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The Tall T

The Tall T

Western · 1957

An independent former ranch foreman and an heiress are kidnapped by a trio of ruthless outlaws.

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

An independent former ranch foreman and an heiress are kidnapped by a trio of ruthless outlaws.

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.

Open Range

Open Range

Western · 2003

A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.

Nevada Smith

Nevada Smith

Western · 1966

Nevada Smith is the young son of an Indian American mother and European-American father. When his father is killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to find them and kill them. The boy is taken in by a gun merchant. The gun merchant shows him how to shoot, on time and correctly.

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance

Western · 1962

Questions arise when Senator Stoddard attends the funeral of a local man named Tom Doniphon in a small Western town. Flashing back, we learn Doniphon saved Stoddard, then a lawyer, when he was roughed up by a crew of outlaws terrorizing the town, led by Liberty Valance. As the territory's safety hung in the balance, Doniphon and Stoddard, two of the only people standing up to him, proved to be very important, but different, foes to Valance.

Tall in the Saddle

Tall in the Saddle

Western · 1944

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

Ramrod

Ramrod

Western · 1947

A cattle-vs.-sheepman feud loses Connie Dickason her fiance, but gains her his ranch, which she determines to run alone in opposition to Frank Ivey, "boss" of the valley, whom her father Ben wanted her to marry. She hires recovering alcoholic Dave Nash as foreman and a crew of Ivey's enemies. Ivey fights back with violence and destruction, but Dave is determined to counter him legally... a feeling not shared by his associates. Connie's boast that, as a woman, she doesn't need guns proves justified, but plenty of gunplay results.

Hud

Hud

Drama · 1963

Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."

The Jack Bull

The Jack Bull

Western · 1999

When the law fails to punish a fellow rancher that has abused his horses, a Wyoming horse trader sacrifices it all in a quest for justice.

The Man from Colorado

The Man from Colorado

Western · 1948

Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.

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.

McLintock!

McLintock!

Western · 1963

Aging rancher and self-made man, George Washington McLintock is forced to deal with numerous personal and professional problems. Seemingly everyone wants a piece of his enormous farmstead, including high-ranking government men and nearby Native Americans. As McLintock tries to juggle his various adversaries, his wife—who left him two years previously—suddenly returns. But she isn't interested in George; she wants custody of their daughter.

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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.