TV Western - Tall Man the ....

In the heyday of the Western, prime time on the small screen was one oater after another. Each tried hard to stand out. Sometimes it was the gimmick of a special gun. THE RIFLEMAN had his Winchester with a large loop and a metal spur. In WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE it was a Mare's Leg. In JOHNNY RINGO it was a LeMat revolver that also shot a shotgun shell. Some shows had unusual music. WYATT EARP, with its barbershop quartet. SHOTGUN SLADE with, of all things, a jazz theme.

Then there were the 'sidekick' shows. Wild Bill Hickok and Jingles. The Cisco Kid and Pancho. The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Many shows had an older lawman/scout/investigator/you-name-it who taught an inexperienced protege the ropes.

Which brings us to THE TALL MAN. In this one the experienced lawman is none other than Pat Garrett, and the youth he tries so hard to bring around to the good side of the law is Billy the Kid. And in this regard, it's unique. Because the dynamic between the two was unlike any other.

Barry Sullivan portrays Garrett as basically a good man who imposes the law fairly. But he has his dark side, as he demonstrates when the sheriff is murdered and Garrett vows to kill the man responsible.

For sheer darkness, though, he can't match Billy. Clu Gulager could have taken the easy way out and portrayed the Kid as a misunderstood delinquent. But no. His Billy Bonney is a stone-cold killer. He loves to laugh and drink and have a high time with the senoritas, but make no mistake. Cross him, and he will drop you dead.

The interplay between the two is where the show shines. For Billy and Pat are friends, and Billy genuinely tries to do the right thing, as Garrett keeps wanting him to. But the thing is, he's 'Billy'. You get the sense that sooner or later he's going to snap, and when he does, all hell will break loose.

The show seldom pulled its dramatic punches. Yeah, we're talking the '50's here, so don't expect, say, DEXTER. But it could still be brutal, as in the show where one of Billy's girlfriends goes up to his room, unaware that two men are lying in wait to kill him, and takes a double-barreled shotgun blast to the face.

Clu Gulager is perfect as Billy. He has the smile, he has the teeth, he gives a good sense of just how wild Billy could be, and when he turns cold, he's deadly. That he realizes Garrett is the only 'good' friend he has, and that he tries so hard not to step over the line when we all know his ultimate fate, adds a sustained suspense and a pathos few Westerns achieved.

Before I forget, I should make mention of the score. It's not as different as SHOTGUN SLADE, but it, too, is unique. The music is by Juan Garcia Esquivel, and it brilliantly complements the dramatic elements.

So if you're up for a Western, and you've never seen THE TALL MAN, you might like it a lot.

A great box set and all 75 episodes are in great quality. Much better than the awful M-SQUAD set they came out with a couple years ago. In fact, the picture quality appears to be from Universal direct, which owns the rights to the series. And the price being about 50 cents an episode is a bargain. I remember paying $20 for a VHS video with three, half-hour episodes. Guest stars on these will surprise you. I saw Martin Landau in two episodes, Leonard Nimoy in two episodes, I counted Kermit Maynard in at least five of them, Andy Clyde in five or six, George Kennedy and George Macready even make appearances. Recommended for people who love TV Westerns guest appearances from celebrities who later became famous.

This is the story of the friendship of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.If you are looking for historical fact here in this series.Forget it.There are a few facts but this is purely Hollywood's version of Billy and Pat Garrett.This was the kind of TV show that would get me in trouble with my teachers in school [kindergarten].Made to stand with my face to the wall because I always said that people like Billy the Kid and Jesse James were really good guys and were lead to do the bad things they did because of the rich and powerful trying to steal their land or had done them or their families wrong in the past.
.But,this is a good action-packed western all the same.Barry Sullivan plays Pat Garrett as a staid and sermon-preaching kind of sheriff.While it is Clu Gulager as Billy the Kid that is the more interesting character as he gives his role a more exciting and edgy feel to it.This series only lasted two seasons.But it did run to 75 episodes.
I really liked this series.The more I watched each episode the more into the series I got.This is down to good stories and the pacing of each episode as well as the actors..Each episode had a guest star that was or would become famous.Martin landau,Jim Davis,Leonard Nimoy to name a few.The series ended without us seeing Pat Garrett kill Billy the Kid.I wonder if this series lasted longer if that would have been the series finale.
If you like westerns from the sixties you'll love this show.Like I said there is historical inaccuracy here but the show is very entertaining.
Once again,I have to praise Timeless Media Group for putting series like these out on DVD.

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