Review of Tall in the Saddle

As reviewers have noted, this is an unpretentious character western from 1944; I find it to be long on action and broad comedy touches, with an interesting and influential central character, Rocklin, played attractively by John Wayne. The basis of the plot is that he was hired by a rancher he did not know, as foreman, and when he arrives in a town he finds the man is dead, his ranch has been inherited by a young woman, and there is a rival ranch's owner who becomes interested in his services. This happens because woman-resenting Wayne gets into a card game with Ellen Drew's brother, son of the second ranch's manager, and is cheated. He gets a gun comes back downstairs and demands his money. Next morning, the brother gets Drew to get the money back; he ignores her, even though she shoots near him and goes off into the saloon. She gets furious at the brother and Wayne. But she talks her father into hiring Rocklin, so she can get even with him. Also prominent in the cast is George "Gabby" Hayes, stealing scenes as a hard-drinking stage driver, his drinking buddy Raymond Hatton, Ward Bond as the Judge, Elizabeth Risdon as the new owner's abominable female relative, Audrey Long as the inheritrix, Emory Parnell as the crooked sheriff, Paul Fix as his crooked sidekick, Don Douglas as the ranch manager, George Chandler as the town blacksmith, Russell Wade as the manager's cowardly son and Harold Woods as Fix's dangerous brother. Rustling has been going on in the area--from the cacti it appears to be Arizona--and the manager wonders why Rocklin should be paid a foreman's wages. His handling of Fix's brother with a pistol over the head settles that question. The manager sends Rocklin to check on cattle in high country; he is shot at, along with Hayes, in a line shack. Drew appears as they hunt the sniper, and fires him. He tears up the contract and kisses her, knowing why she resents his strength. Back in town, he reports to the manager what happened. The son, Clint, shot to warn him off; but he cannot prove it. And the inheritrix comes to the hotel to ask his help; her guardian Aunt is claiming she is underage so she herself can dispose of the ranch for the profit with the crooked Judge's aid. The crooked Judge burns the letter of proof; Rocklin searches his office over his objections. They fight, and he knocks the Judge out. Men pour in but the Judge says nothing happened and orders them out. Back at the hotel, Rocklin finds Drew insulting the inheritrix, calling herself his girl. He denies it. Trying to find out the truth--the Judge had attacked him for finding incriminating papers in the desk--he has Gabby bring Clint in so he can question him. He is slapping him into admissions when a shot rings out from the window, and a gun is tossed in. He tries to tell the truth but has to use the gun to get away from the townsfolk and the Judge. Drew is told he did not kill he brother by her Spanish servant; Rocklin hides in Gabby's wagon and they head for the inherited ranch; Drew hurries to beat the Judge and a pursuing posse back to the same destination; there, the older woman is being guarded by the evil Clews brothers, and the inheritrix is in danger. Drew's horse stumbles, so she has to ride double with her servant. Everyone converges on the ranch where the real mastermind behind the plot is unmasked and killed, in a surprising and very satisfying finish. This swift- moving adventure, with its three strands of a woman-hating loner, a mysterious man coming into a dangerous situation and a crooked local figure with henchman has been copied hundreds of time since; its title has become a western cliché. Director Edwin L, Marin did well indoors as well as out in my view. Gordon Ray Young's good story was written for the screen by Michael Hogan and actor Paul Fix. Among the cast, Wayne is handsome and promising; Hayes and drew are charismatic and memorable, and Donald Douglas as Harolday the manager is very good. Everyone else, including Audrey Long and Ward Bond, playing against type, is up to the task or better. Look for Frank Orth, Frank Puglia, Clem Bevans and Ben Johnson among the townsmen. Roy Webb provided suitable music, Robert de Grasse did the consistent cinematography, with art direction by Ralph Berger and veteran Albert d'Agostino. Darrell Silvera and William Stevens did the set decorations with gowns by Edward Stevenson. This movie might be remade profitably owing to its fine storyline, I suggest; the playing against type of the hero as resenting women because they do not play by the code of the west I find to be interesting and later much imitated, a big step forward toward producing more individualized western. The print I saw had been colorized, for the most pat satisfactorily.