The Tall Men

Salty, surly star-driven western about a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. Would-be rancher Clark Gable vies for the hand of wisecrackin' Jane Russell with banker Robert Ryan, but Jane's lookin' for a tall man and plenty of rainbows! Good-looking if rather unexceptional time-passer from director Raoul Walsh. Screenwriters Frank Nugent and Sidney Boehm, working from the novel by Heck Allen (using the pen-name Clay Fisher), smoothly intermingle Indian clashes and Mexican stand-offs with jovial exchanges between the characters (also Russell singin' in the washtub). Enjoyable of its type, with attractive cinematography by Leo Tover and another solid performance from Gable. **1/2 from ****

The Tall Men is directed by Raoul Walsh and stars Clark Gable, Jane Russell, Cameron Mitchell and Robert Ryan. Produced out of 20th Century Fox by William A. Bacher and William B. Hawks, it's adapted for the screen by Frank S. Nugent & Sydney Boehm from a novel written by Heck Allen (as Clay Fisher). Filmed out of Durango, the cinematography is by Leo Tover in a CinemaScope/DeLuxe production and Victor Young provides the score.

Montana Territory 1866

"They came from the South, headed for the gold-fields….Ben & Clint Allison, lonely, desperate men. Riding away from a heartbreak memory of Gettysburg. Looking for a new life. A story of tall men-and long shadows."

The Tall Men has professionalism written all over it, from the tight direction by Walsh to the on the money writing, it's a Western that has no pretencions. The panoramic vistas are beautifully realised by the makers and in spite of Russell's flat style of acting, the cast put credibility into the cattle drive and romantic aspects of the story. Tho action sequences are few and far between, the film succeeds because of the well written characters and the landscapes that frame them. There's even much comedy to enjoy as well, a department where Russell does earn her corn in the movie (there's also a bath moment to get us boys hot under the collar too). Most notably the comedy works for her when playing off of Gable who seems to be enjoying himself as the rough, tough and cheeky Ben Allison. Very talky to be sure, there are for instance many extended scenes of our lead protagonists swapping dialogue, but it all serves a purpose and in the capable hands of Walsh the sequences serve to drive the narrative forward.

Solid enjoyable stuff if ultimately a touch too long. 6.5/10

Clark Gable is the trail boss who ramrods a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in this colorful, sprawling western that has plenty of action. Jane Russell supplies the romance, such as it is, between Gable and co-star Robert Ryan, who'll stop at nothing to owning all of Montana because he dreams big dreams. Naturally, Gable comes to the rescue of Russell a time or two during the film but her head is turned by Ryan's promise of a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Beautiful Mexican scenery is the backdrop for this story as the herd makes its way north to Indian country. A lengthy battle takes place between the cattlemen and the Indians that is expertly done but Gable's cunning saves the day, and the beef, for Mineral City. The cast, CinemaScope lensing and Victor Young's plaintive music score are all very good.

The tall men in question are Clark Gable, Robert Ryan and Cameron Mitchell heading a cattle drive to Montana through some of the most spectacular scenery in any western and Jane Russell is the woman along for the ride in Raoul Walsh's handsome, large-scale and decidedly old-fashioned movie. There isn't a great deal of plot and the tensions between the central characters are never fully developed but it's well-played and director Walsh handles the action sequences with aplomb. Sad to think, though, that within five years Gable would be dead and a new breed of darker, more intense psychological westerns would have replaced Boys Own Adventure movies like this one. It was among the last of its kind.

It seems to me that with few exceptions, the best western films were made in the 1950s. The Tall Men is one of the best.

What makes it work so well is what made any Clark Gable movie work; Clark Gable. He had an on screen presence that has been rivaled by few, if any, leading men before or since. As Robert Ryan's character, Nathan Stark, says of gable's character Ben Allison, "he's what every boy wants to be when he grows up, and what every man wishes he had been when he's old." This is a line clearly meant to describe Gable himself.

The film's plot is predictable but it works. Ben Allison and his brother Clint are down on their luck after serving in the Civil War "in a left handed sort of way" as rebels with Quantrill's Raiders. They decide to hold up a cattle baron (Stark) for some fast cash. But in a twist, they agree to return his money and sign on with him for a dangerous cattle drive north for the promise of greater earnings. Along the way Jayne Russell shows up to be the love interest.

Cameron Mitchell is excellent in a role he seems to have perfected, that of a drunken gunslinger who gets his due before the film ends. Juan Garcia is superb as the leader of a Mexican crew of caballeros that once served with Colonel Allison and have remained loyal to him over the years. You can see his total loyalty to "Colonel Allison" in everything he says and does.

All in all, a top notch film.