Terra infuocata

The "Tall Man Riding" of the title is Randolph Scott in another of his series of "B" Plus (or "A" Minus, if you will) 80 minute westerns made during the 1950s.

In this entry Larry Madden (Scott) is riding to the town of Little River when he happens upon a man being attacked by three others. He takes the part of the pursued and kills one of the attackers. The man he has helped turns out to be Rex Willard (William Ching) the son in law of Tuck Ordway (Robert Barrat) a powerful rancher with whom Madden has some issues. It also seems that Madden had been romantically involved with Ordway's daughter Lorraine (Dorothy Malone) who is now married to Willard.

Riding into town Madden meets an old nemesis Seabo Pearlo (John Baragrey) the owner of a local saloon, and his "singer" Reva (Peggie Castle). Lawyer Luddington (John Dehner) is also there and we learn that Madden has hired him to find out if Ordway truly owns his ranch, Warbonnet. It turns out that he doesn't and the property falls into the public domain.

Meanwhile Pearlo frames Willard for the murder of the gunman and Lorraine comes to Madden for help. He reluctantly agrees to attend the inquest but is ambushed by Pearlo's gunman, The Peso Kid (Paul Richards). Reva nurses him back to health and he returns to town in search of the Kid. However he learns that the Kid is planning to kill Willard on his way to trial with Deputy Barclay (Mickey Simpson). Madden is unable to prevent the murder and returns to town to learn that Pearlo has designs on Ordway's ranch.

Not being interested in the ranch Madden decides that it's time to confront Ordway. The two agree to meet in a showdown in a darkened room where Madden learns that Ordway is almost blind. Madden returns to town to confront the Kid. Then there's the land rush for Ordway's property. Madden decides to join in and................................

The romance between the Scott and Malone characters is a little hard to be taken seriously as he was twice her age at the time. But there's plenty of action in the picture to compensate. Director Leslay Selander gives us a slam bang land rush, plenty of gun play and a knock down drag out fight between Scott and Simpson (and their stunt doubles).

All in all a very entertaining western.

Randolph Scott has an another winner with "Tall Man Riding". It's a fast moving, exciting western. Scott delivers another solid performance. His supporting cast is also good. The movie also has some really terrific stunts, including a one for the books big time brawl. Randolph Scott made a lot of really good westerns and "Tall Man Riding" is one of his best. I've seen it quite a few times now and it always hits the spot. (IMDB has a six hundred character minimum so now I have to ramble on for a little white longer. So, how's your day going? Mine's going fine. Thanks for asking. Seventeen more characters to go...)

This one Lacks the Edge of the Scott/Boetticher Films that were truly Special, but it is Above Average in the absolutely Abysmal Amount of Westerns that were made in the Fifties. Along with Randolph Scott there are Two Strong Female Leads (Dorothy Malone and Peggie Castle).

However the Villains are quite Dull Including the Peso Kid (Yep). Colorful Locations and a lot of Western Style Dialog help the standard Plot. Plenty of Gunplay with one Excellent Expressionistic Duel in an abandoned Ranch House.

Overall, Delivers the Goods for Fans of Western Movies and has Enough Differentness to set it Apart and Thankfully No Stupid Ballad intruding on the Opening.

In Tall Man Riding, an uncharacteristically belligerent Randolph Scott returns to his home to ruin and possibly kill the wealthy rancher who bull-whipped him and run him out of town years earlier, only to get in the middle of a deadly feud.

The first half of the film lacks action but it's saved by an interesting second half. Highlights include a rowdy fistfight in the Sheriff's office, another fight inside a stagecoach, and a blind gun battle inside a pitch black room.

Like all studio B-pictures, Tall Man Riding is fun, looks great and has good action sequences but doesn't have a very memorable script. However, Randolph Scott is much more macho and blustery than usual, making this a bit more unusual.

Randolph Scott starred in many fine westerns in his decades-long career. His strong, gentlemanly demeanor gave way to steely determination when confronting the villains who were unfortunate enough to face him . This film again finds Scott out for vengeance in what turned out to be a pretty decent shoot-em-up film.

Although Scott & John Dehner give their usual strong performances, the script ultimately lets them both down. It is full of clichéd western characters that hold few surprises for the seasoned viewer.

All of Randolph Scott's films are worth seeing, but this film from late in his career was not his best. An average film from a great actor.

Look fast for an appearance by character actor Dub Taylor !