The Tall T

The Tall T is a 1957 American Western film directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Randolph Scott, Richard Boone, and Maureen O'Sullivan.  It was adapted from the 1955 short story "The Captives" by Elmore Leonard, which I recently read.

Brennan (Scott), without a horse, manages to get a lift from a stagecoach driver, who has been hired specially to transport the newlyweds Willard and Doretta Mims (O'Sullivan). Doretta is a plain woman, but the daughter of a rich copper mine owner. 

When they stop at the way-station, they are mistaken for the regular stage by three outlaws, led by Frank Usher (Boone), who have already killed the station manager and his son. 

Terrified of sharing the same fate, Willard suggests to the outlaws that ransoming his wife would be far more profitable than robbing the stage. Frank likes the idea. He also immediately recognizes, and is disgusted by, the groom's clear lack of devotion to his bride.

While waiting for the ransom to arrive, Brennan and Doretta plot to stay alive while confronting their three kidnappers.

I remember as a 12 year-old feeling some sympathy for Usher (a likable villain?), despite him being sinister (put murdered victims in a well).  He some how made a connection with me.  I hoped for his survival.

While the film was being made, negotiations were ongoing for the creation of a new TV series called Have Gun Will Travel.  Scott was the first choice to portray Paladin, but he was too old (59 years-old) and too rich to commit to the project.  Instead, he recommended Boone (40 years-old).  The rest, as they say, is history. 

Paladin, Chapter 18

 INT. SALOON - NIGHT

Saloon is crowded and noisy with customers.  PALADIN enters and approaches the bar.  Bartender awaits his order.

PALADIN: Beer, please.

Bartender retrieves and delivers to PALADIN.

PALADIN: Thanks.

PALADIN starts drinking his beer.  BIG DAN and BILLY MORTON enter the saloon, noticing PALADIN at bar.  They have a short, private chat. 

BILLY MORTON then proceeds to walk to bar and deliberately bumps into PALADIN causing PALADIN to slightly spill his beer.  

BILLY MORTON (to bartender): Two beers.

PALADIN (to BILLY MORTON): Are you looking for an introduction?

BILLY MORTON (to PALADIN) : Are you talkin' to me?

PALADIN: I believe I am.

BILLY MORTON: Why don't you go fuck yourself.

The saloon becomes quiet as danger looms.  The patrons at the bar scatter.

PALADIN: Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?

BILLY MORTON: What?  You speakin English?

PALADIN: I believe I am.

PALADIN notices BIG DAN in the saloon.

PALADIN: Is that your boss over there?  Did he ask you to do this?

BILLY MORTON: Nobody tells me what to do.  I'm my own boss.

PALADIN: Glad to know.

BILLY MORTON: So, why don't you shut up and get outta my sight.

PALADIN: Not as long as I'm drinking my beer.

BILLY MORTON reaches for PALADIN's beer and spills it on the bar.

BILLY MORTON: I guess you're done with your beer.

PALADIN: That was rude.

BILLY MORTON takes a step away from the bar and stands facing PALADIN in a threatening posture, ready to draw his gun.

BILLY MORTON: You think I'm rude.  Well, do something about it, Deputy.

PALADIN: You're making a big mistake.  You be BILLY MORTON?

BILLY MORTON: What's that to ya?

PALADIN: SHERIFF warned me about you.  

BILLY MORTON: Yeah!

PALADIN: Too bad he didn't warn you about me.

BILLY MORTON: I know about you...fancy gunfighter from San Francisco.  Well, I don't give a shit.

PALADIN: If I were you, I would think long and hard about what I am about to do.  Your life hangs in the balance.  Don't throw it away.  It's too precious.

BILLY MORTON: Well, you aint me.

PALADIN: Don't...

BILLY MORTON draws his gun, but not as fast as PALADIN who shoots him dead.  PALADIN kneels down to examine the body.  

PALADIN: Somebody get the undertaker.

Nobody moves.

PALADIN (shouting): Now!

A couple of witnesses leave the saloon.  BIG DAN approaches PALADIN who is now standing mournfully.  

BIG DAN: Too bad!  He was foolish.

PALADIN: Did you have anything to do with this?

BIG DAN: What?  

PALADIN: The two of you came in together.  He worked for you.  He seemed to be itching for a fight.  Why?

BIG DAN: Beats me.  Can I buy you a drink?

PALADIN: You can't buy me a drink, but if you want to talk, we can.  What's on your mind?

BIG DAN: Let's sit down.

They sit at a nearby table.

BIG DAN: I hear you're a man for hire.

PALADIN: Depends on what I'm being hired for and by whom.

BIG DAN: I was very impressed tonight.  What is your fee?

PALADIN: To do what?

BIG DAN: To remove a rival of mine.  

PALADIN: And who would that be?

BIG DAN: Normally, I take care of my own business.  Nothing stands in my way.  But, what I'm talkin about is different.  When I married POLLYANNA, I thought I could control her, just like everything else.  But, she's not like anything else.

PALADIN: I'm beginning to understand your problem with POLLYANNA.

BIG DAN: When CHARLES first came to Windfall, I hardly gave him a second thought.  Not a real man, if you know what I mean.  But, for some unknown reason, POLLYANNA was attracted to him.  I don't understand.  Do you?

PALADIN: Women are not like men, BIG DAN.  They think differently.  We judge women in a different way than women judge men.  Don't try to understand them.  Just accept it.  And how am I supposed to help you...with your rival?

BIG DAN: Goad him into a fight and then kill him...just like tonight.  It should be easy.

PALADIN: Is that what you did with BILLY MORTON,  goad him into pulling his gun on me?

BIG DAN: And why would I do that?

PALADIN: As a test?

BIG DAN: Not at all.  He was one of my best men on the ranch.  He'll be missed.

PALADIN: I'm sure he will.

BIG DAN: Well, I'll pay twice your usual fee.

PALADIN: I will not do what you ask, but I will try to help you win back your wife's affections, if you choose that way.

BIG DAN: Three times your usual fee.  

The undertaker arrives.  

PALADIN: I have work to do.  Let me know if you're interested in my offer.  Good night.

Eliot Ness

Eliot Ness was an American federal agent known for his efforts to bring down the gangster Al Capone while enforcing Prohibition in Chicago in the 1930s. He was leader of a team of law enforcement agents nicknamed The Untouchables, handpicked for their incorruptibility.

Eliot Ness was born on April 19, 1903 (123 years ago), in the Roseland neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. His parents, both Norwegian immigrants, operated a bakery. 

Ness attended Christian Fenger High School in Chicago. He was educated at the University of Chicago, graduating in 1925 with a degree in political science and business administration.

Ness began his career as an investigator for the Retail Credit Company of Atlanta assigned to the Chicago territory, where he conducted background investigations for the purpose of credit information. 

In March 1930, attorney Frank J. Loesch of the Chicago Crime Commission asked President Herbert Hoover to take down Al Capone. Agents of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, working under Elmer Irey and Special Agent Frank J. Wilson of the Intelligence Unit, were already investigating Capone and his associates for income tax evasion.

In late 1930, Attorney General William D. Mitchell, seeking a faster end to the case, implemented a plan devised by President Hoover for sending a small team of Prohibition agents to target the illegal breweries and supply routes of Capone while gathering evidence of conspiracy to violate the National Prohibition Act. 

U.S. attorney George E.Q. Johnson, the Chicago prosecutor directly in charge of both the Prohibition and income tax investigations of Capone, chose the 27-year-old Ness (now assigned to the Justice Department) to lead this small squad.

With corruption of Chicago's law enforcement agents endemic, Ness went through the records of all Prohibition agents to create a reliable team (initially of six, eventually growing to about ten) later known as "The Untouchables." 

Raids against illegal stills and breweries began in March 1931. Within six months, Ness' agents had destroyed bootlegging operations worth an estimated $500,000 (almost $9.9 million in 2022) and representing an additional $2 million ($39.5 million in 2022) in lost income for Capone.

Failed attempts by members of the Chicago Outfit to bribe or intimidate Ness and his agents inspired Charles Schwarz of the Chicago Daily News to begin calling them "untouchables". George Johnson adopted the nickname and promoted it to the press, establishing it as the squad's unofficial title.

^{On October 17, 1931, Capone was convicted on three counts of income tax evasion.  He was sentenced to eleven years in prison (where he died) and began his sentence in 1932.} 

^{Beginning in 1959 there was a TV series called The Untouchables, which starred Robert Stack as Ness and was narrated by Walter Winchell.  In 1987 there was a film called The Untouchables, directed by Brian De Palma, which starred Kevin Costner as Ness, Sean Connery, and Robert De Niro as Al Capone.  As a result, Eliot Ness has become an American folk hero.}

Ness died of a heart attack at his home in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, on May 16, 1957. He was 54 years of age.

Murder on the Orient Express

Murder on the Orient Express is a 1974 British mystery film directed by Sidney Lumet and based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie.

It has an all-star cast including Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, Albert Finney, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark and Michael York.

The film received six Academy Award nominations.  Bergman won for Best Supporting Actress.

On a budget of $1.4 million, the film grossed $37.7 million at the box office.  

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 89% based on 46 reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "Murder, intrigue, and a star-studded cast make this stylish production of Murder on the Orient Express one of the best Agatha Christie adaptations to see the silver screen."

In December 1935, Hercule Poirot travels from Istanbul to London on the Orient Express. His old friend, Signor Bianchi, a director of the company that owns the rail line, arranges Poirot's accommodation after all the first-class compartments are uncharacteristically sold out during the off-season. 

Other passengers include American socialite Harriet Belinda Hubbard; English governess Mary Debenham; Swedish missionary Greta Ohlsson; American businessman Samuel Ratchett, with his secretary/translator Hector McQueen and English valet Edward Beddoes; Italian-American car salesman Antonio "Gino" Foscarelli; elderly Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff and her German maid Hildegarde Schmidt; Hungarian Count Rudolf Andrenyi and his wife Elena; British Army Colonel John Arbuthnott; and American theatrical agent Cyrus B. Hardman.

The day after the train's departure, Ratchett requests to hire Poirot as a bodyguard as he has received death threats, but Poirot declines despite a very generous fee. During the night, a snowdrift in Yugoslavia strands the train.  

Poirot is awakened by a moan from Ratchett's compartment. Conductor Pierre Michel is told through the door that it was just a nightmare. Ratchett is dead the next morning; drugged and stabbed twelve times.

Who done it?

 

Macy

Macy Bea Lasky was born in Jacksonville, Florida on Saturday, January 17, 2026.  She is my first granddaughter.  And Macy is MARVELOUS.  

On Saturday, March 21, 2026, Cristina and I flew to Jacksonville (via Miami) to meet Macy face to face.  What a joy to hold her in my arms, whether she was sleeping or she was awake and moving her arms and legs.

As I have said, the key to happiness is choosing your parents well.  And Macy's parents, my son Bret and Pam, are doing a great job.  I was very impressed.

In addition to the above three, my daughter Rachel, son-in-law Mike, and grandsons Nate and Leo flew from New York to complete the family get together.  I had opportunities to have heart to heart conversations with each.

I enjoyed watching Bret, Rachel, Mike, Nate, Leo and Pam play pickleball at a nearby court. The first pickleball game was played 50 years ago, on Banbridge Island, Washington. Three fathers decided to use a badminton court, paddle tennis rackets, and a plastic wiffle ball. 

By coincidence, my friend Joe was driving to St. Augustine on the very same day as Cristina and I were as well.  We were able to meet that evening.

When I travel, I enjoy eating different food, especially food in the USA unavailable in Brazil.  Top of my list were the pancakes Bret made for me served with real maple syrup.  

I should also mention shrimp and grits at the St. Augustine Fish Camp, a hamburger at Harry's Seafood and Grill, chocolate ice cream at Kilwin's on St. George's Street, a waffle at Waffle House, soup and sandwich at Panera Bread, a chocolate chocolate doughnut at Parlor Doughnuts and Cold Stone Creamery ice cream.

We also enjoyed going up and down every aisle at Publix Supermarket in St. Augustine, buying a few things like Jello pudding, Paul Newman's salad dressing and an apple pie.

Cristina and I have said where ever you go, you always find a Brazilian.  Four times in St. Augustine, we had the same Uber driver, Paulo, originally from Brazil.

This time, flying Sao Paulo to and from Miami, we chose American Airlines Premium Economy.  It was worth the extra price with more space and amenities including a total of three small bottles of Bailey's The Original Irish Cream.  We also took advantage of wheelchair service (once without a driver) in Miami and Sao Paulo airports.

When will be our next trip to visit my family in the USA?  Or when will they visit me in Brazil? 

Paladin, Chapter 17

EXT - DAY. RANCH

POLLYANNA arrives at the ranch on horseback riding fast.  Her husband is waiting for her.  She dismounts.

BIG DAN: Where you been?

POLLYANNA: In town.

BIG DAN: Doin' what?

POLLYANNA: None of your business.

BIG DAN grabs her.

BIG DAN: Tell me the truth.

POLLYANNA: Let go of me, you big ape.

BIG DAN slaps her face.

POLLYANNA:  You'll pay for that.

BIG DAN: I'm waiting for answers.

POLLYANNA: My business is my business.  You'll get nothing from me.  Why don't you hit me again?  Does that make you feel like a big man?

BIG DAN: I am a big man.  I don't need you for that.

BIG DAN throws her down on the ground in frustration and heads into the ranch house.  POLLYANNA dusts her self off, gets up and sits on the porch.  In her anger, she recalls an event from her past.

EXT. UNKNOWN LOCATION - DAY

POLLYANNA is alone in isolated location with only some targets in the distance.  A revolver is strapped to her waist.  Every few seconds she rapidly draws her revolver and quickly fires it, successfully hitting the target.  After emptying her gun, she reloads and continues practicing rapidly drawing, firing and hitting the target.

__________

I will be on vacation next week.  Next blog post will be April 5th.    

Ides of March

Today is March 15th.  In ancient Roman culture it would be the Ides of March.  

The Ides were a monthly reference point falling on the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and on the 13th day of all other months. Derived from the Latin for "to divide," the Ides originally marked the full moon. 

I learned about the Ides thanks to my Oswego High School Latin teacher, Ruth Young.

In modern times, the Ides of March is best known as the date on which Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Caesar was stabbed to death at a meeting of the Senate.

Julius Caesar was assassinated because a group of Roman senators feared his immense, unprecedented power would destroy the Roman Republic and restore a monarchy.  

As many as 60 conspirators, led by Brutus and Cassius, were involved. According to Plutarch, a seer had warned that harm would come to Caesar on the Ides of March. 

On his way to the Theatre of Pompey, where he would be assassinated, Caesar passed the seer and joked, "Well, the Ides of March are come", implying that the prophecy had not been fulfilled, to which the seer replied, "Aye, they are come, but they are not gone."

This meeting is famously dramatized in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, when Caesar is warned by the soothsayer to "beware the Ides of March."