The Tall T (1957)

After losing his horse, a struggling rancher (Randolph Scott) hitches a ride on a stagecoach carrying a newly married couple (Maureen O'Sullivan, John Hubbard). But soon after, they all find themselves at the mercy of a cold blooded outlaw (Richard Boone), who holds the woman for ransom after he discovers how wealthy her father is. Based on THE CAPTIVES by Elmore Leonard and directed by Budd Boetticher (RIDE LONESOME). This is a wonderful western and a perfect example of tight, economical film making. It's also an early example of the more realistic violent westerns that would come in the 1960s like THE WILD BUNCH and the Sergio Leone spaghetti westerns. Although the violence is discreet, it's quite brutal like the cold blooded murder of a child or someone getting their face blown off. The characters are all allowed some layers and human contradictions so that the cold blooded villain that could kill a child gently covers a sleeping woman with a blanket and Maureen O'Sullivan gets a more fleshed out female character than most westerns usually allow. With Henry Silva, Skip Homeier, Arthur Hunnicutt and Christopher Olsen (THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH).