"The Tall T" (The Ranown Westerns: Five Films Directed by Budd Boetticher) 4K UHD - Randolph Scott @Criterion
Added 2023-07-16 14:19:11 +0000 UTC"The Tall T" (The Ranown Westerns: Five Films Directed by Budd Boetticher) 4K UHD - Randolph Scott @Criterion
US: https://amzn.to/43JQJBf (50% OFF)
OUR REVIEW:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/4K_UHD_review_05/the_tall_t_4K_UHD.htm
Admirably scripted by Burt Kennedy from a story by Elmore Leonard, this is the best and bleakest of the Boetticher/Scott Westerns. A marvelous mechanism is set in motion by the stagecoach hold-up at the beginning where a solid citizen cravenly bargains for his life by suggesting that his wife be held for ransom. Boone's bluffly amiable villain promptly guns him down in contempt, but fulfils his elective role by taking up the suggestion. Thereafter, conceptions of justice and social justification are slyly questioned as Boone is hounded by Scott, bodies pile up, and the two men, gradually emerging as opposite sides of the same coin, face the inevitable showdown that neither of them wants but which society demands. Wonderful, with a full roster of fine performances.
***
My Boetticher adoration runs deep and I actually still own his leather satchel bag (see picture HERE and HERE NOTE: His initials are emblazoned into the bag). I purchased it off eBay ... outbidding another chap named... Boetticher! It contains photos of the director with Martin Scorsese and also Budd's passports. I tried to sell it once but the other party backed-out. I love having it around.
Budd Boetticher once said: “I became a western director because they thought I looked like one and they thought I rode better than anyone else," said Boetticher later. "And I didn’t know anything about the west.” Criterion's 4K UHD release of The Ranown Westerns was a wonderful surprise to film fans. They are recognized, decades after there releases as pure and 'iconic' examples of the 'pioneering west' genre. Boetticher never got his deserved accolades during his career stating "I'm the only director in the world who ever went from a Rolls Royce to a bus." The Tall T had a fabulous supporting cast with Richard Boone (who appeared in over 50 films, many Westerns, including his starring role in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel), Henry Silva (The Manchurian Candidate and a oft-seen staple of international genre cinema), Maureen O'Sullivan ('Jane' in the Tarzan series of films) and Arthur Hunnicutt, - recognizable for his portrayal of wise, grizzled, western characters. These Ranown Westerns are some of the most re-watchable films that I own. Of course this set is recommended.
It is 50% OFF at Amazon HERE at the writing of this review.
