If you liked Tall T, you must check out Decision at Sundown.
I recently worked my way through 67 or the "Ranown" films starring Randolph Scott, directed by Budd Boetticher (five of them in a Boetticher box set). Even the least of them, Buchanan Rides Alone (the Red Harvest/Yojimbo-type plot of two brothers vying for control of a border town has a couple twists too many), is still pretty damn good. And the rest are great. I particularly liked Ride Lonesome, Seven Men from Now and the aforementioned Decision at Sundown. That last is by far the most downbeat of them. And it costars Rockford's father, Noah Beery.
Mark
> To: rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com
> From: tom@tomarmstrongmusic.com
> Date: Thu, 20 Aug 2009 18:52:53 +0000
> Subject: RARA-AVIS: noir-ish westerns
>
> 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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