Tall Man Riding

Some of the same plot elements in the far more expensive James Stewart western, The Far Country which came out the year before are to be found in this fine Randolph Scott B western Tall Man Riding. Like Stewart in his film, Randolph Scott is a tough and touchy guy you don't push too hard and like Stewart he has two leading ladies and you're not quite sure which one he'll end up with in the end.

Tall Man Riding is a range war western and Scott's the loner who's ridden back into town and into the middle of said war. On the one side is John Baragrey the owner of the local saloon and a man pushing homesteaders in on the local Ponderosa owner and Scott finds him repugnant on general principles. On the other side the local Ponderosa owner is Robert Barrat who was making his farewell big screen appearance. Scott was courting Dorothy Malone, Barrat's daughter and Barrat thought him not worthy. He ran Scott out of town after administering a public whipping to him. Malone's now married to William Ching.

The only friend Scott does make is saloon girl Peggie Castle who is the personal squeeze of Baragrey. She'd like to trade up if she can and finds Randy quite to her liking. She even saves him from a bushwhacking.

Tall Man Riding has enough hard riding and gunplay to suit western fans and it is also a harbinger of the westerns soon to be populating the small screen with more adult themes. There are two other roles of note in Tall Man Riding, John Dehner plays a sleazy lawyer and Paul Richards plays a gunfighter on the payroll of Baragrey.

In my description you will also notice some plot similarities to Destry Rides Again and the climax involves a land rush which while not as spectacular as the one in both versions of Cimarron is still exciting enough and done well enough with the small budget this B film had.

Tall Man Riding is a really good Randolph Scott western, one of the better ones he did in the Fifties.

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.

Tall Man Riding is directed by Lesley Selander and adapted to screenplay by Joseph Hoffman from the novel written by Norman A. Fox. It stars Randolph Scott, Dorothy Malone, Peggie Castle, William Ching, John Baragrey, Robert Barrat and John Dehner. Music is by Paul Sawtell and cinematography by Wilfred M. Cline.

Petty routine Oater that retains watchable factors due to Randolph Scott, location photography (in Warnercolor) and some straight backed action. Larry Madden (Scott) returns to the town of Little River seeking revenge on the land baron (Barratt) who publicly humiliated him with a whipping. Madden's crime was to date the man's daughter (Malone). Soon enough Madden is dealing with all sorts of problems, liars and cheats, murder, hired assassin, an ambush, prison escape, betrayal, corrupt law and of course affairs of the heart. All wrapped up in under 85 minutes.

There's some interesting characterisations about the place, but the screenplay doesn't have time to capitalise on the potential (eg: one key character is going blind but barely anything is made to add dramatic worth to this issue). Selander does a competent job of directing, but the over all feeling is that the makers were happy to settle for a "B" Western and just chock the play with formula staples guaranteed to please all the family looking for an unassuming afternoon at the theatre. Which on the face of it is enough for Western fans who know what they are getting with these 50s "B" level Oaters.

When you got Randy Scott in square jawed antagonist mode, Dottie Malone batting her eyelids, Peggie Castle showcasing beautiful thighs that could crush walnuts, and Wilfred Cline photographing the Calif Ranch locales, well it's impossible for genre fans to hate really. 6/10

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.

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.