The Tall T (1957)

The other day I mentioned this wonderful Western, but it occurred to me that I never actually did a review of it here. Well ... time to fix that oversight.

As Pat Brennan (Randolph Scott) puts it himself, it just isn't his day. He loses his horse in a bet and when he catches a ride on a stagecoach, it gets robbed by Frank Usher (Richard Boone) and his ruthless gang. It turns out that one of the other passengers, Doretta Mims (Maureen O'Sullivan) has a rich family and the gang decides to hold them all to try to collect a ransom from her father. From that point on it is a cat-and-mouse game between Brennan and Usher as to who will out smart the other.

Randolph Scott and Maureen O'Sullivan get close in a cave

I loved so many things about this great little film. First of all, it is terribly suspenseful with great characters, great performances and great scenery. It holds the audience's interest from beginning to end. I love that Randolph Scott was nearly 60, still looking great, and doing these kinds of roles that called for a raw physicality and he pulled it off. I mean, he was still a Grade A movie star - what an amazing actor. Plus, him and Richard Boone toying with each other, that is a big part of what makes this film such a success. Without two great performances there, this would have been a flop.

It was unusual for me that I found myself actually kinda liking Frank Usher, a little bit. He plays a bad guy who holds everyone else to a certain moral code, which is interesting. He doesn't like the other members of his gang because they are ruthless and stupid. After watching Mr. Mims basically give away who his wife is in hopes of saving his own skin Usher says, "That boy puts his wife on a stake and then wants to kiss her goodbye. You figure me that one?" Later, he goes into the place they are holding her, brings her a plate of food and covers her up gently. From that, you have to believe that there is some kind of humanity in there somewhere and you wonder if it will win out in the end. He is not your average bad guy and I liked the added complexity. Like I said, you almost wanna like him.

I should say, "Nights in Rodanthe" should take note of my favorite scene. The hot kissing scene. Randolph Scott grabs Maureen O'Sullivan with his hand around her neck, whips her towards him, then teases her as if he is going to kiss her, pulls back and finally plants one on her. Wow. "Nights in Rodanthe" could have used some of that chemistry. I tell ya, Randy still had it going on.

Plus, as if everything else isn't already great about it. This movie happens to have one of my favorite last lines. After Randolph Scott and Maureen O'Sullivan have gone through this terrible ordeal and are finally safe, she is crying and trying to pull herself together. They both barely cheated death and as they begin to walk away he says, "Come on now, its gonna be a nice day." That is such a great line for the end of the movie. It is such a great little Western. Definitely add this one to your list if you haven't seen it.

Westbound (1959)

Welcome to the Civil War. Union Captain John Hayes (Randolph Scott) is dispatched to the West to set up a stagecoach delivery route to transport gold safely from California without those sneaky Confederates snaking it. At one critical point in the route, Clay Putnam (Andrew Duggan) stands in the way as a big shot Confederate sympathizer, determined to ruin the Union's plans. Fortunately, John Hayes receives help from a wounded Union soldier Rod Miller (Michael Dante) and his wife, Jeanie (Karen Steele) aka Big Bazongas, but Clay Putnam also has help from all his cronies and henchmen.

Movie Poster from "Westbound"

I will say upfront that this movie was a bit of a disappointment to me. This is one of those Budd Boetticher / Randolph Scott collaborations which I have enjoyed, but this one isn't one of the better ones. The story is very weak and convoluted. The plot lines are under-developed and terribly predictable. Even worse, they made Scott a hero, but a mostly ineffectual one, just kind of standing by and watching chaos happen to a town till the final showdown. And good golly, the acting aside from Scott is simply atrocious. The most fun I had with the other actors was watching Big Bazongas and the way her dresses and such were cut to best show off her ... well, Big Bazongas. Everyone needs to have a talent, I guess, even if it isn't acting.

So, while this was semi-interesting, I would give this a pass unless you are a Boetticher or Scott fan, or just want to see every Western there is out there, or a fan of Big Bazongas. If you are in the mood for a good Boetticher / Scott film - pick up "The Tall T" instead. You won't be disappointed in that one.

Count Three And Pray (1955)

This is going to be a review-lite as I didn't expect to watch this when I stumbled across it. It went something like this: I couldn't sleep, turned on TCM and this one was just starting and I couldn't help but watch the whole thing.

Movie Poster - best graphic I could find

Luke Fargo (Van Heflin) returns from the Civil War to find an entire town against him. They are upset that he chose to fight for the North and most think it was just to be contrary and not because he felt he needed to fight for the cause. To make matters even harder on him, he returns telling people that he had a calling to become a preacher. Most of the town recalls him as a gambling, drinking, fighting, womanizer type of a man and they can't believe he has possibly changed. One of the most powerful men in town, Yancey Huggins (Raymond Burr) - the merchant, especially can't get over the fact that he went "blue-legged" (fought for the North) and is determined to bring the preacher down no matter what he has to do. If all of that isn't enough to contend with, when he moves into the parsonage he discovers he has a squatter to deal with. Lissy (Joanne Woodward) is a wild orphan that refuses to leave so Luke allows her to stay and tries to help get her pointed in the right direction. Of course, to the townspeople, the preacher who claims to be reformed appears to be living in sin with a young girl.

This movie is about the struggle of Luke, who is a confirmed sinner, to do right and turn the townspeople around so that he can help them do right too. I always love the theme of bad girl gone good or bad guy gone good. It is nice to think that love can transform a person, be it religious love or parental love or partner love, from caring only about themselves to being truly altruistic.

This is Joanne Woodward's film debut and she plays the part well. I have little patience for the wild shrew bratty type character so I did get a little tired of watching her throw temper tantrums, but that isn't her fault - she was an expert temper tantrum thrower. Van Heflin was very believable as the sinner turned do-gooder. In fact, I am not sure I have ever noticed him before, but dang, he is a good actor! Some of the scenes where he is struggling internally are played brilliantly. You can see him shaking and grappling with his own thoughts and demons, while trying to maintain decorum. Really good acting there. Lastly, of the main characters, Raymond Burr plays a terrifying meanie in this one. He is most excellent at sitting in a chair and just looking menacing and intimidating.

The thing that totally ruined the movie for me was the ending. I have to talk about it, so unfortunately, I have to throw up a spoiler alert.

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I was shocked that in the end, out of nowhere, Luke and Lissy suddenly get married. There was no romance there. I mean, it was obvious that Lissy had a crush on Luke, but that looked like puppy dog love - just a childish crush. So ... tell me ... she comes back from the whorehouse all dolled up and that makes her a woman? I know someone tosses in a side-statement that she is actually 18, but I totally don't buy it. She acted like a bratty 14 or 15 year old. This man who went through the war and has a past and scars to heal doesn't need a bratty 18 year old as his wife. I mean, seriously, what the heck was going on with that? Was it a marriage of convenience because they had been "living in sin", but even so why not just move her somewhere else where she can interact with people her age and learn how to be a young woman? I was totally disgusted by that ending. It was way too Woody Allen and Soon-Yi for me. Gross.

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Aside from the absolutely dreadful ending (imho), this is a really good Western that kept my attention throughout. The script is really strong and moves at a good pace. Also, the redemption theme is always interesting to me and I love seeing how other people react to it. If you see this coming up on TCM, I suggest giving it a watch. If for no other reason than seeing Joanne Woodward play a young brat - that is amusing in itself. :-)