The Tall Men (1955)

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

Sydney Boehm (screenplay) and
Frank S. Nugent (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

12 December 1955 (Sweden)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Drama | Romance | Western

Tagline:

As Big and Spectacular and Exciting As The Mighty West Itself!

Plot:

Two brothers, Ben and Clint, join a cattle drive from Texas to Montana. While heading for Texas they save Nella from the Indians...

Plot Keywords:

Cattle | Gold | Army | Beautiful Woman | Fort

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Colonel Ben Allison
Jane Russell	...	Nella Turner
Robert Ryan	...	Nathan Stark
Cameron Mitchell	...	Clint Allison
Juan García	...	Luis, Allison's Head Vaccaro (as Juan Garcia)
Harry Shannon	...	Sam, Cattleman robbed by Jayhawkers
Emile Meyer	...	Chickasaw Charlie
Steve Darrell	...	Colonel Norris, U.S. Cavalry (as Stevan Darrell)
Will Wright	...	Gus - the Bartender at Black Nugget Saloon
Robert Adler	...	Wrangler
J. Lewis Smith	...	Cowboy
Russell Simpson	...	Emigrant
Mae Marsh	...	Emigrant
Gertrude Graner	...	Emigrant
Tom Wilson	...	Miner

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo (Western Electric Recording) (35 mm magnetic prints) | Mono (Western Electric Recording) (35 mm optical prints)

Certification:

USA:Approved (certificate #17476) | West Germany:12 (nf) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-12 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Durango, Mexico

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Average Shot Length = ~11 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~10.1 seconds.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ben and Clint first enter the saloon and the livery stable in Mineral city, Clint's two-gun rig is hidden by his coat. When Clint follows Stark into the livery stable, his guns are strapped on the outside and over his coat, yet when they ride out of town, his guns are back under the coat.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[pointing to a lynched man dangling from a tree limb]
Colonel Ben Allison: Looks like we're close to civilization.

Soundtrack:

Tall Men

Clark Gable points 'em north

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's Ben Allison comes to the rescue of Nella Turner a time or two during the film but her head is turned by Nathan Stark'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 Allison'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.