The Tall Men

044242 / 12 / US / 1955 / Walsh, Raoul / / western
Tall Men, The / Taipumattomat miehet. © 20th Century-Fox. D: Raoul Walsh. SC: Sydney Boehm, Frank S. Nugent - based on the novel by Heck Allen. DP: Leo Tover. M: Victor Young. ”The Tall Men” sung by Jane Russell. CAST: Clark Gable (Ben Allison), Jane Russell (Nella Turner), Robert Ryan (Nathan Stark), Cameron Mitchell (Clint Allison). 122’. De Luxe colour, CinemaScope. MPAA 7476. TV Nelonen PAL transmission on Saturday afternoon 28 March 1998: in sawed-to-half ratio, with Finnish subtitles by Simo Tikka / Movision, with commercial breaks. Caught later on VHS. *** ”Montana territory 1866. They came from the South, headed for the goldfields… A story of tall men - and long shadows”. Ben and Clint, the desperate brothers from Texas, are about to rob the wily moneyman of Montana, Nathan Stark, but he persuades them to become partners, instead, in the business of driving 5000 heads of cattle from Texas to Montana. They face every adversity: Oglala Indians, jayhawkers, harsh winter in the mountains, and wild rivers. Ben and Nathan also battle for the woman, Nella. This is a ”tall story”, told with a sense of humour by Walsh. On TV the film loses its epic grandeur.