Violence dans la vallée

I was expecting just a run of the mill fifties B Western but the film was quite entertaining for several reasons I will attempt to allude to.

1) Casting. Central character Ned Bannon (Joel McRea) is an ex Union soldier who becomes a sort of mediator between his hot-headed half-brother Hardy Bishop (Barry Kelley) who owns a big plot of land and a group of simple minded wagon train homesteaders on their way to a new settled life in California who stray onto Bishop's land after some bad advice from Mort Harper disregarding warnings given by Bannon himself.

2) Cinemascope colour photography makes this low budget film seem more upmarket as such.

3) Plenty of gunfights (and fist fights!) throughout the films typically short B running time keep the story ticking over nicely.

The film has its origins from a novel of the same name so has some good origins for its screenplay.

McRea himself endears his character to the audience like other notable 'Western' actors such as John Wayne and Randolph Scott.

Give this film a viewing, it's worth the time and a must for fans of the Western genre in particular.

The final phase of Joel McCrea's career was spent at Allied Artists, the renamed Monogram Pictures, where he did a group of good B westerns. The Tall Stranger based on a Louis L'Amour novel is one of the best.

McCrea spots some cattle rustling and is left for dead after being shot by one of the rustlers. He's found by members of a wagon train who nurse him back to health. But Joel's real suspicious of the leader of this train of ex-Confederates who is George Neise. They're looking to settle on land owned by Barry Kelley who is McCrea's half brother and who is estranged from McCrea over the Civil War.

What Neise is looking to do is start a nice range war with Kelley and his plan is based on the fact that Kelley's a mean and hard-bitten old soul who shoots first and asks questions later. It's up to McCrea to keep things from boiling over. How successful he is, you'll have to see the film for.

You won't be disappointed if you do see the film. Virginia Mayo is the woman with a small son, Phil Phillips, on the wagon train that Joel takes a hankering to. A very mean and cunning villain played by Michael Ansara also has a hankering for Mayo and he's not one to go about the usual courting procedures.

Besides those already mentioned such western regulars as Ray Teal, Leo Gordon, Michael Pate, and Whit Bissell are in the cast. It's nice to see Leo Gordon in a role that doesn't call for him to be a mean psychopath.

The Tall Stranger is a good fast paced western that fans of the genre and fans of Joel McCrea will definitely like.

Leo Gordon too often was given the part of a sniveling villain, but here he gets to show that his talent would let him play almost anything.

Prolific, theater-trained Barry Kelley was on screen possibly more than in any other role, and did he make the most of it!

Virginia Mayo, one of the most gorgeous and talented women in the history of the world, is not just decoration: She has a pivotal role, including being a mother.

Joel McCrea probably never played any part badly. And just his appearance, his bearing, added strength and credibility, including here.

In fact, all the players were so great, the story almost doesn't matter -- but it does. Based on a Louis L'Amour story, this plot is involved but completely plausible. And it has lots of characters who are important to the development, who have their moment on screen.

One is played by Tom London, who first appears as only atmosphere, then stands out in a dangerous moment. (According to one of those "believe it or not" outfits, Tom London was in about 2,000 movies! Usually, as here, not given on-screen credit. Thank the heavens we have IMDb!)

Praise must be given to the prolific -- that means "busy" -- Thomas Carr. He is probably best known as a TV director, including of many of the "Adventures of Superman" entries, but he obviously knew how to present motion pictures.

Only the blah and generic title gets any, and mild, criticism. This is one great movie, which I highly recommend, and point out there is a very good print at YouTube. Enjoy.

The acting is great , as in all the Joel McCrea films I've seen so far.

It is very watchable - despite the plot.

A group of settlers travelling to California being obviously misdirected by a guide.

Who despite being informed of this , by local man Mcrae , continue with their stupidity.

I'm starting to become a big fan of Joel McCrea. He is a consistently entertaining western hero. He his always believable. He gives a solid, tough performance in "The Tall Stranger", which is a solid, tough movie. It's a fast moving and often a very tense watch. It's well acted by the entire cast, especially Barry Kelley. I should watch this one more often. Honorable mention: a dreamy Virginia Mayo.