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The Tall Men now available at ZeusDVDs.com

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The Tall Men is now available at ZeusDVDs.com.  Here is the original New York Times review from 1955:  SIGNIFICANTLY, Jane Russell seems to have a lot of trouble with her feet in Twentieth Century-Fox's "The Tall Men," which came to Loew's State yesterday. Several times in this ambling Western she makes occasions to get out of her tight boots, usually with the labored assistance of Clark Gable or Robert Ryan.

The operation of removing her buskins inevitably requires that she place her foot, other than the one being denuded, against the gentleman and then give a shove. The gentleman grunts with some discomfort and the lady heaves a happy sigh. This seems to be the extent of the gratification of Miss Russell and the gentlemen in this film.

And, we venture to advice you, the spectacle of Miss Russell's being relieved of the pain in her pedal extremities is about the only novel excitement contained in this depressingly hackneyed horse opera. For its recount of a difficult cattle drive from Texas to Montana, engineered by Messrs. Gable and Ryan, with Miss Russell along as excess baggage and a noticeable point of friction between the two, is a badly beat-up conglomeration of weary Western clichés.

There is a head-on run-in with Jayhawkers when the cattle drive reaches the Kansas line and a head-on run-in with Sioux Indians when it reaches a narrow canyon with vertical sides. Each time, the enemy is routed with conventional cleverness and ease, and Miss Russell and most of the cattle are delivered in Montana without a scratch on their hides.

Although the initial attraction of Mr. Gable to Miss Russell is dispelled when he makes the annoying discovery that she "dreams big" while he "dreams small," she persists in poking her feet at him and vocalizing generally that she goes for "tall men." Despite Mr. Ryan's endeavors to who her, she winds up with Mr. Gable at the end.

Aside from the nonsense of the story, this film is also foolishly played by the assorted principals under the direction of Raoul Walsh. Messrs. Gable and Ryan go at it as though they were acting a deathless tragedy. Miss Russell heaves into it broadly as though she were still in "The Paleface" with Bob Hope. And Cameron Mitchell as Mr. Gable's brother, a callow and thick-headed youth, cuts loose with some gibbering histrionics that might denote a lunatic in burlesque.

William A. Bacher and William B. Hawks have produced it in color and CinemaScope, which is appropriately large for those scenes of outdoor action and the removal of Miss Russell's boots.


THE TALL MEN, screen play by Sydney Bochm and Frank Nugent, based on the novel by Clay Fisher; directed by Raoul Walsh and produced by William A. Bacher and William B. Hawks for Twentieth Century-Fox. At Loew's State.
Ben Allison . . . . . Clark Gable
Nella Turner . . . . . Jane Russell
Nathan Stark . . . . . Robert Ryan
Clint Allison . . . . . Cameron Mitchell
Luis . . . . . Juan Garcia
Sam—Rancher . . . . . Harry Shannon
Chickasaw . . . . . Emile Meyer
Colonel . . . . . Steven Darrell
Gus—Bartender . . . . . Will Wright

The Tall Men is now available at ZeusDVDs.com