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DVD Tall in the Saddle
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
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.
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.
Overlooked Classic
Considering all of the John Wayne movies on DVD, why has this one failed to make the cut. 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 would buy it in a minute if 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.
Although scarcely seen in its original 3-D, and entirely out of sight for a decade and a half after its producer-star died, Hondo has maintained a high rep among John Wayne fans--and it wasn't even directed by Howard Hawks or John Ford. (Actually, Ford did shoot some second-unit stuff while visiting Wayne on location.) Half-breed Hondo, companioned only by an antisocial dog, tends to be more sympathetic toward the Apaches than toward the white society he occasionally scouts for. He falls into uneasy friendship with a New Mexico farmwoman (Geraldine Page) whose husband deserts her for long stretches, and whose son (Lee Aaker) is blood brother to the local Apache chieftain. A good, spare frontier tale--Louis L'Amour via James Edward (Angel and the Badman) Grant--in which... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Geraldine Page Director(s): John Farrow DVD Release Date: Released the 11 October 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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For some reason I never thought of Wayne as playing the role of a German sea captain. Well, he does here and does very well indeed in this very entertaining film. Here he has a decent script to work with that gives him an opportunity to shine. Both Wayne and Turner seem to grow in their respective roles.
The film looks and sounds great on DVD with its original CinemaScope aspect ratio intact. A very entertaing film set on the high seas. Enjoy. More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Lana Turner Director(s): John Farrow DVD Release Date: Released the 03 May 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Out of circulation for a quarter-century following the death of producer-star John Wayne, Island in the Sky is a tale of survival focused on the pilot (Wayne) and crew of a DC-3 forced to crashland somewhere in the uncharted Canadian wilderness, and the fellow airmen (Lloyd Nolan, James Arness, Andy Devine, Paul Fix) determined to find them before hunger and the 70-below winter do them in. The movie, set in the post-WWII era when military and commercial aviation were still intertwined, was written by bestselling novelist Ernest K. Gann and directed by William A. Wellman, an aviation-movie veteran whose Wings won the first-ever Academy Award (1927–28).
Wellman resolutely downplays the histrionics and conventional heroics; Wayne indulges in none of the macho... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Lloyd Nolan Director(s): William A. Wellman DVD Release Date: Released the 02 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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John Wayne personally produced many of his '50s films, which is why some of them have languished in corporate limbo following his death. The High and the Mighty was one of his most popular vehicles (no pun intended). This long, necessarily sedentary drama aboard an endangered airliner is a CinemaScope bridge between 1932's Grand Hotel and 1970s disaster movies. Despite Wayne's iconic presence as a pilot--now copilot--who survived the plane crash that wiped out his family, it's an ensemble movie with an impressive cast: Robert Stack sharing the cockpit, Oscar® nominees Claire Trevor and Jan Sterling, Laraine Day, Robert Newton, Paul Kelly, John Qualen, Regis Toomey, the ubiquitous Paul Fix, and director William A. Wellman's good-luck character actor Douglas Fowley.... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John Wayne - Claire Trevor - Laraine Day Director(s): William A. Wellman DVD Release Date: Released the 02 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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