Western Classics - The Tall T (1957)

The Western Classics DVD issue of The Tall T marks the first time this Randolph Scott classic has been available on the digital disc. Made in 1957 and directed by Budd Boetticher,  co-stars Richard Boone, Maureen O'Sullivan and Henry Silva and was based on the Elmore Leonard short story, The Captives.  

The previous western from the star and director, Seven Men from Now was such a success that  star Randolph Scott, writer Burt Kennedy and director Budd Boetticher immediately set out to make another western . The previous movie had been produced by John Wayne's Batjac company,but scott wanted to produce through his own company at Columbia, Scott-Brown Productions. Writer Burt Kennedy adapted an Elmore Leonard's story The Captives for the project. Budd Boetticher would again direct Scott on a low budget and a short, three-week shooting schedule.

The result The Tall T was a typical Boetticher western, with a stark story presented against a wonderfully photographed western landscape. The director was a keen bull fighter and it's been suggested that he structured his movies in the style of a bullfight - check out this insightful essay by Jeremy Arnold HERE,

 Producer: Harry Joe Brown
Director: Budd Boetticher
Screenplay: Burt Kennedy (screenplay); Elmore Leonard (story)
Cinematography: Charles Lawton, Jr.
Art Direction: George Brooks
Music: Heinz Roemheld
Film Editing: Al Clark
Cast: Randolph Scott (Pat Brennan), Richard Boone (Frank Usher), Maureen O'Sullivan (Doretta Mims), Arthur Hunnicutt (Ed Rintoon), Skip Homeier (Billy Jack), Henry Silva (Chink), John Hubbard (Willard Mims), Robert Burton (Tenvoorde), Fred E. Sherman (Hank Parker), Chris Olsen (Jeff).
C-78m. Letterboxed.
 

Food for western nerds - Stranger on the Run

This 1967 TV movie was directed by Don Siegal and first shown by NBC on Halloween night of the same year - it boasts an impressive cast - Henry Fonda, Dan Duryea, Sol Mineo and Ann Baxter, but despite such a strong cast and seasoned director it comes across as a Bad Day at Black Rock wannabe.

Still it's not exactly a bad movie, but more a mediocre one. Still I was pleased to see it released as part of Optimum's Western Classics. I'd never seen the film before, indeed I'd never heard of it, and being a western nerd of long standing, I found it an enjoyable ninety minutes.

In the film, alcoholic Chamberlain (Henry Fonda) comes into a railroad town enquiring about a woman. When she is found dead Sheriff McKay (Michael Parks) at the suggestion of his friend Hotchkiss (Dan Duryea) organises a human hunting party giving the stranger one hour head start to reach the border before setting his men after him. Chamberlain comes across a homesteader (Anne Baxter) and they start to develop a connection but this is quickly cut short when the posse catch up.

The film doesn't really get away from it's TV movie status, and is tame by the standards of most westerns of the period. Fonda gives a good enough performance but comes nowhere near his best work in the genre - the following year he would make Once upon a time in the West for Sergio Leone - but he still provides enough gravitas as the alcoholic drifter who strikes up a relationship with Ann Baxter's character. The film does come alive for the climax which is excellently done and quite exciting.

I picked up this movie for less than three pounds, and at such a price I would consider it to be great value for money. After all it's a western and stars Henry Fonda so that's enough to be going along with.

Food for Western nerds: Cahill United States Marshal

Neville Brand, America's second most decorated serviceman next to Audrie Murphy,  played the Indian character, Lightfoot who is drafted in by John Wayne's Cahill US Marshall to track down a band of bank robbers in this lightweight but enjoyable western from director Andrew V Mclaglen and Wayne's own Batjac company. The veteran actor was joining a cast made up of many screen-vets, most notably Harry Carey Jnr and John Wayne himself.

It was the fifth time that the director had worked with Wayne, and in his entertaining commentary that accompanies the DVD of this movie, he provides a lot of interesting snippets of information. The famous opening scene for instance, where Wayne rides in and guns down several badman, was actually filmed on a sound stage which is something you'd never noticed. I've seen this film several times over the years and not once had I ever suspected the great opening was stage set.

He also points out that Wayne was drawn to the script, because of its modern themes. All action western it is but at its heart it is a story of children craving the attention of their far too busy lawman father, played of course by the aging Wayne who appreciated the depth this gave his character. He hoped it would make the movie attractive to modern audiences. This was 1973 and good parenting in a chaotic world was very much an issue of the day. At least it was according to the commentary on this disc. And although I'd never considered the movie from this angle before, but I could see it on this viewing. I watched the film twice - once without the commentary and once with.

The DVD, in the UK released as part of The Ultimate Western Collection, boasts a strong transfer with both sound and visuals which are up to the usual high standards of the medium. However it still looks and feels like a TV western to me, as do a lot of Wayne's late 60's/ 70's output. I started this piece by calling the movie lightweight and it is indeed that and must have seemed very old fashioned against the grim and gritty cinema of the 70's.

It's still a good film, though - maybe not exceptional but good all the same. George Kennedy plays the type of badman he so often excelled at, and although he often seems to be operating on auto-pilot, he is sinister when it is needed, but never quite reaches the levels of evil that his character so needs. Other weaknesses include the fact that Wayne is simply too old to have two such young sons and even the throwaway line that he had kids late in life doesn't make this premise any less likely.

I guess the biggest problem is that the movie doesn't seem to know if it should go for being a conventional Western or a children-in-peril movie. Still it's a John Wayne movie and John Wayne is John Wayne so I can still go with it and for the most part ignore the flaws. Wayne provided so many cinema high points that as a viewer I feel I owe him that much respect. He was 66 years old when this picture was made and yet he still comes across as pure bad-ass - a walking, talking definition of machismo.