Customer Reviews

Tall Story [VHS]

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This film is not like too many I've seen. It has a very odd comic tone(I've only felt this kind of odd sexual energy when watching something like Pretty Maids All In A Row). Jane Fonda plays a young girl who's come to college to get married-that's all. She is a huge basketball fan-especially of the team's star player played by Anthony Perkins. On top of two very funny performances by those tow-you've also got Ray Walston. Ray is in rare form here and seems to show the beginnings of a Mr. Hand-type teacher. Very entertaining and very funny-but funny in an almost campy- clever 50s sitcom kind of way. Very Good!!

. . .that a good, funny film can be made without offending anyone's sensibilities. So, WHERE'S THE DVD ???!!!

I think it was a great movie. It had me laughing and waiting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next.
It's about a girl named June Ryder,(Jane Fonda) who goes to the same college to capture the heart of a all-american basketball player Ray Blent (Anthony Perkins) and marry him. And she ends up in all of his classes. This movie includes Ray Walston, as the professor. This was a great movie which I think Anthony Perkins & Jane Fonda had chemistry. And the romance in it was wonderful. It has parts you have to rewind 2-3 times, (in my opinion anyway) Since I'm a big fan,and admire Anthony Perkins it was a enjoyable movie.

This movie was super adorable and I had only seen it once on tv a long time ago when I was a very, very tall teenage girl. I just watched it again on Amazon Instant Play as a very, very tall woman and it is still super adorable. I thought I would see it as hokey now, but it was still really cute. There were some parts that are more old fashioned than some would like. But, the days of women only going to college to "catch" a man are over and everyone knows it. It is part of the comical charm of this movie. To me, they were already poking fun at it in 1960. But, I really loved that the boy and the girl both knew they needed to take their time as they got to know each other. Something sorely missing in movies now of any genre.

Two things I noticed that should be the same old fashioned way: The Pom-Pom outfits should have stayed the same. Classy and cute. And the basketball outfits should have stayed the same. Short and cute! LOL.

I also loved that they included a questionable lesson in Ethics. That subject should be required in every High School and College these days.

They finally put "Sunday in New York," another adorable Jane Fonda movie on DVD recently. Please add this one to the list. People selling VHS tapes of great movies for $100.00 are ridiculous...BUT it shows how good this movie is. Someone please put it on DVD.

"Tall Story" is a 1960 Josh Logan black and white film about college life, starring Anthony Perkins and Jane Fonda with Robert Redford in his big screen debut. It was based on a 1957 novel and a 1959 Broadway play.

Anthony Perkins (1932-92) plays a college basketball star. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in "Psycho" (1960) and baseball legend Jimmy Piersall in "Fear Strikes Out" (1957). He was nominated for an Oscar for "Friendly Persuasion" (1957) and won Best Actor at Cannes for "Goodbye Again" (1961), but personally I think "Fear Strikes Out" is his best performance. Perkins plays a basketball player faced with ethical choices. He does a good job in this light comedy, although his basketball skills leave a little to be desired.

Jane Fonda (1937 -) is better known for her social and political activism, but underneath there is a long and distinguished career as an actress, including Oscar winning performances in "Klute" (1972) and "Coming Home" (1978) as well as 5 more nominations, 2 BAFTA Oscars for "Julia" (1977) and "The China Syndrome" (1979), and an Emmy for "The Dollmaker" (1984). Four times she won the Golden Globe and the People's Choice awards as most favorite actress. "Tall Story" was her film debut. She plays a husband hunting cheerleader and she is very sweet.

The marvelously funny Ray Walston (1914-2001) appears as Perkins' professor. Most people know him best as "My Favorite Martian" (1963-6) or as Mr. Hand from "Fast Times at Ridgmont High" (1982). Walston won 2 Emmys for his work on "Picket Fences" and a Tony for "Damn Yankees" (1956).

Look for Robert Redford (1936 -) who makes his film debut, uncredited, as a basketball player along with Gary Lockwood ("2001"). And look for Tom Laughlin ("Billy Jack") as a married friend of the couple.

Look for Joe E Ross (1914-82) in a small part as Mike, the restaurant owner. Ross is famous from his work on TV as the cook on "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-9) and "Car 54 Where Are You" as Fred Gwynne's partner.

Josh Logan (1908-88) directs. He was nominated 3 times for an Oscar ("Picnic", "Sayonara", and "Fanny") but never won. He did, however, win 7 Tonys (stage versions of "Mister Roberts and "South Pacific"), a Golden Globe for "Picnic" (1955), a Pulitzer Prize ("Picnic"), and a WGA award for "Mister Roberts" (1955). Among the 11 films he directed are also listed "Bus Stop" (1956), "South Pacific" (1958), "Camelot" (1967), and "Paint Your Wagon" (1969). On a percentage basis, therefore, Logan was probably the most successful director ever. Logan's motto was - "The individual actor, playwright, or director who breaks the spell by drawing attention to himself and crowing 'See how clever I am!' is a crook."

BTW - Logan was a good friend of Henry Fonda and expanded Jane's role from the limited one in the play to a major role in the film.

In 1960, the top money earners were "Swiss Family Robinson", "Psycho", "Spartacus", "Exodus", and "The Alamo". The big Oscar winners were "The Apartment" (Picture, Director) and "Elmer Gantry" (Actor, Supporting Actress). Other notable releases that year were "La Dolce Vita", "Inherit the Wind", "The Magnificent Seven", "Oceans 11", "Two Women", and "The Virgin Spring".

"Tall Story" is not so much a basketball story (like "Hoosiers") but rather it is a story about college life in the 50s. The author of the novel on which the film is based worked at Hamilton, Bennington, and Brandeis so it is a slice of a very special type of college life. For other looks at college life, compare this film to the Marx Brothers' "Horse Feathers" (1932), John Houseman's "The Paper Chase" (1973), Rodney Dangerfield's "Back to School" (1986), "Revenge of the Nerds" (1984), and, of course, National Lampoon's "Animal House" (1978).

The NY Times called it "a tall ear of comedy corn" and "a old-fashioned campus frolic". Time said "Nothing could possibly save the picture". Nor has the passage of time treated this film very well, and today it all seems a little naïve and very much like the Rock Hudson Doris Day films of the same era - good clean fun and a happy ending. If you're a fan of those 50s romantic comedies, this is a good film for you.

I've always enjoyed this movie. It's quite funny at times, and the chemistry between Perkins and Fonda is surprisingly intense. At the same time, I wouldn't recommend this movie for pre-teen, female viewers because of its dated message about women, relationships, and college life.