{For the Boys Blogathon} November Movie of the Month: The Tall Men (1955)

This post is part of The Scarlett Olive’s For the Boys Blogathon.

I am, obviously, a Clark Gable completist. I read anything and watch anything Clark related. Whenever I meet men in their 50’s or 60’s, their favorite Gable movies are not usually the 1930’s fluffy comedies or even Gone with the Wind. They always usually say ones that would be near the bottom of my list, such as Soldier of Fortune or Command Decision or this month’s movie of the month, The Tall Men.

I am generally not a fan of Westerns, and this one is not the greatest ever made. However, it does have its endearing moments and it is truly one for the boys…

Gable is Ben Allison, who along with his brother (Cameron Mitchell), join a cattle drive from Texas to Montana in 1866, headed by Nathan (Robert Ryan). En route, they save Nella (Jane Russell) from an Indian attack and she joins them on the journey. Ben and Nella share a cabin to ride out a blizzard and fall in love. Soon they realize that they have different futures in mind–Ben wants a ranch and a small family life, while Nella wants excitement–and they part ways, not amicably. Nella cozies up to Nathan and tension arises for the rest of the journey.

Jane Russell is a good foil for Clark, as she is tough when she needs to be and soft in spots that call for it.

But, being the “manly” film that it is, it is short on romance and high on showing Jane in skimpy outfits that show off her breasts, or showing her barely covered up in a lake or bathtub.

Robert Ryan, to me, always seems like a bad guy even when he is not supposed to be playing one! He makes a great sparring partner for Clark here.

Character development isn’t the strong point here, so Clark doesn’t have much to do other than squint and aim and shoot at Indians. But hey, that’s not an atypical Western…

The Tall Men kind of feels like they had a checklist of what is supposed to be in a Western and just checked things off and left it at that. Busty dame? Check. Shoot-outs with Indians? Check. Cattle drives? Check.

Filmed on location in Durango, Mexico, Clark looked tanned and relaxed. He enjoyed location shooting; especially in Mexico where he could take off on hunting jaunts on his time off.

Clark and Jane got along well on set and soon afterward Clark joined up with her and her husband, Bob Waterfield, to form a production company called Russ-Field-Gabco Productions. The lone film they produced–The King and Four Queens–was a flop.

Jane, before she passed away, made an appearance for her 89th birthday, where she talked about Clark and even sang her song from this film:

Clark was seeing Kay Williams at the time and her and her two children visited him in Mexico during filming. He proposed to her soon after filming wrapped.

Read more about the film here and see 178 pictures from the film in the gallery, including recently added screenshots.

The Tall Men is available on DVD in Fox’s Clark Gable Collection Vol. 1.

Visit The Scarlett Olive’s Blog to see all the posts in the For the Boys Blogathon.