Walk Tall

In Maury Dexter's b-Western, WALK TALL (not to be mistaken with the WALKING TALL series), the second scene... following a massacre of an Indian tribe with only women and children present... is nifty herd of Infantry men riding horses across a creek where a bevy of tents are spread at the foot of a gorgeous mountain landscape...

A minimalist version of a John Ford Western, TALL is directed by the man whose eclectic filmography includes bikini beach babes, marauding bikers and determined cops after sneaky robbers: And following the aforementioned exterior shot, the wonderful aesthetic does not sustain inside a tent where a one-color backdrop conveniently frames three men: The film's star, experienced Calvary veteran Willard Parker (who the Indians say "Walks Tall") flanked by Maury Dexter regular-everyman Russ Bender as Parker's affable superior, and, last but not least, a wise old Indian Chief dead set on finding the one man everyone knows killed the tribe that included an Indian warrior's young wife.

The mellow, contented pace of the lone Parker setting out on his mission... which will keep the Indians from waging war if the guilty party is captured and punished on time... heightens during the bridge of the first and second act as his character, Captain Ed Trask, finds and captures Kent Taylor as Frank Carter...

While the arrest was extremely simple - an oblivious Carter relaxing on the store steps of a ghost town where, once forced out of an idyllic malaise, he quickly hides the loot received for scalping the (what turns out being the wrong) Indians. From this point on, Trask's biggest obstacle is the most entertaining aspect of WALK TALL...

Taylor is the main actor (like Hitchcock's James Stewart/Preminger's Dana Andrews/Wood's Bela Lugosi) in Maury Dexter's early-60's troupe and, with a pencil-thin mustache no matter what side of the law he resides, here he's got the charm of a resilient snake, coolly playing down the "Gentleman Heavy" with sly humor and meticulous goading that intensifies once Joyce Meadows as Sally, whose family was attacked and slain by Indians a stone's throw from the duo's morning campout, gets easily brainwashed by the proud Indian Killer: after what she's been through, all Indians are better off dead...

And while the big and steady, TALL and sturdy Willard Parker - older than most Western-Action heroes who weren't young and energetic superstars to begin with - has to keep weathering Taylor's perpetual mind-games, what really fleshes out the otherwise cliché character is how he never gives an inch and always, literally, sticks to his guns...

In fact, both lead roles, the good and the bad, relies on pushing each other's buttons while the surrounding landscape makes you forget this is a vey low-budget venture with a good cast and a familiar "Cowboy Picture" script, rushing towards an inevitable and utterly predictable conclusion - ending way too soon since the trio's chemistry makes wordplay trump gunplay.

When being reunited with his dimwitted three-man gang to collect the loot, Kent Taylor's just another cerebral leader of vapid, one-dimensional brutes while our main man is back to the typical hero we started out with before the combined synergy provided more than we (or they) paid for. Thankfully, b-pictures usually have a short, to-the-point runtime, and for the sixty-one minutes, most of WALK TALL is a three-person show.

I spent nearly an hour in a very enjoyable manner. A superb little western I found after digging up in my collection. And, once again, in LBX. That was the second big surprise for the day. The topic is not boring at all. It gives us the scheme of white renegades who slaughter an Indian village, killing some squaws, spoiling this way the peace treaties made between Indian and white people.

And a white sheriff is ordered to capture the outlaws.

The film was filmed on locations, in superb settings of Rocky Mountains - I suppose. But maybe I am wrong.

The photography is signed Floyd Crosby, the one who was on Corman's films, in the 60's, the Edgard Poe's adaptations. For AIP, and not API, the latest producing this little western directed by the prolific Maury Dexter.

Don't miss this picture if you have the opportunity to catch it.

Carter (Kent Taylor) is set to provoke a war when he and his gang brutally raid a Shoshone community for scalps. Cavalry captain Ed Trask (Willard Parker) is sent to bring in outlaw Ed Carter. Along the way, Trask rescues pretty Sally Medford (Joyce Meadows) from a burning wagon.

At first, Sally isn't sure who's more brutal - Trask or Carter. But she knows this: Her grandfather is dead, and she shares Carter's hatred for Indians. Which Carter takes advantage of ...

Not bad western with some fine CinemaScope colour, a well-paced plot, good themes, fine mountain scenery and some good action uplifts this western - Willard Parker is fine as the hero, Kent Taylor does what he does best and plays the villainous role to the hilt.

Far from perfect, WALK TALL is, and yet I found myself watching it to the end. Effective photography by Floyd Crosby, though nothing to write home about, and not particularly memorable landscapes.

The screenplay by Joseph Fritz rises to no more than typical of a B Western, but at least it manages to develop a couple of interesting characters: Captain Ed Trask, played by Willard Parker, a US Cavalry officer determined to catch and bring to justice the heavy, Frank Carter - cynically portrayed by Kent Taylor - , who is the opposite of Trask in every imaginable way: an avid killer.

Throw in Joyce Medford, who cannot act to save her life, and you can see why this film gets a very median mark. Besides, Capt Trask with a gunshot belly wound manages to mount horses and engage in pursuit of the diabolical Carter.

Best thing about it: 61 minutes long: it's over before you wake up!

Walk Tall, shot on a shoestring budget, but nevertheless has its moments might have been a classic had some major studio done it. It certainly has a C list cast.

Willard Parker formerly in Tales Of The Texas Rangers on television has a mission to bring in deserter Kent Taylor who since leaving the army quite unofficially has a nice little business trading with the Shoshone guns and whiskey. He gets him, but also coming as part of the package widow Joyce Meadows.

The plot bears some little resemblance to the Jimmy Stewart classic western The Naked Spur. Parker has to contend with Holden's sympathy for Taylor not seeing him for the rat he is, Taylor's outlaw confederates on their trail and the Shoshone.

Nothing spectacular, but nicely plotted and one ironic ending.