The Tall T is often on the western channel and is excellent....and the young
Henry Silva is already a menacing meany...
Montois
On 8/20/09 3:02 PM, "Stephen Burridge" <stephen.burridge@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> I viewed "The Tall T" recently and enjoyed it very much. It starts out
> quite sunny but soon gets pretty dark, suddenly and irreversibly.
>
> On Thu, Aug 20, 2009 at 2:52 PM, tomarmstrongmusic <
> tom@tomarmstrongmusic.com <mailto:tom%40tomarmstrongmusic.com> > wrote:
>
>> >
>> >
>> > Sorry for using that troublesome word in the title of my post, but...we've
>> > had discussions about the overlap between typical rara-avis material and
>> > Westerns before, and I watched a couple of films this week that fit the
>> > topic. I highly recommend both, currently in rotation on Encore.
>> >
>> > "The Day of the Outlaw" stars Robert Ryan and Burl Ives, directed by Andre
>> > de Toth. "The Tall T" is a Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott cheapie. They
>> have
>> > somewhat similar stories about tense standoffs with dangerous creeps
>> holding
>> > hostages. Both are largely character-driven. Of the two I preferred the
>> > former for its unique winter-time setting, stark direction with a lot of
>> > wide angle shots that emphasize the vulnerability of the people within the
>> > setting, a more flawed protagonist, and the scene where the gang dances
>> with
>> > with the town women - all they are doing is dancing, and yet the
>> > psychological violence that's being done is thoroughly quease-inducing.
>> > Highlights of "The Tall T" are the well-developed villain characters played
>> > by Richard Boone and Henry Silva.
>> >
>> > Neither of these movies is really a full-on noir, in the classic sense that
>> > the protagonist is screwed from page one and goes downhill from there -
>> > although the Ryan comes close. But both might appeal to any cross-genre
>> fans
>> > on this board.
>> >
>> > Oh and "The Ride Back" starring William Conrad and Anthony Quinn is an
>> > understated gem too.
>> >
>> > Tom Armstrong
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