The Tall T (1957)

Director:

Budd Boetticher

Writers:

Elmore Leonard (story)
Burt Kennedy (screenplay)

Release Date:

2 April 1957 (USA)

Genre:

Western

Tagline:

Taut! Torrid! Tremendous! T Is for Terror!

Plot:

Having lost his horse in a bet, Pat Brennan hitches a ride with a stagecoach carrying newlyweds, Willard and Doretta Mims...

Plot Keywords:

Ransom | Newlywed | Outlaw | Bet | Stagecoach

Awards:

1 win

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 Sherman	...	Hank Parker (as Fred E. Sherman)
Christopher Olsen	...	Jeff (as Chris Olsen)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Robert Anderson	...	Jace (uncredited)

Directed by
Budd Boetticher

Writing credits
Elmore Leonard		(story)
Burt Kennedy		(screenplay)

Produced by
Harry Joe Brown	....	producer
Randolph Scott	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Heinz Roemheld

Cinematography by
Charles Lawton Jr.

Film Editing by
Al Clark

Art Direction by
George Brooks

Set Decoration by
Frank Tuttle		(as Frank A. Tuttle)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sam Nelson	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Ferrol Redd	....	sound (as Ferol Redd)

Music Department
Heinz Roemheld	....	conductor
Mischa Bakaleinikoff	....	musical director (uncredited)

Other crew
David Breen	....	assistant to producer
Henri Jaffa	....	technicolor color consultant

Production Companies

• Producers-Actors Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1957) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Film-Verleih (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• GoodTimes Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Comet Video (????) (USA) (DVD)

Runtime:

78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

West Germany:12 | USA:Approved (certificate #18272) | UK:U | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Producers-Actors Corporation

Trivia:

Columbia Pictures released this film on a double bill with Hellcats of the Navy (1957) starring Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: As Brennan rides into town, after the meeting with the station keeper and his son, he passes the stage, which is standing in the street. Behind the stage, in the street behind, there is a parked car.

Quotes:

Pat Brennan: You got a fine boy there, Hank. He knows his stock. He'll make a first rate station man one day.
Hank Parker: Not if I can help it, he won't. Ain't a fit life bein' stuck out in the middle of nowhere, all by yourself, knowin' nobody but stage drivers and shotguns. Ain't no fit life at all.
Pat Brennan: Always thought you were happy at it.
Hank Parker: Well...
Pat Brennan: [excepts a gourdful of water from Hank] Thanks.
Hank Parker: ...I was. When Jeff's mother was alive, I was. Alone, it's different. My retire time comes up next fall and I'm gonna take it. A man shouldn't oughta be stuck off by hisself in this kind of country, Pat. It ain't natural!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Budd Boetticher: A Man Can Do That (2005) (TV)

One of the best of the Ranowns

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