The Tall T (1957)
Directed by Bud Boetticher; Screenplay by Burt Kennedy. A major
theme in American westerns (Spaghetti ones show little interest in
this area) is the cohesiveness/incohesiveness of the community.
Often the community encounters a threat that promises to destroy
their fragile existence unless the community takes action. The
threat maybe bandits (The Magnificent Seven), immorality (Who
Shot of Liberty Valence), or the invasion of another community
(The Alamo). Often several threats converge - such is the
case in The Tall T. Bandits, immorality, and invasion all
conspire to destroy the well-being of the "good guys."
In this 1950s western, Randolph
Scott plays a decent, hard-working cowpoke who struggles to create
his own homestead in the wild west. Unfortunately, his plans are
derailed when he encounters a gang of bandits. They shoot Scott's
pal and proceed to dump the remains down the only water well for
miles around, thus polluting the water source. Not only do the
bandits kill one person, but they effectively threaten to kill the
whole community by this reckless act of violence. Scott must
correct the problem by outwitting the bandits and rescuing the
community. This film gives modern viewers a good analogy to the
ancient concern around pollution (I'm thinking specifically about
some of the Levitical laws). Several other westerns (Apache
Drums, etc.) also use the contaminated-water theme to
illustrate the threat to community.
(Robert Widdowson)
