The Tall T (1957)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

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:

Chink: I had me a quiet woman once. Outside she was as calm as Sunday. But inside, wild as mountain scenery.

Movie Connections:

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

Tall T - stands for TENSION

**** 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.