Tall in the Saddle
Directed by Edwin L. Marin
Written by Michael Hogan and Paul Fix; original story by Gordon Ray Young
1944/USA
RKO Radio Pictures
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Rocklin: I never feel sorry for anything that happens to a woman.[/box]
This is quite OK as Westerns go, though somebody should have modulated Ella Raines just a tad. Her shrillness did not convince as toughness.
Woman hater and confirmed bachelor Rocklin (John Wayne) finds a soul mate in rapscallion stage coach driver Dave (Gabby Hayes) and ends up riding shot gun with him to take up a ranch hand’s job in another location. The other passengers, a harridanish old lady and her sweet charge, are the prospective new owners of the property. Former owner Red Cordell and his former foreman were killed, allegedly by cattle rustlers. The sweet young thing is immediately taken with Rocklin. But no way is the old bat going to hire Rocklin. Meanwhile, mysterious forces are out to get him.
On arrival, Rocklin gets cheated in a poker game and has to take his rightful winnings at gunpoint. Rough and tumble Arly Harraday (Raines), stepdaughter of the cheater’s father, not knowing the whole story, takes umbrage at Rocklin and starts taking pot shots at him. Rocklin further enrages her by easily wresting her gun away. In the way of these things, Arly decides to hire him on at her ranch in order to have the pleasure of firing him later. Before too long, she is sweet on him herself. We get a classic love triangle with a little twist and some good Western action. With Ward Bond as a duplicitous judge.
I thought this was much more solid than your average B Western. Raines is hard to take during the first part of the picture but she mellows out nicely by the end. There seemed to be a school of thought that tough women went around in a sort of hysterical rage. Claire Trevor can be guilty of this too.
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