After losing his horse in a bet at a ranch, a cowboy by the name of "Pat Brennan" (Randolph Scott) is forced to walk along a dusty old road carrying his saddle on his way back to town. As luck would have it, he happens to see a stagecoach being driven by an old friend named "Rintoon" (Arthur Hunnicutt) who offers him a ride. Unfortunately, once they arrive at an isolated way station, they are held up by three gunmen who mistake this particular stagecoach for another one due to arrive a little later. During this time, Rintoon is killed while reaching for a gun resulting in Pat Brennan and the two passengers inside the stagecoach being disarmed and held captive pending a decision on whether to kill them after the next stagecoach arrives. Concerned only for himself, one of these passengers named "Willard Mims" (John Hubbard) recommends ransoming his newlywed wife "Doretta Mims" (Maureen O'Sullivan) whose father has amassed a great deal of money and is living in a nearby town. Although the outlaws agree to allow him to be escorted back to town to petition the young woman's father, Pat is under no illusions and fully realizes that they will kill him and Doretta as soon as they get the ransom money. So with that in mind he decides to wait for the right opportunity to attempt to escape. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a pretty good Western film which benefited from the ruthless performances of both Richard Boone (as the outlaw leader "Frank Usher") and Henry Silva (as the outlaw "Chink"). Likewise, as expected, Randolph Scott also put in a solid performance but I was most surprised by the menacing atmosphere and the cold-blooded violence depicted in this film. Be that as it may, I enjoyed this film and I have rated it accordingly. Above average.
Review of The Tall T
The Tall T
(1957)
Benefited from the Ruthless Performances of Richard Boone and Henry Silva
24 November 2021