Posts from chester7777 in thread „Tall In The Saddle (1944)“

Well, y'all, if you've read my other post this evening, you know some of the reasons we've been away for awhile, but we sure are glad to see that the Group Watch film choice this month is Tall in the Saddle (and that there was still month left to watch it)!

We originally stumbled upon this movie as a VHS among many JW films at a rummage sale quite a few years ago. From the very first time we watched it, we really liked it and it shot up to near the top of the list of favorite Duke movies, from a complete unknown.

It has a little of everything - comedy, suspense, romance, excitement, adventure. Gabby Hayes is superb, this was our first time seeing Ward Bond as the 'bad guy' (though as Hawkswill says, not the worst bad guy!), and some great lines come out of this movie.

We've 'waxed eloquent' in the thread dedicated to Tall in the Saddle, so will save everyone from reading it all again . . . . Suffice it to say, this was a great movie to pull off the shelf and watch! Thanks!!

Chester and the Mrs.

Watch the Full Movie, open to full screen by clicking on the YouTube logo, then the full screen link.

Tall in the Saddle

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Quote from Dooley

This is what amazed me as I discovered more of the Duke's less well known films. Island in the sky, which I'd never seen until a year ago, went straight into my top 10 Duke films! Shame the networks don't show the rarer titles as some are fantastic!

Quote from chester7777

If you haven't seen it check out "Tall in the Saddle", one of my favorites.

Quote from Dooley

Hi Chester,

Haven't got around to Tall in the Saddle yet. I am a sad one and have a Duke filmography spread sheet of the titles I own and I'm working my way through them, in no particular order!
In fact I'm going to post the list here to get some info from you guys and see if anyone can fill the 'holes'.

Dooley, I urge you to read this thread from the beginning, and if you own Tall in the Saddle, watch it. You won't be sorry! I'm sure I've said it (maybe more than once ) in this thread, but this movie has it all - action, adventure, comedy, romance, intrigue AND John Wayne! It doesn't get much better than that!

Chester

One of my Favorite JW Movies!

Chester

John Wayne classic film to honor Rodeo

The California Rodeo Salinas plans to present the John Wayne classic, "Tall in the Saddle," Thursday at the Forest Theater in Carmel, California.

Those who attend the film should dress warmly and bring a picnic to enjoy, including beverages of choice (alcohol is allowed but not for sale), blankets and stadium seats if desired.

What: "Tall in the Saddle," John Wayne film
When: Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and the film will begin at dusk (about 8:45 p.m.)
Where: Forest Theater, Monte Verde Street and Eighth Avenue, Carmel.
Tickets: $6 per person. Children under the age of 5 admitted free.
Information: www.foresttheaterguild.org.

Quote from RedRiverDee

Over all, I will watch this one again and again.

I saw this film in your list of films watched recently, and wondered how you liked it. The Mrs. and I liked Tall in the Saddle from the very first viewing, and we're glad you enjoyed so much. It's also one we watch over and over.

Chester

This is one of my favorite John Wayne films, so it is with great pleasure that I share Clive Woolland's Film Facts for this film ~

Howdy Friends, well here is another film fact for you, this time from the western, Tall in the Saddle. I hope you like it.

Producer: Robert Fellows, Screenplay: Paul Fix, Michael Hogan,
Cinematographer: Robert De Grasse, Art Directors: Ralph Berger,
Albert S. D'Agostino, Editors: Philip Martin Jr, Distribution: RKO
Pictures, Locations: California, Arizona, Date of Production: 1944.

It was the last film that Gabby Hayes made with John Wayne, as well as the only one co-star Ella Raines and Director Edwin Marin ever made with Duke.

London-born Elisabeth Risdon, who plays the domineering Miss Martin, began her film career in British silent movies before relocating to America. By the time she did Tall in the Saddle, she'd already acted in such film classics as 1942's Random Harvest and Reap the Wild Wind (also starring John Wayne).

Paul Fix has writing credits on only two other pictures, Ring of Fear (1954) and The Notorious Mr. Monks (1958).

Wayne's original 2-A deferment from joining the military on health grounds (a damaged inner ear, a bad back and assorted other ailments) was cancelled just before Tall in the Saddle was released. Wayne was delighted, as he hoped he'd finally get to see some action, but the studio that held his contract, Republic, wasn't. They argued that Wayne was more useful to the war effort keeping up morale at home and got the decision reversed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This contains two facts that are of particular interest (to me, at least). One is that this was apparently the last time John Wayne and Gabby Hayes appeared together. The item about Duke's ability to serve in the military (or not, as it obviously turned out) was interesting - I didn't realize all that took place around the time of this film.

Chester

It's been awhile since I have visited this thread. I discovered that the Amazon link I posted previously was not good anymore, so if anyone wants to check out Tall in the Saddle at Amazon, here is a more current link -

Tall in the Saddle at Amazon

I also thought I'd share some posters from the film. They're all very similar, from the original to the three reissues from 1949, 1953, and 1957. These are not as neat as some of the older posters.

tall in the saddle.jpg

1949
Tall in the Saddle-1949 reissue poster.jpg

1953
Tall in the Saddle-1953 reissue poster.jpg

1957
Tall in the Saddle-1957 reissue poster.jpg

All of you remember Audrey Long , the beautiful blond in the movie, who turned out to be Rocklin's cousin. As it turns out she married a studio writer and author named Leslie Charteris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Charteris ). He was the author of The Saint series of books, which later became a TV show. They moved around between the United States and Europe, and ended up settling in Surrey, England, where he subsequently died in 1993. According to IMDb, she is still alive, and might still live in Surrey. For those of you in the UK, who might be nearby (my ignorance of British geography is showing here), maybe there is an opportunity to get in touch with her. She was born in 1922, and will turn 85 in April (at least according to the info on IMDb). From my experience, not many at 85 are very computer literate, but there are exceptions, too, like Harry Carey Jr., so maybe if she uses a computer, she can join Chilibill as a former JW movie participant.

What do you think . . . is it worth a try?

Chester

Quote

Originally posted by dc65@Oct 15 2006, 08:55 AM
. . . another great performance from Gabby who tried to steal the show.

[snapback]35967[/snapback]

What do you mean "tried"? I thought he did a durn good job of it!

Uh huh, uh huh - yeah!

Chester

Deep Discount DVD has this film as part of the John Wayne Legendary Heroes Collection, combined with The Train Robbers, or individually, and they also offer two movie posters.

Amazon has it in DVD, VHS, and a book with the title Tall in the Saddle: Great Lines from Classic Westerns. I don't know if the book has any relation to the movie besides the title, but there was a good deal ($0.66 plus $3.49 shipping), so we ordered it and will let you know how it turned out.

Chester

Memorable Quotes

from Tall in the Saddle (1944)
(from IMDb)

Miss Elizabeth Martin: I saw you hit that poor man!
Rocklin: Yes, ma'am, just as hard as I could.

Now there are some of the memorable quotes from me, as I think this movie is great and has some pretty good one-liners -

one used by falc04 in the "Guess the Quote" game -

Rocklin: Touch that gun and I'll kill ya!

Here's another one of our favorites -

Rocklin: Lady, I'd rather walk for somebody else than ride for you.

That's all for now . . . .

Chester

One of the interesting things about this film is that Ward Bond is cast against type, in that he is the bad guy, whereas he is usually a buddy to John Wayne's character.

We really get a charge out of the wild stage coach ride with Gabby Hayes (you just gotta love that guy!) with John Wayne hangin' on for dear life and grabbing Gabby a couple of times, to keep him from flying off the driver's seat.

A top notch movie!

Chester