Product Details

• Actors: Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Ruby Dee
• Directors: Anthony Mann
• Format: NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: MGM
• DVD Release Date: December 2, 2009
• Run Time: 78 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002ZG8PZO
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #40,678 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "THE TALL TARGET" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Former police officer John Kennedy doesn't have a ticket, but he's determined to stay aboard the overnight train rolling from New York to Washington DC. He's convinced that someone - or some ones - among the passengers intends to kill newly elected President Abraham Lincoln when the train stops in Baltimore. The true-life Baltimore Plot provides the inspiration for this Hollywood thriller directed with film noir overtones by Anthony Mann and possessing a real feel for the powder-keg political atmosphere of 1861. Dick Powell (Murder, My Sweet) portrays Kennedy with appropriate grit, sifting through layers of duplicity and confronting escalating dangers as the Night Express rumbles toward destination...or assassination.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent forgotten movie featuring an assassination plot, Dick Powell, Abraham Lincoln and billows of back-lit steam, November 8, 2009

By 

C. O. DeRiemer (San Antonio, Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
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If Anthony Mann, Paul Vogel and Dick Powell hadn't been around, Abraham Lincoln most likely would have been assassinated while making a speech in Baltimore on his way to his first inauguration. Ft. Sumter has been fired upon. West Pointers from Southern states are resigning their commissions to serve in their home state regiments. Abolitionists detest Lincoln as a man of compromise. He is so widely reviled by both the South and the North it might be difficult to know who is behind the plot.

In Baltimore the plot to kill Lincoln is set. He will travel by night train from New York. He'll stop at Baltimore in the morning. And there, 20 sharpshooters, each unknown to the others, will fire at him as he makes his speech. Surely at least one of them will hit their tall target. John Kennedy, a New York police officer, has learned of the plot. He is determined to foil it.

Anthony Mann, directing, and Paul Vogel, his cinematographer, have crafted an historical crime noir filled with the lurking dangers of the night, and with a cast of characters we, like Kennedy, don't know whether to trust or not. This is a tale of murder and plots on a train, and there's nothing like a train for suspense and atmosphere. The noir photography is some of the best you could hope for. The story is contained for the most part within the narrow confines of the train, from the engine to the caboose, to the sleeper, the ornate private rooms, the passenger car and the smoker. All this, and we also get a terrific steam engine, swaying and clacketing through the night and billowing out great clouds of back-lit steam at every stop. Men struggle and die on the train. Kennedy forces one man's head on the track just as the engine begins to pull the wheels forward. There are lies, misjudgments and deceit. Telegraph lines are cut. Kennedy himself is accused. It seems that only Kennedy can foil this plot...and he doesn't know, yet, how.

Kennedy, played by a tough Dick Powell, finds no one believes him...except, of course, the assassins and those they employ who, like Kennedy, are on the early evening train to Baltimore. His only ally, a fellow detective, is killed on the train before the journey even starts by a man who claims he is John Kennedy. There's the young West Point officer Lance Beaufort (Marshall Thompson) on his way back home to Georgia with his sister (played by Paula Raymond), and her maid (played by Ruby Dee), like a sister to her, she says, who is a slave. Beaufort speaks of a gentleman's honor, his sister speaks of gracious living and her maid thinks about Lincoln. There's Mrs. Charlotte Alsop (Florence Bates), the busybody abolitionist who shares, perhaps too forcefully, her disdain for slavery. There's Caleb Jeffers (Adolph Menjou), a small-time New York politician who has raised a company of volunteer Poughkeepsie zouabs. He and his men are traveling to Washington to march in Lincoln's inauguration parade. Jeffers is a man of the world (as only Menjou can be) who befriends Kennedy when Kennedy most needs a friend. And there is Homer Crowely (Will Geer), the train conductor, who seems more concerned with order on his train regardless of what deadly schemes may be in play.

Then, of course, there is that well disguised, tricky ending which is played out, after the violent nighttime train ride, in the bright Baltimore morning.

Why this first-rate film was ignored or forgotten is something only Hollywood moguls could explain, but they never cared much one way or the other. Powell is just fine as the tough, skeptical John Kennedy who believes in Lincoln. He has to rely at times on his fists and a degree of ruthlessness, but he also must use his wits. He's in a double or triple game, and his opponent shouldn't be underestimated. Will Geer with his flat, mid-West twang makes a distinctive conductor. Ruby Dee gives a lot of heart to the movie, especially with why some believe in Lincoln while so many think he is a disaster. Adolph Menjou is a delight, and nearly wrestles the movie away from Powell. If you like that dark, lurking, well-photographed noirish look, if you like history mysteries, if you like Dick Powell and if you like excellent but forgotten movies, The Tall Target is well worth having.

This comes from Warner's Archive Collection, films from their vault that may once have been released long ago as a VHS and then disappeared. Warner slaps them as is on DVDs and charges a premium. The quality of each movie's transfer is no better than the quality of the print from the vault. In this case, the quality of The Tall Target is just about excellent. There are no extras and no chapter index. You can click ahead at ten-minute intervals. If you decide to buy, shop around for the best price.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Railroad Fans, December 24, 2010

By 

Mr. James C. Kellam (Scotland) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: THE TALL TARGET (DVD)

This is an excellent thriller which is set entirely aboard a train which is on its way from New York to Washington for the inauguration of Abraham Lincoln. However, supporters of the South are on the train and are planning to assassinate him. Dick Powell is the police officer John Kennedy who attempts to foil their scheme.

The acting from veterans such as Powell and Adolph Menjou is excellent, and the film never lets up for one moment. I would also recommend it to railroad fans, because the train is pulled by a most handsome eight wheeler.

I should point out that this is an official DVD-R download from Warner, but it caused no problems and the copy of the film is very good. Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "The Tall Target (1951) ... Dick Powell ... Anthony Mann (Director) (2009)", February 1, 2011

By 

J. Lovins "Mr. Jim" (Missouri-USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: THE TALL TARGET (DVD)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) presents "THE TALL TARGET" (1951) (78 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Ruby Dee & Will Geer -- [Directed by Anthony Mann]

Based on a true story: the attempted assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln, even before he was able to assume his duties in Washington. Dick Powell stars as New York detective John Kennedy, who learns of the assassination plot early on. When his superiors refuse to believe his wild tale, Kennedy quits the force and boards the Presidential train, hoping to prevent the killing on his own. The problem: who can he trust on board, and who can't be trusted? Ginny Beaufort (Paula Raymond), the sister of the would-be assassin, might be able to prevent the tragedy -- if she isn't in on the conspiracy, that is.

The film's nail-biting climax is brilliantly handled by Anthony Mann, whose directorial expertise was becoming sharper with each successive film in the early 1950s.

BIOS:
1. Anthony Mann [aka: Emil Anton Bundesmann] - [Director]
Date of Birth: 30 June 1906 - San Diego, California
Date of Death: 29 April 1967 - Berlin, Germany

2. Dick Powell
Date of Birth: 14 November 1904, Mountain View, Arkansas
Date of Death: 2 January 1963, West Los Angeles, California

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 4 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 78 min on DVD ~ Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ~ (12/02/2009)