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The Tall T

The Tall T

Western · 1957

Pat Brennan's luck is about to go from bad to worse; after gambling his horse away, he gets a ride from Willard and Doretta Mims. However, their stagecoach is hijacked by a trio of merciless bandits, led by ruthless Frank Usher. As Usher holds the passengers hostage, Brennan falls in love with Doretta and develops a risky plan to free himself and the Mimses, leading to a bloody final standoff.

Movie details

The Tall T

“Taut! Torrid! Tremendous! T Is for Terror!”

1957 Western 1h 18m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.0 / 10

Community rating

Pat Brennan's luck is about to go from bad to worse; after gambling his horse away, he gets a ride from Willard and Doretta Mims. However, their stagecoach is hijacked by a trio of merciless bandits, led by ruthless Frank Usher. As Usher holds the passengers hostage, Brennan falls in love with Doretta and develops a risky plan to free himself and the Mimses, leading to a bloody final standoff.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Tall T?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Warlock

Warlock

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A band of murderous cowboys has imposed a reign of terror on the town of Warlock. With the sheriff humiliatingly run out of town, the residents hire the services of Clay Blaisedell as de facto town marshal. He arrives along with his friend, Tom Morgan, and sets about restoring law and order on his own terms whilst also overseeing the establishment of a gambling house and saloon.

Stagecoach

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Western · 1939

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The Ox-Bow Incident

The Ox-Bow Incident

Western · 1943

A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

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Chato's Land

Western · 1972

In 1870s New Mexico, a half-breed kills a bigoted sheriff in self-defense but the posse that eventually hunts him finds itself in dangerous territory.

Hombre

Hombre

Western · 1967

John Russell, disdained by his "respectable" fellow stagecoach passengers because he was raised by Indians, becomes their only hope for survival when they are set upon by outlaws.

3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma

Western · 1957

Dan Evans, a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade, a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.

Gun Fury

Gun Fury

Western · 1953

After a stagecoach holdup, Frank Slayton's notorious gang leave Ben Warren for dead and head off with his fiancée. Warren follows, and although none of the townspeople he comes across are prepared to help, he recruits two others who have sworn revenge on the ruthless Slayton.

Stagecoach

Stagecoach

Western · 1966

A group of unlikely travelling companions find themselves on the same stagecoach to Cheyenne. They include a drunken doctor, a bar girl who's been thrown out of town, a professional gambler, a travelling liquor salesman, a banker who has decided to embezzle money, a gun-slinger out for revenge and a young woman going to join her army captain husband. All have secrets but when they are set upon by an Indian war party and then a family of outlaws, they find they must all work together if they are to stay alive.

The Misfits

The Misfits

Drama · 1961

While filing for a divorce, beautiful ex-stripper Roslyn Taber ends up meeting aging cowboy-turned-gambler Gay Langland and former World War II aviator Guido Racanelli. The two men instantly become infatuated with Roslyn and, on a whim, the three decide to move into Guido's half-finished desert home together. When grizzled ex-rodeo rider Perce Howland arrives, the unlikely foursome strike up a business capturing wild horses.

Lean on Pete

Lean on Pete

Drama · 2018

Charley Thompson, a teenager living with his single father, gets a summer job working for horse trainer Del Montgomery. Bonding with an aging racehorse named Lean on Pete, Charley is horrified to learn he is bound for slaughter, and so he steals the horse, and the duo embark on an odyssey across the new American frontier.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Budd Boetticher

Written by

Burt Kennedy · Elmore Leonard

Randolph Scott

Randolph Scott

Pat Brennan

Richard Boone

Richard Boone

Frank Usher

Maureen O'Sullivan

Maureen O'Sullivan

Doretta Mims

Arthur Hunnicutt

Arthur Hunnicutt

Ed Rintoon

Skip Homeier

Skip Homeier

Billy Jack

Henry Silva

Henry Silva

Chink

John Hubbard

John Hubbard

Willard Mims

Court is in session

Put The Tall T on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.