Short story by Elmore Leonard, "The Tall T"(originally titled, The Captives)included in the short story collection, The Tall T and Other Western Adventures, published by Avon in 1957. This 128 page paperback included a color photo cover and numerous b&w photographs inside. Original price, 25 cents.
shareIt is also included in the Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories collection recently published yo coincide with the new Russell Crowe - Christian Bale film.
shareCan you tell me what the title "Tall T" refers to in the film?
Nothing is more beautiful than nothing.
[deleted]
Visible in the opening section of the movie that was not part of The Captives.
shareI saw the movie when it first came out and also saw the previews and if memory serves me right in the advertisement it said T stood for treachery
SPOILER WARNINGS!
I think the treachery was referring to the husband who takes advantage to leave his wife with the outlaws. Unknown to him he was set up by Richard
Boone who in disgust orders one of his men to shoot the husband in the back and is disgusted for the grief shown by his wife in spite of his treachery.
2 me it is
the tall texan
tall in the saddle
tall in the eyes of others
but that's just me
Servadoo 122112 RFU Mooch
In the Elmore Leonard story 'Big Bounce' (don't know about the movies), this movie is mentioned in passing.
shareI just read "The Captives" and it's practically the screenplay for THE TALL T, which had to add some padding, of course. Most of the dialogue in the story is used in the film. Easiest screenwriting job Burt Kennedy ever had. It's a 54-page story, the longest one in the book.
Also in the book is the story, "Three-Ten to Yuma," the basis, of course, for 3:10 TO YUMA, both versions. However, the story is only 25 pages and basically covers the lone deputy's holding the prisoner in a hotel room for a day before taking him three blocks to the train station, past the prisoner's gun-wielding associates. It would have made a nice half-hour TV episode for such shows as "Wanted Dead or Alive," "The Deputy," or the half-hour incarnation of "Gunsmoke." So they had to do a LOT of padding for both film versions, neither of which was terribly satisfying.
You may recall that Howard Hawks was so pissed-off at 3:10 TO YUMA (1957), that he made RIO BRAVO in response. If you don't know the story, look it up.
Hawks made Rio Bravo as a refutation of High Noon, not 3:10 to Yuma. Hawks criticize High Noon saying, "I didn't think a good sheriff was going to go running around town like a chicken with his head cut off asking for help, and finally his Quaker wife had to save him." Wayne also attacked the film and both teamed up to make Rio to refute it.
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