Product Description

Woman-hating cowboy becomes foreman of ranch run by pretty woman and her spinster aunt who have inherited the ranch.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #65855 in DVD
• Brand: TURNER HM ENTERTAINM
• Released on: 2005-05-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 87 minutes

Amazon.com
In this convoluted Western mystery, "tall in the saddle" is more of a genealogical clue than an accurate index of the hero's behavior. John Wayne has come to town, so he says, to work for a local rancher--who was murdered shortly after sending for him. Prime villain would appear to be Ward Bond, exuding oiliness as the local judge, who doesn't seem to be a real judge. Paul Fix (who cowrote the screenplay) and Harry Woods supply the thuggery. But mostly it's women that Wayne has trouble with: the dead man's genteel niece (Audrey Long) and her virago of a duenna (Elisabeth Risdon), and especially Ella Raines, who dresses like a man (well, a very pretty boy), runs the neighboring ranch, and falls into instant love-hate with Wayne. (This was Raines's glory period--within a few months in 1943-44 she was breathtakingly lovely in Corvette K-225, Hail the Conquering Hero, and Phantom Lady--but alas, here she's mostly just shrill.)

As run-of-the-mill Wayne Westerns go, this RKO picture is a bit upscale from the fare at Republic, if also less robust. Edwin L. Marin's direction is undistinguished, but the RKO craftsmanship is handsome as usual, and it must have been nice to work from a coherent screenplay for a change. Gabby Hayes is around to discuss sexual politics with Duke. For some reason the veteran character actor Frank Puglia goes uncredited as Raines's enigmatic servant, who seems to have wandered in from a Val Lewton production. --Richard T. Jameson

Customer Reviews

Overlooked Classic
This film finally came out on DVD in a John Wayne collection. Yeah! It is a classic in the vein of the Fighting Kentuckian and Dakota alas without Vera Ralston but Ella Raines is great in her own right. Ward Bond is the heavy again and he does it with gusto. Personally, I have always liked this early classic and bought it immediately when it came out on DVD. I grew up on John Wayne and certainly like most of his early movies. If I had my choice between this one and Chisum, I would take this one in a flash. If you liked Angel and the Badman, you will like this one.

"A Fast-Paced Entertaining Western"

My DVD shelf is sagging with all the John Wayne movies on it, but when this was recently released I had to add it to the others.

When this movie was originally released I was going on 1 year of age. With all the westerns I saw growing up in the 1950s, I don't recall ever seeing this one until a decade ago on TNT's ole 4:00 p.m. daily westerns. I immediately went out and bought the VHS and viewed it many times over. As soon as my wife and I got home with the DVD a few days back we immediately viewed it, too. She is not much for westerns, but her comment after viewing TALL IN THE SADDLE for the first time was that it was a very good movie.

I'm partial to some of the earlier John Wayne movies before he became a 'household name', one in particular: BLUE STEEL. And I rate this movie, TALL IN THE SADDLE, just as good. I would give both BLUE STEEL and TALL IN THE SADDLE more than 5-stars if possible.

TALL IN THE SADDLE was made at a time when directors and actors knew how to make westerns, and this movie just has the feel of a very good one. Its excellence approaches STAGECOACH, an earlier John Wayne movie, that just barely surpasses both BLUE STEEL and TALL IN THE SADDLE.

So, if you like John Wayne westerns or just westerns in general, you can do no better than this one.

And George "Gabby" Hayes is at his best here, too. This is the first time I ever saw Ella Raines in a movie, and what an introduction to her. She is sensational as a gun-totin' woman of the range.

Another item not to go unnoticed in this flick is the appearance of Raymond Hatton in the role a drunken friend of Gabby Hayes. If you look up Raymond Hatton you will see that he made more westerns than any other actor, and at one time was a box office draw right along side Bob Steele and Hoot Gibson. Another outstanding item in this movie is that of Paul Fix, long a John Wayne friend; Fix wrote the screen play for TALL IN THE SADDLE, and anyone familiar with the 1950s Rifleman on TV will certainly remember Mr. Paul Fix.

Enough of all this, go watch this sensational western picture from long ago, when they still knew how to make them.

Semper Fi.

A Fun Western
RKO pulled out all the stops on this beautifully filmed western. An attractive cast, which includes John Wayne and Ella Rains, and a well written story with good direction from Edwin L. Marin make this a very entertaining film. It is simply a good old-fashioned western. You don't have to worry about all that John Ford symbolism that makes your head hurt on this one. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy.

Rocklin (John Wayne) has come to town to work for Red Cardell, only to find he has been murdered. The KC Ranch has been inherited by beautiful easterner Clara Cardell (Audrey Long). The sweet Clara is attracted to Wayne and wants him to come work for her, but since her mother is an absolute terror and Rocklin and his new found sidekick, freight driver Dave (Gabby Hays), both have a little "problem" with women, he passes on her job offer.

He gets hired by another prominent outfit, but as it turns out, this one is run by a woman as well. Ella Rains is Arly Harolday, a gorgeous spitfire and cowgirl deluxe. Sparks fly and she falls for Rocklin while he begins to dig a little deeper into the crooked dealings which led to Red Cardell's murder. Rocklin has a secret reason for poking around that won't be revealed until the last moment.

This one is a lot of fun to watch, and when you are in the mood for an old-fashioned western with a good story and some nice scenery, this is the one you want, right here.