Gli implacabili

and I liked this movie quite a bit. Jane Russel was great--she definitely was the reason I stayed on AMC while I was flipping through the channels on my TV set. This didn't strike me as the typical western--there were very few shoot outs and more character development and beautiful scenery than I had expected. The three major characters were well fleshed out and interesting, although the more minor ones were often one-dimensional and sometimes hackneyed. Jane Russel's character was a strong-spoken woman who at times is a bit putting off because of her appearance as a gold digger, but this simply adds to the multiple dimensions of her character. Although she may not be consistently likable, she is sympathetic nonetheless, and makes the movie worth watching. I do recommend this movie--perhaps not to fans of westerns, but to anyone who likes old fashioned love stories with interesting and believable characters.

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.

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 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.

Romantic westerns are a subgenre in themselves - they aren't to everyone's taste as the reviews here show - but for me there is so much chemistry and fire between Clark Gable's Texan and Jane Russell's Nella that it's hard not to swept away with it all.

The story is an epic one: a couple of bothers, ex-soldiers, rob an easy pigeon of $20 000, only to be offered instead the chance to earn five times as much by driving cattle the 1500 miles from Texas to Montana. As they head to Texas they rescue Russell. Russell is fun, feisty, and fiery as the woman who wants to dream big and won't settle for Gable with bigger fish available.

I just love this movie - it has all the elements of the Hollywood western and there is a charm and ease to it that make it a great watch. All in all, with Russell's passing there are few of the old Hollywood left but with films like The Tall Men to remind us we can at least have a glimpse of their stature from a time when everyone went to the cinema all the time.