the tall t (budd boetticher, 1957)

Another pairing of director Budd Boetticher and Randolph Scott. Criterion released a box set of these Westerns, and this is the second I've watched (after Ride Lonesome). This is better, although both films share certain qualities: Scott as a hero with a conscience, concise film making on a budget, plenty of interesting names in the cast. Richard Boone is good as the main bad guy, and his part is written with more than the usual complexity. Maureen O'Sullivan plays a plain woman, which seems a bit silly, while Henry Silva did what Hollywood often asked him to do. Silva, born in Brooklyn with Sicilian and Spanish ancestry, plays a gunslinger named "Chink". In the end, Scott saves the day and walks off with O'Sullivan.

Comments

[steve]

Back in the mid-1980s, when I was in the PhD program at UT-Austin, our department's film booking/program notes organization, CinemaTexas, brought Budd Boetticher and his wife for a visit. One of those Hollywood veteran, show some movies, tell some stories things. Boetticher was typical (in my limited experience): gruff, macho, nice enough, very self-involved, very into varnishing his legacy. He liked Texas barbecue. I do like those Ranown films--the Samuel Beckett with sixguns comparisons hold at least some water.

We also brought Kenneth Anger and Pope Ondine to campus (at different times). Those visits were more memorable, to be honest.

[Steven Rubio]

The one guest that stands out for me in my film major days was a guy who was billed as the "Last of the Jungle Boys". Can't remember his name, or if the billing was warranted, but since I was for some reason also a TA in the department, I got to participate in the "take the guest to dinner" event. He was accompanied by a couple of guys who hosted a TV show that had crappy movies. Everyone got drunk ... I seem to recall Robin pretty much passed out in my lap.