TheLittleSongbird While the western genre is not my favourite one of all film genres (not sure which one is my favourite due to trying to appreciate them all the same), there is a lot of appreciation for it by me. There are a lot of very good to great films, with the best work of John Ford being notable examples.In the late 50s, starting in 1956 with 'Seven Men from Now' and right up to 1960 with 'Comanche Station', lead actor Randolph Scott collaborated with director Budd Boetticher in seven films. For me, along with 'Seven Men from Now', 'The Tall T' is one of their best and more than lives up to its appetising alliterative tagline. It stands tall and is a very great example of how to do a western, comparing favourably with other films in the genre. On its own merits too, as a film overall, 'The Tall T' is a wonderful film.Complaints are next to none, though for my liking the ending was a little on the abrupt side. However, 'The Tall T' is superbly filmed and makes the most of, to full advantage in fact, the vividly desolate scenery/landscapes. The music is another example of being rousing but never intrusive. Boetticher's direction is throughout efficient, great sense of style, vivid atmosphere, fine direction of the action and very successful in keeping everything going.The meaty, snappy and fat-free script helps hugely as does the continually lively pace that makes the storytelling continually compelling and taut, with lots of fun and suspense. 'The Tall T' is one of the best Scott/Boetticher outings in terms of characterisation, in particular having villains that are fun, ruthless and oddly human rather than resorting to stereotypes.Scott's charismatic, easy-going yet tense performance was one of his best in an interesting flawed hero role and the supporting cast are more than up to his level. Particularly formidable Richard Boone and slimy yet entertaining Henry Silva. Maureen O'Sullivan is a fetching female lead with chemistry that is sensual and touching, while Skip Homeier and John Hubbard are suitably nasty.All in all, excellent film and one of Scott/Boetticher's best. 9/10 Bethany Cox

LeonLouisRicci The second of the seven Boetticher/Scott Westerns is another excellent and welcomed addition to the glut of mostly unremarkable Fifties Westerns. In fact, one could cull the herd to this...all of the Anthony Mann, Budd Boetticher Films and a dash of John Ford for contrast. That would be about the best of the best. With a few exceptions, the rest are Time-Passers, Fillers and Posers.Anyway, this is considered by most the best of the Bott/Scott Movies, but that is completely subjective because they are all equal as well as eloquent. Characters that have depth and chiseled personalities firing up the Screen with Dialog that snaps, most of them Written by Burt Kennedy.Here is a tense, taut, terrifying treatise on the importance of Home, belonging, Companionship, and Honor and it is all done with a restrained Machismo from the "Hero" and brutality and betrayal from the "Villains". The above mentioned Movies are Dialog and Philosophically driven against powerful Landscapes that more often than not become encroaching entrapments that tighten as the tension unfolds.We see here two Face-Offs that must have had the Hays Code Consideration raising eyebrows. Add to that the Off-Screen killings that linger in the mind of the Viewer and certainly clearly separated, without ambiguity, the Moral Divide between the chosen paths of Participants.

FightingWesterner Cowboy Randolph Scott loses his horse in a bet and hitches a ride with an old friend atop Maureen O'Sullivan and her vile husband's stagecoach. At the stage depot, they're kidnapped and held for ransom by three outlaws, including charismatic leader Richard Boone and trigger-happy psycho Henry Silva.The Tall T (What does that mean?) is another fantastic and fantastic looking western from director Budd Boetticher, whose work I cannot recommend enough. Cinematography and locations are top-notch, as is the suspenseful script by Burt Kennedy, based on a story by Elmore Leonard.The villains are great, with two excellent performances by Richard Boone, who's quite likable for a nasty killer and by Henry Silva, who's just plain nasty. Actually, Silva is one of the best actors ever to specialize in heavies.The exciting climax is a bit more violent and sexually charged than usually found in 1950's movies.

Michael O'Keefe 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.