Violence dans la vallée

Leo Gordon too often was given the part of a sniveling villain, but here he gets to show that his talent would let him play almost anything.

Prolific, theater-trained Barry Kelley was on screen possibly more than in any other role, and did he make the most of it!

Virginia Mayo, one of the most gorgeous and talented women in the history of the world, is not just decoration: She has a pivotal role, including being a mother.

Joel McCrea probably never played any part badly. And just his appearance, his bearing, added strength and credibility, including here.

In fact, all the players were so great, the story almost doesn't matter -- but it does. Based on a Louis L'Amour story, this plot is involved but completely plausible. And it has lots of characters who are important to the development, who have their moment on screen.

One is played by Tom London, who first appears as only atmosphere, then stands out in a dangerous moment. (According to one of those "believe it or not" outfits, Tom London was in about 2,000 movies! Usually, as here, not given on-screen credit. Thank the heavens we have IMDb!)

Praise must be given to the prolific -- that means "busy" -- Thomas Carr. He is probably best known as a TV director, including of many of the "Adventures of Superman" entries, but he obviously knew how to present motion pictures.

Only the blah and generic title gets any, and mild, criticism. This is one great movie, which I highly recommend, and point out there is a very good print at YouTube. Enjoy.

The acting is great , as in all the Joel McCrea films I've seen so far.

It is very watchable - despite the plot.

A group of settlers travelling to California being obviously misdirected by a guide.

Who despite being informed of this , by local man Mcrae , continue with their stupidity.

The Tall Stranger is directed by Thomas Carr and written for the screen by Christopher Knopf from a story by Louis L'Amour. It stars Joel McCrea, Virginia Mayo, Michael Ansara, George Neise, Whit Bissell, Adam Kennedy, Barry Kelley and Leo Gordon. A CinemaScope/De Luxe color production, film is filmed on location at two ranches in California, Morrison and Russell, with Wilfred M. Cline the cinematographer. Hans J. Salter scores the music.

Plot sees McCrea as Ned Bannon, who has a run in with rustlers and left for dead. Luckily he is found in time by a wagon train heading for California. Nursed back to health, Ned becomes suspicious of two outsiders who are leading the group into a dead-end valley owned by his hostile half-brother. Ned must overcome family hostility to try and avert a range war from occurring.

Solid mid 50's Oater boosted by the reliable McCrea and some dark shades within the writing. Running at just over 80 minutes, picture condenses enough old time punch ups and shootings into the story to stop the routine nature of the plotting dragging the pace down. There's even some messages in here to show the writers wanted something more than just a yeehaw production. Sadly the film is badly let down by the pan and scan process and the lifeless colour. There are very few reviews of the film about, but nobody makes mention of the bad print of the film? Certainly the current print doing the rounds for British TV is so bad it takes much away from the film. Cline's ("The Last Wagon/The Indian Fighter") location photography is barely seen - is this really in CinemaScope? - and periphery characters are heard but chopped in half! Even the normally radiant Mayo looks washed out due to the tired looking De Luxe color. There's a half decent film in the mix, but even with the best of home cinema set ups to play with, it's nigh on impossible to fully immerse oneself in the movie. 6/10

I was expecting just a run of the mill fifties B Western but the film was quite entertaining for several reasons I will attempt to allude to.

1) Casting. Central character Ned Bannon (Joel McRea) is an ex Union soldier who becomes a sort of mediator between his hot-headed half-brother Hardy Bishop (Barry Kelley) who owns a big plot of land and a group of simple minded wagon train homesteaders on their way to a new settled life in California who stray onto Bishop's land after some bad advice from Mort Harper disregarding warnings given by Bannon himself.

2) Cinemascope colour photography makes this low budget film seem more upmarket as such.

3) Plenty of gunfights (and fist fights!) throughout the films typically short B running time keep the story ticking over nicely.

The film has its origins from a novel of the same name so has some good origins for its screenplay.

McRea himself endears his character to the audience like other notable 'Western' actors such as John Wayne and Randolph Scott.

Give this film a viewing, it's worth the time and a must for fans of the Western genre in particular.

I'm starting to become a big fan of Joel McCrea. He is a consistently entertaining western hero. He his always believable. He gives a solid, tough performance in "The Tall Stranger", which is a solid, tough movie. It's a fast moving and often a very tense watch. It's well acted by the entire cast, especially Barry Kelley. I should watch this one more often. Honorable mention: a dreamy Virginia Mayo.