The Tall Target (1951)

What a waste of my time!!!

People are voting emotionally.

Best movie ever!

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Dick Powell plays NYC police detective John Kennedy who has discovered a plot to kill Abraham Lincoln on his way to his inauguration.But alas Kennedy is thwarted at every turn. He turned in his report with supporting information to the War Department and to the NYC police. But unfortunately nobody cares, especially his superior. So Kennedy turns in his badge and gets on the train to Baltimore - the site of the planned assassination - without any legal authority, and without a ticket when the man who was supposed to bring him his ticket disappears.Everyone on the train is suspect. Everybody may or may not be who they seem to be. Plus the film is full of McGuffins. What is important to note and what is not? You'd think that a film played out entirely on a train might be claustrophobic and even boring, but this is a solid suspense thriller with touches of nineteenth century noir, if there is such a thing. The stark black and white photography makes this look like something made ten years in the future, not 1951 at MGM in the age of Red Skelton and Esther Williams.Highly recommended but don't blink. You might miss something of extreme importance.

In 1861, New York Police Sergeant John Kennedy (Dick Powell) finds a plan to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. His chief Superintendent Simon G. Stroud does not believe in his report and Kennedy resigns to hunt the conspirators alone. He informs to Stroud that he had sent his report to the Secretary of War and requests a meeting with Lincoln in Baltimore. He boards the train to Baltimore and does not find his friend Inspector Reilly with his train ticket that was waiting for him, but finds his wallet. Kennedy seeks out Reilly and finds body on a platform; however the corpse falls off the train. When he returns to his seat, there is an impostor posing to be Kennedy but he brings the conductor to the cabin of his acquaintance Colonel Caleb Jeffers that confirms his identity. Kennedy looks for a gun to arrest the impostor but the criminal subdues him with his gun. They leave the train at the next stop but Kennedy fight with the impostor and Colonel Jeffers shoots and kills the man. Kennedy returns to the train and soon he discovers several conspirators in the train. Will he be capable to save Abraham Lincoln?"The Tall Target" is a fictitious story about a claimed conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln. Fictitious story of celebrities may be attractive to fans but better off the use of fictitious characters. The screenplay is intriguing and is a suspenseful especially when John Kennedy finds the web of conspirators in the train. My vote is five.Title (Brazil): "Conspiração" ("Conspiracy")

"Ninety years ago a lonely traveller boarded the night train from New York to Washington D.C., and when he reached his destination his passage had become a forgotten chapter in the history of the United States. This motion picture is a dramatisation of that disputed journey."The Tall Target is directed by Anthony Mann and written by George Worthing Yates, Daniel Mainwaring (as Geoffrey Holmes) and Art Cohn. It stars Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson and Will Geer. As the above opening salvo suggests, story is disputed, it's based around the so called Baltimore Plot, a plot to assassinate Abraham Lincoln; the tall man of the title who is on the train heading for his inauguration.Set mostly aboard a train, Mann's The Tall Target is a very tight noirish type period thriller that sees Powell's gruff detective try and protect Abe Lincoln from assassins lurking within the confines of the locomotive hauled express. Although a low budget production, there is some smart period detail to enjoy and the cramped setting of the train interiors allows Mann to infuse the story with paranoia and claustrophobic tints. Major bonus is that the makers excellently capture what must have been a powder keg of political uncertainty in 1861, this is born out by the number of interesting characters with a voice aboard this train. Thus the suspense and mystery elements are not confined to being of the obvious variety.With Paul Vogel's black and white photography adding some period bite, and putting the noirish sheen to scenes such as the ones involving smoke, it's a shame that the cast are mostly hit and miss. Powell just about carries off the tough-guy persona, with the scenes shared with Menjou good value, and Geer is the stand out as the jobs worth conductor. Raymond is lovely, but hardly puts a stamp on proceedings, while Thompson is badly inadequate when it comes to putting the threat into threatening situations. But they are only minor itches that fail to derail the film from the tracks, because ultimately it's the story that is the star, a story boosted no end by Mann's taut direction. 7.5/10

Movies mostly set in trains often work out extremely well. It's an enclosed and restrained environment, that creates a feeling of claustrophobia and tension but also with a lot of pace, since the train is always on the move. Just think about other movie examples set- or partly set on trains such as "North by Northwest", "Murder on the Orient Express", "Shanghai Express" and "From Russia with Love". This is a movie that deserves a spot on this list as well.This is a rather intriguing and original movie concerning plots to assassinate Abraham Lincoln before or during his inauguration as the president. It's based on true fact. There really were several plots being brewed to assassinate Lincoln because of his outspoken opinion against slavery and because he mostly was seen as a friend of the north, among various other reasons. But of course the movie takes lots of liberties with the story, also because nobody really knows what happened really. The story focuses on a New York police man who suspects that there is plot to kill Lincoln. Only problem for him is his superiors don't believe him and won't take him serious, which is reason for him to take matters into his own hands. Aboard the train to Baltimore, where Lincoln would pass through on his way to Washngton D.C. to be inaugurated, there is a lot of political talk aboard between Lincoln 'fans' and 'haters' and other various characters that act very suspicious. It makes this a good and interesting movie on several levels. It gives a good view into the time and minds of American people who lived in the 1860's and at the same time also gives the movie a tense mysterious/thriller story.In 1951, action-movies were still non-existent so to speak but this movie at times show some early premises of the genre. It's mostly notable in its pace and toward the ending of the movie.Interesting detail is that the main character in this movie is named John Kennedy. There always have been a surprising lot of similarities between Abraham Lincoln and the other assassinated US president John F. Kennedy, so the fact that the main character is named John Kennedy in a movie about Abraham Lincoln, 10 years before Kennedy became president is an odd coincidence to say the least. Also one of the plots, as described in this movie, to kill Lincoln in this movie show a surprising amount of similarities to how John F. Kennedy many years later got assassinated.One of those movies that really deserves to be known better and needs to be seen be more.8/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/