Randolph Scott (whose face, it's been suggested, was carved from stone) and Richard Boone, Henry Silva, and Skip Homier as three dry-gulchers up to no dang good and you've got yourself another classic. As ever, Boetticher's economy of motion serves him (and his cast) in good stead. He doesn't even clutter the scenery with bodies: when the boy and his father are murdered, they're dumped into a well- "out of sight, out of mind," as Boone's loquacious character might see it. (His attempts to engage Scott in conversation just so he won't have to listen to the insipid banter of his two cohorts is hilarious. Henry Silva is particularly loathsome as the sleepy-eyed, cold-blooded killer who'd shoot a man just to see the expression on his face when he did it. Homier, as his tag-along buddy a couple of rounds short of a six-shooter, is just as bad.) Scott sums it up best when he points out that "there's some things a man can't just ride around." Bravo.

no wasted moment here

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 24 August 2018]

For about the first twenty minutes this looks as if it is going to be a homely little affair with too sweet children and a predictable storyline but then this is based upon an Elmore Leonard story. True it is a very slight story and the film is rather thin but then there is no wasted moment here. Fantastic use of location, an excellent Richard Boone as a thoroughly bad, bad man and yet...plus the iconic Randolph Scott. It is one of Scott's last films and he seems slightly uncomfortable but still does a most convincing job, helping to steer this modest affair through its various difficult moments. There is time within the short running time for everybody to re-evaluate their life and in the end we feel that not only have we seen a most efficient and exciting western but something much deeper too.

too many idiotic and weak characters to contrast to Scott's surviving character

[weezeralfalfa · 4/10 · 26 September 2013]

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.

Fulfilling meal of a movie

[rsyung · 28 May 2002]

There's nothing epic about this well-crafted, workman-like western, and that works in its favor. Randolph Scott is wonderful as the world-weary small-time rancher who's pursuing a better life at an age when most men in those days were either retired or dead. He meets his evil double in the guise of Richard Boone, who finds himself out of place with the heartless thugs he finds himself running with. It's his fate but he yearns for the life that Scott has chosen. Wonderful location work. Dialogue and action are used to service the story and that's all, as it should be. As fulfilling and satisfying a movie as a good serving of stew and a mug of hot coffee.

Too close to SEVEN MEN FROM NOW and not as good

[rsda · 6/10 · 29 June 2012]

I looked forward to seeing this film in the pantheon of the Scott-Boetticher films. I had so much enjoyed SEVEN MEN FROM NOW and anxiously awaited my viewing of this. Not to be a nitpicker but Scott looks less interested and the supporting cast other than Richard Boone who is fine lets the film down a bit. I think the presence of Gail Russell and Lee Marvin in MEN tips the scales. Also it has the same plot contrivance of traveling lady with a weak husband that works so much better in the SEVEN MEN film. Maureen O Sullivan's performance is almost out of the silent film era. She is way over the top in a few scenes. This film is not bad by any means and holds your interest but just doesn't quite measure up to standards.

Come On, It's Going To Be A Nice Day

[PullmanPumpy2 · 8/10 · 1 January 2007]

Said, unnecessarily harshly, to the poor leading lady at the very end of the "Tall T" as Randolph Scott,having killed the bad guys, drags her, whimpering, towards the horses Poor girl. Just married, she has been kidnapped, betrayed by her new husband,seen him killed, been almost raped, forced to cook for the kidnap gang, and watch as Scott picked them all off one by one and left them in a heap. Wouldn't you whimper in these circumstances ? But Scott is having none of it.

It's a brilliant closing line in another one of the Boetticher-Brown-Scott collaborations that so enlivened the western genre in the late fifties. Beautifully written -- as was my other particular favourite "Ride Lonesome" -- all the actors bounce off Scotts' granite-featured impeturbality beautifully (Richard Boone, as ever, deserves a special mention) and the film encompasses a lot of aspects of western life as well as tells its' story at a good lick.

The only minus point was the cowardly husbands' boot-lace moustache. You knew he was going to do the dirty on his wife the moment you saw him, the cad !

There are men of greed and others who perform with chivalry ... this is their story

[Ed-Shullivan · 7/10 · 23 February 2022]

Maureen O'Sullivan plays a just wed woman about to begin her honeymoon with her rather callous new husband. Randolph Scott plays a lonesome ranch hand who just lost his horse on a bad bet and is forced to walk 20 miles with his saddle on his sweaty back to the ranch he just purchased. (Un)Forunately a stagecoach carrying the honeymooners happens to intersect on the road with Randolph Scott and this is where the story takes a turn for the worse.

The values of the two men (the recently married John Hubbard and Randolph Scott) on the stagecoach are seriously tested when a gang of robbers led by the always ornery Richard Boone intercepts the stagecoach and holds the wealthy Doretta Mims (Maureen O'Sullivan) hostage. No sooner can the cowardly Willard Mims the snively husband blurt out "don't kill me" then he advises the robbers that his newlywed wife's father is a rich cattle and oil baron and she can be held for a kings ransom. As Willard Sims makes good on the ransom money and is awarded his freedom he abandons his newlywed wife for Randolph Scott to protect and get out of this sticky kidnapping.

Greed is always a good story line for an old 1950's style western and who better to play the good samaritan and tough as nails cowboy then the great Randolph Scott.

I give this classic as they come western a decent 7 out of 10 IMDB rating.

Superb western!

[amolad · 10/10 · 11 March 2001]

One of the best of the seven collaborations between director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott, this was also written by Burt Kennedy, who wrote all the best in the series. They're all simple, spare stories, and that's what makes them powerful. The interplay between Scott and Richard Boone as the villain is tremendously enjoyable and razor-sharp. As in most of the movies in this series, the hero and the villain see themselves in each other. The difference between them is thin as ice. The villain, one senses, really wishes he were Randolph Scott.

These movies are set almost entirely out in the landscape. The empty, beautiful, rocky landscape of Lone Pine, CA, functions as an arena in which these characters play out their roles. And they all know what their roles are -- it's even reflected in the dialogue, as when Boone tells Scott he's gotta kill him and Scott replies, "You know I can't let you do that." It's as if they're all aware of their roles in the western genre. It's fascinating, humorous, and really enjoyable to watch.

Benefited from the Ruthless Performances of Richard Boone and Henry Silva

[Uriah43 · 7/10 · 24 November 2021]

After losing his horse in a bet at a ranch, a cowboy by the name of "Pat Brennan" (Randolph Scott) is forced to walk along a dusty old road carrying his saddle on his way back to town. As luck would have it, he happens to see a stagecoach being driven by an old friend named "Rintoon" (Arthur Hunnicutt) who offers him a ride. Unfortunately, once they arrive at an isolated way station, they are held up by three gunmen who mistake this particular stagecoach for another one due to arrive a little later. During this time, Rintoon is killed while reaching for a gun resulting in Pat Brennan and the two passengers inside the stagecoach being disarmed and held captive pending a decision on whether to kill them after the next stagecoach arrives. Concerned only for himself, one of these passengers named "Willard Mims" (John Hubbard) recommends ransoming his newlywed wife "Doretta Mims" (Maureen O'Sullivan) whose father has amassed a great deal of money and is living in a nearby town. Although the outlaws agree to allow him to be escorted back to town to petition the young woman's father, Pat is under no illusions and fully realizes that they will kill him and Doretta as soon as they get the ransom money. So with that in mind he decides to wait for the right opportunity to attempt to escape. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good Western film which benefited from the ruthless performances of both Richard Boone (as the outlaw leader "Frank Usher") and Henry Silva (as the outlaw "Chink"). Likewise, as expected, Randolph Scott also put in a solid performance but I was most surprised by the menacing atmosphere and the cold-blooded violence depicted in this film. Be that as it may, I enjoyed this film and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.

One of the 50's and its star/director team's best Westerns

[fs3 · 8/10 · 3 January 2001]

Boetticher and Scott spent the latter half of the 1950s making some terrific, adult, low-key Westerns, of which this stands as the best. Atmosphere, technical work and acting are all excellent, with interesting villain characterizations and a well-realized flawed hero in Scott.

Brutal and vivid, great-looking, and among Elmore Leonard's earliest writing work in the medium. Check out this classic, as well as the other films of the star and director (also the similar, excellent Gary Cooper/Anthony Mann teaming in the following year's Man of the West.)

Intense western with good characterization, but a sour undermining...

[moonspinner55 · 6/10 · 8 March 2009]

Former cowboy-turned-rancher Randolph Scott loses his horse in a bet and hitches a ride back home with a private coach carrying the daughter of a wealthy businessman and her sniveling new husband; of course they run afoul of bloodthirsty crooks who, upon learning of the woman's background, hold the travelers for ransom. Revered western director Budd Boetticher, working from a script by Burt Kennedy via Elmore Leonard's original story, creates great tension and excitement during the suspenseful final stages. Unfortunately, Boetticher and Kennedy get the picture off to an ugly start with the murder (off screen) of an innocent widower and his little boy--and also a friendly coach driver--their bodies ditched in a well. There is nothing more despicable than introducing characters simply as an excuse to have story-victims...and just because Boetticher doesn't show their killings doesn't make him more noble. These people never even get a chance to defend themselves, to fight back, and nobody mentions them again. Scott, alternately smiling and scowling, is a contemplative hero, and magnetic Richard Boone gets to display different shades to his gang-leader. Still, the film is unapologetic in the worst way; it's brutal all right, but the indifference of the general handling is tough to shake off. **1/2 from ****

Very familiar plot elements handled extraordinarily

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 3 January 2009]

Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott teamed up for quite a few westerns. While most of them have the simplest of plots, they managed to rise above the vast pool of mediocre films of the genre. Now this wasn't necessarily because the plots were that unusual. In fact, the plot for THE TALL T seems rather similar to quite a few westerns I've seen. The difference is the nice meandering style and Scott's simple and seemingly effortless delivery. Some of this was Scott--he was a much better actor than people thought at the time. Some of this was Boetticher's ability to bring out this from Scott and the other actors. So together they have produced with THE TALL T yet another classic film---one that is strikingly beautiful and once again has an object lesson about doing the right thing--a common theme in their films together.

In this film, genial and easy-going Scott wanders into a stage coach robbery and kidnapping along with the rest of the people on the stage. The bandits are tough and mean business--you can tell this because Henry DeSilva is among them--a perennial psycho bad boy of old Westerns. An unusual member of this ensemble cast, however, is a middle-aged Maureen O'Sullivan who is usually more at home in a Tarzan film, not a western--although she is just fine here as and aging spinster who finally marries--and marries a total lout! Later in the film, after being bullied and threatened, Scott realizes that they might not make it out alive so he decides to act. Behaving like the typical action-hero, he quickly switches from nice guy to killer--much like Bogey did in KEY LARGO--leading to a dandy showdown with all three of the killers.

The final showdown isn't particularly surprising nor are many of the plot elements. However, as I said above, it's all handled so well. Scott is great as a combination action-hero AND nice-guy cowboy and the film is among the better examples of the genre.

Back in the Saddle

[wes-connors · 7/10 · 20 December 2013]

Losing his horse in a bet at "The Tall T" ranch, grizzled cowboy Randolph Scott (as Patrick "Pat" Brennan) hitches a ride on the trail with coach driver Arthur Hunnicutt (as Ed Rintoon). Inside the coach are newlywed heiress Maureen O'Sullivan (as Doretta) and her cowardly husband John Hubbard (as Willard Mims). They are quickly abducted by ruthless Richard Boone (as Frank Usher) and his two young guns, uneducated Skip Homeier (as Billy Jack) and slouching Henry Silva (as Chink). They want $50,000 in exchange for Ms. O'Sullivan, who has a wealthy father. This was the second of Mr. Scott's successful series of westerns directed by Budd Boetticher, which feature several other personnel duplications. This one is notable for the characterizations, especially the hero-villain banter between Scott and Mr. Boone. Also, watch for three memorable last scenes featuring the outlaws, especially the one coming after a thwarted rape.

******* The Tall T (4/1/57) Budd Boetticher ~ Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, Maureen O'Sullivan, Skip Homeier

Overrated But Watchable

[doug-balch · 4/10 · 19 May 2010]

The Tall T

This Budd Boetthicher/Randolph Scott project is overrated. I'll admit it's watchable and certainly has merit, but at the end of the day it's a middling movie riddled with faults.

As usual, I'll start with some positives:

• I'm a big Richard Boone fan and this no doubt one of his better parts. He's plays Frank Usher, the heavy, who is conflicted over his outlaw status and is especially unhappy with his lack of intelligent, honorable companionship.

• The plot pretty much makes sense from beginning to end, which is saying a lot for this type of movie. It moves along pretty well and maintains a good level of dramatic tension.

• Henry Silva is quite effective as "Chink", the outlaw band's stock crazy gunman. He played a similar kind of character a year later in "The Law And Jake Wade".

• The presence of Skip Homeir is interesting. He was the heavy in "The Gunfighter" five years earlier.

• Randolph Scott, as usual, is modestly effective as the leading man.

• This was shot almost entirely on location. There are very few sound stage scenes.

• Willard Mims, the cowardly bounder, is well characterized and the part is well acted by John Hubbard.

Here's some of the things that kept this movie from being better:

• In the opening scene, great pains are taken to deeply characterize a man and little boy who run a remote stagecoach station. Later in the day - about 15 minutes of move time later - they are brutally gunned down and their both their bodies are dumped in a well right in front of the station. Fortunately, this happens off camera. Nonetheless, this is extremely grisly and out of sync with the tone of the rest of the movie.

• Scott's Pat Brennan is the hero, but starts out the movie by riding 30 miles from his ranch to a place where he loses his horse in a foolish bet, forcing him to walk home. Is this the clever guy we are counting on to outwit the outlaw gang?

Also, about that bet. Wouldn't his former boss have allowed him to ride the horse he lost home, and return later with two horse? Or loan him a horse? The guy is trying to get Pat to come back to work for him. Why make him walk home 30 miles carrying a saddle?

• Attempts to make Pat Brennan seem like a super nice, friendly and easy going fellow fall very flat.

• The story is supposed to be set in New Mexico or Arizona and is clearly filmed in California.

• There's no way Pat Brennan would have allowed Frank Usher to mount his horse in the final scene. Every cowboy in the universe carries a rifle on his horse. Also, he would have not allowed Usher to walk away. He had murdered the little boy and man at the station, as well as his "buddy" the stagecoach driver. Pat didn't have to kill him to stop him, just shoot him in the leg.

• There is very little attempt at comic relief.

• No Indians, no Mexicans, no civil war references, some of the things I like to see referenced in Westerns.

• The ending is too abrupt. I guess the "guy got the girl" in the end, but this feels contrived.