The Tall Target: A Review (Review #2010)

THE TALL TARGET

This review is part of the Summer Under the Stars Blogathon. Today's star is Ruby Dee.

The temptation to see today's political climate as toxic and unprecedented in the history of the Republic is there. However, I think the most dangerous time for the very survival of the United States occurred between November 1860 and March 1861. This was the gap between the election and inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. Southern states were seceding. The Administration of Lincoln's predecessor, James Buchanan, was doing nothing to so much as slow down the impending crisis. Finally, there are the various plots to prevent Lincoln's swearing-in, which included trying to kill the President-elect. The Tall Target takes a true event and spins an interesting film that blends elements of film noir to a historic setting.

New York policeman John Kennedy (Dick Powell), who once protected Lincoln prior to his election, knows that there will be an attempt on the President-elect's life on route to Washington, D.C. 

As a side note, the character's name really is "John Kennedy" and The Tall Target was made in 1951, nine years before John Kennedy became the 35th President of the United States. It is just a wild coincidence. 

Kennedy boards the Night Flyer train to get to Baltimore, where Lincoln is scheduled to give a speech and where he suspects that the assassination attempt will take place. He is to be met on the Night Flyer by a friend, but instead he finds an imposter attempting to pass himself off as Kennedy. He also finds his friend dead. Kennedy appears to have an ally in Colonel Jeffers (Adolphe Menjou), a Northern military appointee who will be part of the military parade in Baltimore.

However, not everything is as it appears to be. The conspirators go high up. They also may involve Lance Beaufort (Marshall Thompson). He, his sister Ginny (Paula Raymond) and their slave Rachel (Ruby Dee) are traveling to Atlanta before any conflict begins. Ginny and Rachel know that Lance will resign from West Point to join the Confederacy, but neither realize that he is plotting to commit murder. Who else is involved in the plans to eliminate the next Commander-in-Chief? Will Kennedy be able to unmask and stop the assassination attempt? Will he find friend or foe in Jeffers, Rachel and Ginny? 

The Tall Target runs a brisk 78 minutes, compacting a lot of its story within its short runtime. I do not think that there is a wasted moment in The Tall Target. The film keeps to the action and mystery of who the conspirators are and the lengths that Kennedy must go to keep himself on the train and stop the assassination attempt. The film's pacing is so strong that we even have surprisingly strong social commentary.

Near the end of The Tall Target, Ginny berates Rachel for attempting to help Kennedy. Though she is unaware of Lance's involvement in the assassination plot, Ginny is no abolitionist. She tells Rachel that while she never mistreated her, she was not going to give her freedom. "Freedom isn't a thing you should be able to give me, Miss Ginny," Rachel responds. "It's something that I should have been born with". This is a strong, I would even say powerful, moment from Ruby Dee. George Worthington Yates and Art Cohn's screenplay was good in having this bit of dialogue. It allowed for the human element in the "peculiar institution" to have a mention amidst the various mysteries of who was targeting Lincoln and Kennedy.

The Tall Target is also interesting in that it has a film noir feel to it. We see this in the opening, where the train station could have easily been for a film set in the 1940s. Bronislau Kaper's score lends the film that sense of noir, mysterious and menacing in the title opening. 

The casting of Dick Powell as John Kennedy adds yet another element in The Tall Target's noir feel. Powell was cast as a charming song-and-dance man or a tough hardboiled detective in film. Here, he leans into the latter. His Kennedy is a tough, no-nonsense detective, determined to stop a crime. He can interrogate his suspects or work with secret allies with equal dexterity. 

The cast works well with each other in The Tall Target. Menjou can be charming, humorous or menacing as Jeffers, depending on the situation. Dee brings a quiet elegance, grace and strength in her role. She also is spared from speaking in stereotypical dialect. Instead, she is soft spoken but perfect in her diction. While Rachel is opposed to slavery, she tells anti-slavery activist Mrs. Charlotte Allsop (Florence Bates) that she will not move to Africa. Bates is not exactly comic relief, but in her absentmindedness and enthusiasm for Lincoln, she does make the character amusing.

There is more comedy with the minor character of Winfield (Brad Morrow). He is a small child who sees all and is willing to tell anyone who asks what he knows, for a price. The few times he wheels and deals for payment from the various adults is a nice touch. I think that Raymond and Thompson as the Beauford siblings are probably the weakest performances. Both seem to be a bit exaggerated in their manner.

That, however, is not a dealbreaker. The Tall Target, while probably not well-known, is a strong film. Well-filmed and with generally good performances, The Tall Target tells its little-known story to great effect. 

DECISION: B+