The Tall Target is a 1951 American historical crime film directed by Anthony Mann and starring Dick Powell, Paula Raymond and Adolphe Menjou.

New York Police Sergeant John Kennedy once guarded Abraham Lincoln for 48 hours while he was campaigning for President of the United States, and came away deeply impressed by the man.

Kennedy has infiltrated a cabal and discovered that an assassination attempt will be made as the president-elect makes his way by train via Baltimore to Washington, DC.

Having already sent a copy of his report to the Secretary of War, he sends a telegram to Lincoln, urgently requesting a meeting in Baltimore.

Among the other passengers are Mrs. Charlotte Alsop, an anti-slavery writer; Lance Beaufort, a West Point cadet who plans to resign and enlist in the Confederate army; his sister Ginny; and their slave Rachel.

After much searching, Kennedy finally discovers Reilly's body on the exterior platform of a car, but the corpse slips off the train as he is reaching for it.

Jeffers confesses that he is in the plot in order to protect his shares in Northern cotton mills, which would be adversely affected by war.