Yeah I kinda wondered about what those first 20 minutes were doing in the film, as they genially amble about, very episodically. But then I saw how necessary they were. Aside from establishing characters and putting plot threads in place, those opening scenes functioned like a cozy, establishing a level of normalcy for subsequent events to shatter.
Tom Armstrong
--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, Stephen Burridge <stephen.burridge@...> 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@...> 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
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
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