Tall Man Riding

The "Tall Man Riding" of the title is Randolph Scott in another of his series of "B" Plus (or "A" Minus, if you will) 80 minute westerns made during the 1950s.

In this entry Larry Madden (Scott) is riding to the town of Little River when he happens upon a man being attacked by three others. He takes the part of the pursued and kills one of the attackers. The man he has helped turns out to be Rex Willard (William Ching) the son in law of Tuck Ordway (Robert Barrat) a powerful rancher with whom Madden has some issues. It also seems that Madden had been romantically involved with Ordway's daughter Lorraine (Dorothy Malone) who is now married to Willard.

Riding into town Madden meets an old nemesis Seabo Pearlo (John Baragrey) the owner of a local saloon, and his "singer" Reva (Peggie Castle). Lawyer Luddington (John Dehner) is also there and we learn that Madden has hired him to find out if Ordway truly owns his ranch, Warbonnet. It turns out that he doesn't and the property falls into the public domain.

Meanwhile Pearlo frames Willard for the murder of the gunman and Lorraine comes to Madden for help. He reluctantly agrees to attend the inquest but is ambushed by Pearlo's gunman, The Peso Kid (Paul Richards). Reva nurses him back to health and he returns to town in search of the Kid. However he learns that the Kid is planning to kill Willard on his way to trial with Deputy Barclay (Mickey Simpson). Madden is unable to prevent the murder and returns to town to learn that Pearlo has designs on Ordway's ranch.

Not being interested in the ranch Madden decides that it's time to confront Ordway. The two agree to meet in a showdown in a darkened room where Madden learns that Ordway is almost blind. Madden returns to town to confront the Kid. Then there's the land rush for Ordway's property. Madden decides to join in and................................

The romance between the Scott and Malone characters is a little hard to be taken seriously as he was twice her age at the time. But there's plenty of action in the picture to compensate. Director Leslay Selander gives us a slam bang land rush, plenty of gun play and a knock down drag out fight between Scott and Simpson (and their stunt doubles).

All in all a very entertaining western.

Typical enjoyable Randolph Scott western I used to watch in theaters as a kid. Square jawed Randy always seems to wear nice clean clothes...straight out of the laundry. And he wanders all the countryside with a minimum of supplies tied behind his saddle. That aside, Scott was the likable hero in many popular westerns.

Randolph Scott starred in many fine westerns in his decades-long career. His strong, gentlemanly demeanor gave way to steely determination when confronting the villains who were unfortunate enough to face him . This film again finds Scott out for vengeance in what turned out to be a pretty decent shoot-em-up film.

Although Scott & John Dehner give their usual strong performances, the script ultimately lets them both down. It is full of clichéd western characters that hold few surprises for the seasoned viewer.

All of Randolph Scott's films are worth seeing, but this film from late in his career was not his best. An average film from a great actor.

Look fast for an appearance by character actor Dub Taylor !

In Tall Man Riding, an uncharacteristically belligerent Randolph Scott returns to his home to ruin and possibly kill the wealthy rancher who bull-whipped him and run him out of town years earlier, only to get in the middle of a deadly feud.

The first half of the film lacks action but it's saved by an interesting second half. Highlights include a rowdy fistfight in the Sheriff's office, another fight inside a stagecoach, and a blind gun battle inside a pitch black room.

Like all studio B-pictures, Tall Man Riding is fun, looks great and has good action sequences but doesn't have a very memorable script. However, Randolph Scott is much more macho and blustery than usual, making this a bit more unusual.

Not many westerns feature two girls in the feminine lead. Here it's Peggie Castle (Reva) and Dorothy Malone (Corinne), each playing a good girl. Now you know the manly Scott (Madden) will end up with one of the two but which one. It's a non-formula screenplay with a couple of interesting twists. Okay, Scott, heck-bent on revenge, is not exactly new, but the rest remains an interesting variation on land ownership, along with shifting alliances and an Oklahoma style land-rush.

Scott is his usual uncompromising self, showing again why his cowboy career endured into his sixties. (Here he's 57! but trim and agile as ever). Then too, Baragrey (Pearlo) makes a sleekly calculating rival and saloon owner. I just wish Warner's had hired a more imaginative director than the thoroughly pedestrian Selander; his list of "shoot-it fast and under-budget" Westerns looks to run to nearly 100 or so. Maybe that's why Paul Richards (Peso Kid) doesn't get to project his usual amount of quirky evil. There's one really eye-catching and acrobatic brawl. However the showdown shoot-out amounts to a flatly staged disappointment.

Anyhow, it's a good cast in one of Scott's entertaining mid-level westerns.