The Tall T

Adapted from a story by Elmore Leonard, this may be the best of Boetticher's cult Westerns of the '50s. Like the others, it's a lean, laconic tale of grace under pressure, whose minimal budget allowed the director a measure of stylistic freedom. As always, a leathery Randolph Scott embodies Boetticher's vision of the weary loner who must now depend more on nerve than muscle in negotiating the hazards of the west. The plot hangs on the fascination of Richard Boone's stage-robber with the integrity of an opponent whose blend of stoicism and wary intelligence provides a welcome relief from the company of his moronic sidekicks. The low-key sparring of the two leads reveals how much both men have in common, and the film's surprisingly complex morality is able to encompass a range of behavior that would mark neither as sinner or saint. Scott's rock-ribbed iconography fits perfectly here, but it's Boone, Leonard's favorite actor, who steals the film as a violent man wondering where he went wrong. ~ Michael Costello, All Movie Guide