Film Friday Goes West...again

Image via Wikipedia[Spoilers] This week's films to accompany our Friday drink were again both Westerns but only one with an Elmore Leonard pedigree this time. "The Tall T" is a stark and brutal film, directed by Bud Boetticher and somewhat foreshadowing the Peckinpahs and Leones to come rather than being typical of its predecessors. A good cast including ever reliable Richard Boone, Arthur Hunnicutt (right) and Henry Silva also gives us Maureen O'Sullivan in the somewhat unlikely role of a "plain Jane" newly married to an unscrupulous and uncaring gold-digger rather than be an old maid. The star is Randolph Scott (forever Randoloph for me since "Me Mammy") who bears a striking resemblamce to a former boss of ours.

The tense and brooding finale, after a stagecoach robbery goes awry and Scott and O'Sullivan find themselves hostages of the evil thieves, is in contrast to the humour and even slapstick of some of the early scenes where, far from being the untouchable hero, Scott shows himself rather foolish as he gets thrown in the dirt by a bull he inadvisedly tries to ride, then dives into a horse trough before trudging off on foot having lost his horse. Of course Patrick (Scott), as Good, ultimately triumphs over Evil and the selfish, greedy and cowardly other half of Mrs Mims (O'Sullivan) gets what he plainly deserves, conveniently freeing Doretta from a dreadful future in prospect. This Western is a cut above its fellows though and Scott's metaphorical hat is not an unblemished white nor is Boone's completely black. An important Western in its way and one which stands out from much of Scott's work

Image by Doctor Hyde via FlickrImage via Wikipedia"Appaloosa", the second of this week's double bill, saw us losing the Elmore Leonard writing link, this one being co-written by Ed Harris, who also starred, produced, directed and even sang. Mention of Contention and Bisbee puts us once more in Arizona though and firmly in Leonard's favourite area of the West. This is a modern but not revisionist Western from 2008, starring Harris, Viggo Mortensen and Jeremy Irons which does not immediately strike me as a likely Western cast but the film has clearly been made with enormous care and appreciation of the genre and was presumably a labour of love on behalf Ed Harris (below) given his involvement in every part of its production.

The Appaloosa of the title is not a horse but a town in need of taming, which is the stock-in-trade of Virgil Cole (Harris) and his partner Everett Hitch (Mortensen). The real problem is rancher Bragg (Irons) and his gang of amoral thugs who appear to have not the slightest respect for the law, which has angered and upset the town's leading citizens (who include Tim Spall).

Cole is reluctantly sworn in as Town Marshal with Hitch as his deputy and begins his own brand of law enforcement which mostly means shooting the transgressors and completely taking over the town.

There are plenty of classic western set pieces from saloons, to railroad, to shoot-outs but this is again much more than a straightforward good-cowboy-meets-bad-cowboy-and- fills-him-full-of-lead film. Here the main interest is actually in the characters and relationships. The main fly in the ointment is Renee Zelweger's piano-playing widow. Will any or all of them end up with her? She doesn't seem too concerned which it is as long as she gets her hands on one of them. Irons, of course is ruthless and immoral but what of Cole? He is on the side of the law but his methods appear to be similarly uncompromising. The relationship between Marshal and deputy also has a peculiarly close and almost marriage-like intensity. Adding a further nuance to this and their characters is Cole's apparent fascination with reading poetry and attempting to improve the way he speaks. He frequently paints himself into a verbal corner and has to ask his companion to come to the rescue.

A fascinatiinng and well made film which had us both saying "I didn't think they made them like that anymore. Ed Harris singing a song he co-wrote, over the credits, finished off a satisfying and very enjoyable evening's viewing.