The Tall T

Thanks to the approbation of Clint Eastwood and Quentin Tarantino, along with critics like Jim Kitses, Budd Boetticher's Westerns have lately been rescued from B Movie obscurity. Particularly revered is the so-called "Ranown Cycle," Boetticher's six collaborations with Randolph Scott and producer Joe Brown. Their lean narratives, striking direction and simple, crisp storytelling make them marvels of dramatic economy.

The second in the series, after the remarkable Seven Men from Now (1956), is The Tall T (1957). Based on an Elmore Leonard story, it's a straightforward but powerful Western. Boetticher's preoccupations with masculine honor make for interesting viewing.

Pat Brennan (Randolph Scott) hitches a ride on a stagecoach carrying newlyweds Doretta (Maureen O'Sullivan) and Willard Mims (John Hubbard). At the next station they're waylaid by a trio of crooks: reasonable Frank (Richard Boone), crack-brained Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin... er, Skip Homeier) and psychotic Chink (Henry Silva). Willard tells the outlaws Doretta's father is a copper magnate, convincing Frank to ransom hers. Pat and Doretta fall for each other as they think of a way to outsmart their tormentors.

Like all Boetticher's Westerns, The Tall T is a model of efficiency, clocking in at under 80 minutes. Writer Burt Kennedy crafts a small cast and simple, focused story and clipped dialogue. The action plays out against stark backdrops, namely the craggy Alabama Hills, giving the violence a stylish kick. These movies are easy to decode but no one watching will complain: sometimes the simplest stories are the best.

Boetticher's Westerns presage Sergio Leone in their frontier chivalry and ritualized violence. Brennan is a simple, laconic man, not especially heroic but driven by personal honor ("There are some things a man just can't ride around"). Boetticher contrasts this model of masculinity with the weak-willed Willard, who'd gladly sell Doretta out to save himself, and the feral violence of Chink and Billy Jack. Frank seems the protagonist's mirror image, disgusted with his partners and respecting Brennan, until he pulls a rotten trick in the end showdown. Doretta is a peripheral character, pining over her rotten marriage and swooning over the manly Brennan.

Randolph Scott makes an ideal Western hero. Tall and leathery in appearance, tougher than James Stewart, more soft-spoken than John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, he's always convincing. He's well-matched by Richard Boone (Hombre), who marvelously underplays his likeable villain. Henry Silva (The Bravados) and Skip Homeier (The Gunfighter) provide menacing support and Arthur Hunnicut (El Dorado) has a brief appearance. Maureen O'Sullivan is a weak link, less effective than Gail Russell in Seven Men or Karen Steele in Ride Lonesome.

The Tall T is a solid Western. Few directors do a better job with Western archetypes than Boetticher and Kennedy, crafting old-fashioned elements into something special.