Tall in the Saddle (1944)

★ 6.6 1h 27m IMDb

Western

When Rocklin arrives in a western town he finds that the rancher who hired him as a foreman has been murdered. He is out to solve the murder and thwart the scheming to take the ranch from its rightful owner.

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Cast

John Wayne as Rocklin Died 1979 · Winterset, Iowa, USA Marion Mitchell Morrison (born Marion Robert Morrison) (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed Duke, was an American actor and filmmaker. An Academy Award-winn...

Ella Raines as Arleta 'Arly' Harolday Died 1988 · Snoqualmie Falls, Washington State, USA Ella Wallace Raines (August 6, 1920 – May 30, 1988) was an American film and television actress active from the early 1940s through the mid-1950s. Described as "sultry" and "mysterious", the green-eye...

Ward Bond as 'Judge' Robert Garvey Died 1960 · Benkelman, Nebraska, USA Wardell Edwin Bond (April 9, 1903 – November 5, 1960) was an American film character actor whose rugged appearance and easygoing charm were featured in more than 200 films, as well as in the NBC telev...

George 'Gabby' Hayes as Dave Died 1969 · Wellsville, New York, USA George Hayes is an American character actor, the most famous of Western-movie sidekicks of the 1930s and 1940s. He worked in a circus and played semi-pro baseball while a teenager. In 1914, he married...

Audrey Long as Clara Cardell Died 2014 · Orlando, Florida, USA Audrey Long was born on April 14, 1922 in Orlando, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for Born to Kill (1947), Pan-Americana (1945) and Desperate (1947). She was married to Leslie Charteris and E...

Elisabeth Risdon as Miss Elizabeth Martin Died 1958 · London, England, UK From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Elisabeth Risdon (born Daisy Cartwright Risdon; 26 April 1887 – 20 December 1958) was an English film actress. She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 19...

Director Edwin L. Marin

Cast John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond, George 'Gabby' Hayes, Audrey Long, Elisabeth Risdon, Donald Douglas, Paul Fix, Russell Wade, Emory Parnell

John Chard 7/10 Mar 21, 2020

I like grumpy old cusses. Hope to live long enough to be one.

Tall in the Saddle is directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by Michael Hogan, Paul Fix and Gordon Ray Young. It stars John Wayne, Ella Raines, Ward Bond, George 'Gabby' Hayes and Audrey Long. Music is by Roy Webb and cinematography by Robert De Grasse.

Ranch hand Rocklin (Wayne) arrives in town to start his new job but finds his employer has been murdered and the locals are all a bit too shifty for comfort...

Hee, the title is rather appropriate given Duke Wayne's stature, and yet it's a title that doesn't really do justice to the pic as a whole. The plot has some nifty complexities, where simmering passions blend with a murder mystery and crooked shenanigans.

Marin directs at a clip, never once letting the narrative sink into tedium. The action is fruity, where in spite of some crude era back projection work, fist fights, gun play and chases keep things on the boil.

Raines is socko sexy (how nice she's not token fodder either), which acts as a counter point with Long's homely beauty, while Wayne does his thang with iconic rewards. Gorgeous photography seals the deal here, both with the Calif locations frames and the monochrome shadings, for what is ultimately a hugely enjoyable 40s Oater. 7/10

drystyx 8/10 Apr 10, 2023

This is an ideal Western.
John Wayne is tall in the saddle.
He travels East to wild West, and is not backing down from trouble.
What really makes this film is Ella Raines as a super hot love interest. I may be spoiling that, because another woman enters first, quietly and very lady like, while Ella enters like a wildcat, but a beautiful wildcat that any man would want.
A lot of emotion, mostly from Ella, with the Duke being sort of a straight man with mostly calmness, his character a bit shocked by all the emotion and danger, but never backing down.