The Tall Target (1951)

Directed by Anthony Mann. Starring Dick Powell, Adolphe Menjou, Marshall Thompson, Paula Raymond, Richard Rober, Ruby Dee, Will Geer, Leif Erickson, Katherine Warren, Florence Bates, Regis Toomey, Tom Powers.

With secession on the rise, newly-elected President Lincoln is the target of an assassination plot, and rogue policeman Powell is on the hunt, boarding a Baltimore-bound train reputedly carrying one or more of the conspirators among its passengers. No such luck for a flavorful, suspenseful whodunit (er, whodoit?); although pacy and serpentine, the two most obvious suspects turn out to be the real deal—one for being the most likely culprit, another for being a “secret traitor” any regular moviegoer will see coming from a mile away—so there’s not much mystery. Not many thrills either, as director Anthony Mann doesn’t use the limited space and inescapable qualities of the train to their claustrophobic potential. Some good character actor performances from the likes of Menjou and Bates, plus a couple of cleverly-devised episodes which (temporarily) trap or mislead the hero, make it a diverting programmer that’ll do fine for a lazy afternoon. Although it’s no fault of the writers, it’s hard to get past the fact that the man trying to prevent a presidential assassination is named John Kennedy.

59/100