Der Fremde aus Arizona

Perfectly paced film. Many older films as well as new ones are not as successful as they could be due to poor pacing. It's hard to define pacing - it is maybe in the editing, the director rushing or slowing down the actors, or the way the camera shots are set up. Whatever "pacing" is, this film is a good example of it.

This film makes very good use of character actors (Fix, Gabby, and the others). The producers trusted them enough to really feature them in some scenes, and they deliver. It seems that most producers (in the 1940's as well as today) are afraid to take the camera off the film's star for fear of not making big box-office.

Wayne does a great job in a no-nonsense, straight-arrow role. It is amazing how he could make such a character charismatic, rather than wooden. Ella Raines and Wayne should have made more movies together because they had good chemistry. More importantly Raines was capable of portraying one of the major character traits of the western United States expansion- strong women.

Film buffs can view "Tall in the Saddle" as good movie-making, but anyone can just view it as good entertainment and not even stop to analyze anything. Perhaps that is the genius of a film like this.

There are better Westerns than 'Tall in the Saddle', but very few that are as much sheer fun. The plot is conventional, but the performances elevate the film above the ordinary, especially that of Ella Raines as the wild-spirited ranch operator. Raines is simply a hoot to watch, especially in the three way meeting between her, John Wayne, and Audrey Long in which she makes it clear that Wayne's expectation that no woman is going to "hogtie and brand him" is already in trouble. Watch her face; she manages to pack coyness, bravado, sensuality, wit, and smugness into a comparatively brief scene without ever overreaching herself. She's handy with a gun, with a knife, and with Wayne. The result plays off and balances Wayne's traditional laconic approach very effectively, and thus helps give Wayne's character more depth than was often the case in his mid-40s Western programmers (notice his reaction after his first encounter with Raines; for once in a Western you feel that there's a genuine reason for the hero ordering a whiskey in the middle of the day). I recommend this film highly; it's unpretentious, crisply made, and very enjoyable.

Several things make this B western look and act like an A picture. Not least is the obvious 'chemistry' between Wayne and Ella Raines.For once a female dishes it out and Wayne loves it. But, the most important aspect of this film is the characterization Wayne imbues in his role as 'Rocklin', a somewhat mysterious cowpuncher. He seems able to make men stop in their tracks by a certain glare or tone of voice. He is no longer a sweet natured cowpuncher who somehow stumbles into his predicaments.This time he's rather mean and if he can answer you in one or no words he does.

In later years Wayne developed this "loner"/ "don't mess with me" type to such a degree that it has become part of movie lore.We take it for granted .This was the film where it burst full fledged on to the screen.And I believe the "macho walk" for which Wayne is so famous was displayed as never before in a showdown with his old nemesis in many 1930's films, Harry Woods. For me this was the obvious lead-in to his monumental performance in "Red River"

For lovers of black and white westerns, 'Tall in the Saddle' is first rate entertainment. It is good old fashioned fun from beginning to end, and it manages to incorporate elements of film noir, comedy and romance. There is plenty of action along the way too and a number of twists and turns in its' plot. All of which prevents it from being the standard affair it could have ended up as without its' host of top notch performances.

The star of the film is John Wayne and it is I feel a good role for him. Although it lacks the depth of his greatest performances in the likes of 'Red River' and 'The Searchers', it does have the light hearted element of 'Rio Bravo', undeniably one of his career highlights. He stars as Rocklin, a tough cowboy recruited by a rancher named Red Cardell to help stop an outbreak of cattle rustling. He is apparently immune to the charms of women- "I never feel sorry for anything that happens to a woman." When he steps off the train however his new employer has been murdered and Rocklin has to find out who is responsible for such a brutal act.

It is after he beats Clint Harolday (Russell Wade) at cards that he comes face to face with the losers' angry sister Arly, played by the beautiful Ella Raines who despite falling for Rocklin almost instantly and although clearly considerably shorter in height than him, is determined to stand up for herself- "I always get what I want". Very soon they are engaged in a humorous battle of the sexes which Arly is determined not to lose, despite her obvious attraction towards the Dukes' character. The exchanges between the pair are sexy as neither is prepared to swallow their pride to give in to the other; "You might as well know right now that no woman is going to get me hooked, tied and branded"/ "Don't be so sure. Don't think I'm doing badly." Witness the pleasure Arly gets in sacking Rocklin from her employment, and her boasts of making love to him. This is the only Ella Raines film I have seen to date but I really loved watching her and would jump at the opportunity to see another of her performances.

Contrast Arly with the other glamorous lady in the film- Clara Cardell (Audrey Long)- and you have two entirely different women. Although also interested in Rocklin Clara I would say is sheepish and easily dominated by her spiteful, stuck up aunt Elizabeth Martin (Elisabeth Risdon) who hides from her niece a secret that links Clara and Rocklin and this explains her disdain for the latter- she tells Clara to stop "throwing yourself at that wretch". Risdons' character has little time for many townsfolk- "The rudeness of people in these parts is appalling". Frankly most people feel the same way about her.

Many of the best scenes in the film (and certainly the funniest) involve Dave the alcoholic stagecoach driver (played by the wonderful George 'Gabby' Hayes). Just watch his introduction as Blossom the horse knocks over his priceless bottle of whiskey- "I oughta poison you!" His charismatic, accident-prone character has many great lines, for example his analogy of whiskey and women- "They both fool you but you never figure how to do without them." He is even referred to as a "hairy beast"- no prizes for guessing who by. Add to the mix the great support of the ever dependable Ward Bond as Judge Garvey, one of the villains. He rivals Rocklin for toughness and they engage in a great fist fight.

The setting is typical of the genre, with many of the western hallmarks such as a dusty town in the middle of a desert containing cactuses (the latter are missed out in many westerns but not this one), a card game, a stagecoach, alcohol and gun fights. But less typical is the noir element- the hero being framed for a murder crime he did not commit for example, which results in a classic whodunit. Another western which to me is reminiscent of film noir is Pursued (1947).

Overall then a hugely enjoyable movie which does exactly what it sets out to do- it entertains throughout and I'm sure audiences who saw this film at the cinema went home happy!

One of the best of John Wayne's westerns is Tall In The Saddle which came out in 1944 for RKO. Good characterization with a little more plot than the usual western.

Wayne is the straight arrow Joel McCrea-Gary Cooper like hero who's come to town because he's been sent for by Red Cardell, a local rancher who's concerned about an outbreaking of cattle rustling. When Wayne arrives he finds Cardell murdered and a few others occur before the truth comes out.

Wayne has two leading ladies, prim and proper easterner Audrey Long and hard riding Ella Raines. Raines in those tight cowboy outfits is something to see. Her scenes with the Duke have some real spark to them. Raines had a Lauren Bacall-like appeal and should have risen higher as a movie sex symbol.

Old friends of the Duke like Ward Bond and Paul Fix are in the cast as is Gabby Hayes. Hayes, who was the quintessential cowboy sidekick was never better than as Dave, the old stagedriver who befriends the Duke and sticks with him when it gets pretty dark for him. I remember Gabby Hayes with his television show for kiddies in the 1950s and supposedly he was anything but the illiterate old coot he normally played. During his pre-Stagecoach period, Hayes appeared in several films with Wayne. In fact my title quote is one of two favorite lines he says in Tall In The Saddle.

The other favorite line is a piece of wisdom that's just as valuable today as in 1944. When the Duke asks Gabby how he feels about law and order, Gabby replies "depends on who's dishing it out."