Terra infuocata

After five years' absence, Randolph Scott returns to a town to get his revenge. It seems that the powerful Tucker Ordway (Robert Barrat) had whipped him within and inch of his life because Scott had the nerve to ask to marry Ordway's daughter. But before he can retaliate, he stumbles into the middle of a fight between one bully, Ordway, and another of the town's bullies, Cibo Pearlo (John Baragrey). So now Scott isn't sure which one to take on first or just let the other two kill each other! In this film, Scott plays a harder man than usual. In most of his westerns, he plays a good guy--one that is exceptionally nice and good. Here, though, he isn't quite so kind but a bit more menacing than usual. He wants revenge and all else seems unimportant...until he learns Ordway's dark secret.

In many ways, this is a rather typical western for Randolph Scott, even if he is hell-bent on revenge. There are the usual bosses vying for power and in the end you just know that Scott will do the right thing. A tad predictable in spots, but overall still a very good movie.

By the way, doesn't the Peso Kid look a lot like his head was dipped in plastic? Normally I wouldn't say anything, but wow did he look weird!! Plus, did you also notice that his accent kept changing throughout the film? Also, didn't they make Dorothy Malone's character a bit,...nasty?! This ISN'T the word I wanted to use, but IMDb has rules against using certain words.

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...)

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.

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.

Some of the same plot elements in the far more expensive James Stewart western, The Far Country which came out the year before are to be found in this fine Randolph Scott B western Tall Man Riding. Like Stewart in his film, Randolph Scott is a tough and touchy guy you don't push too hard and like Stewart he has two leading ladies and you're not quite sure which one he'll end up with in the end.

Tall Man Riding is a range war western and Scott's the loner who's ridden back into town and into the middle of said war. On the one side is John Baragrey the owner of the local saloon and a man pushing homesteaders in on the local Ponderosa owner and Scott finds him repugnant on general principles. On the other side the local Ponderosa owner is Robert Barrat who was making his farewell big screen appearance. Scott was courting Dorothy Malone, Barrat's daughter and Barrat thought him not worthy. He ran Scott out of town after administering a public whipping to him. Malone's now married to William Ching.

The only friend Scott does make is saloon girl Peggie Castle who is the personal squeeze of Baragrey. She'd like to trade up if she can and finds Randy quite to her liking. She even saves him from a bushwhacking.

Tall Man Riding has enough hard riding and gunplay to suit western fans and it is also a harbinger of the westerns soon to be populating the small screen with more adult themes. There are two other roles of note in Tall Man Riding, John Dehner plays a sleazy lawyer and Paul Richards plays a gunfighter on the payroll of Baragrey.

In my description you will also notice some plot similarities to Destry Rides Again and the climax involves a land rush which while not as spectacular as the one in both versions of Cimarron is still exciting enough and done well enough with the small budget this B film had.

Tall Man Riding is a really good Randolph Scott western, one of the better ones he did in the Fifties.