There’s been a real dearth of video releases to report lately. Some of you have written in to lament the fact that you actually had a surplus in your Westerns DVD budget. Well, the folks at Warner Archive are helping take care of that with a couple Westerns on their slate for release today.
First is Anthony Mann’s Devil’s Doorway (1950, MGM) starring Robert Taylor as a Indian who fought in the Civil War, and who returns home to fight the injustices committed against his people.
This was Mann’s first Western, and he displays a real command of the genre. (The Furies would be released the same year.) It was also Mann’s last film with ace cinematographer John Alton. Alton brings along his bag of film noir lighting tricks, making for an incredible-looking film. Taylor is excellent, as always, and Louis Calhern is wonderful as a gambler.
This is a must, folks.
MGM held the release of Devil’s Doorway back to wait and see how another “Indian Western,” Delmer Daves’ Broken Arrow (1950), performed at the box office. (Looking at this insert card, you’ll note that MGM didn’t indicate in any way that Taylor plays an Native American.)
Warner Archives’ other Western release, also available today, is RKO’s The Half-Breed (1952) starring Robert Young, Janis Carter and Jack Buetel.
Buetel is the guy Howard Hughes signed to play Billy The Kid in The Outlaw (1943/1946), then wouldn’t put him in another picture for years and years — around eight, to be exact. Buetel finally followed The Outlaw with The Best Of The Badmen (1951), before playing the title role in The Half-Breed.
Great news about “Devils Doorway” this one is pretty
high up my wants list.
Here is my Christmas wish list to the Archive.
THE OUTRIDERS (1950)
Big budget MGM effort with a splendid cast.
SOUTH OF ST LOUIS (1947)
Action packed Warners Technicolor Western from the
underrated Ray Enright
THE TALL STRANGER (1957)
Another actionful Joel McCrea vehicle quiet violent for
its time.Hard man Leo Gordon is a good guy in this one!
SON OF BELLE STARR (1953)
One of many hard to find Allied Artists epics.
The Mysterious Dona Drake has a rare female lead in
this one.
ARROW IN THE DUST (1954)
Veteran B director Lesley Selander moving up to bigger
budget stuff.The always watchable Sterling Hayden
in an interesting anti hero role.
GREAT DAY IN THE MORNING (1956)
Not up to Jacques Tourneurs other Westerns but this
RKO effort has Superscope and Technicolor on its side.
Raymond Burr is fun as an elephant fixated heavy
called Jumbo.
JACK SLADE (1953)
Another “lost” film from Allied Artists. We had a whole
raft of AA output when the Archive started and there is
some most interesting stuff in their library. Ive yet to
see an Allied Artists film I did not like…and yes I have
seen “From Hell It Came”!
Hold on now, where’s the DVD news? All I see is some talk about the Warner Archive.
(No, I’m never going to get tired of that joke.)
The DVD news is that there are hardly any Westerns
released on DVD these days apart from very occasional
offerings from the Archive and the odd one or two from
VCI.Perhaps the DVD news section should go international
as there is a wagon train load of stuff coming out of
Spain in particular.
Just checked the Spanish Starscafe website and they
have for August 11 release the following Fox titles;and
at a reduced price too!
GAMBLER FROM NATCHEZ (Henry Levin 1954)
Dale Robertson,Debra Paget,Kevin McCarthy
BELLE STARR (Irving Cummings 1941)
Randolph Scott Gene Tierney Dana Andrews
CATTLE EMPIRE (Charles Marquis Warren 1958)
Joel McCrea Gloria Talbott
(many see this as the template for Warrens classic
TV series Rawhide;a couple of the series regulars are in
the cast too!)
THE OREGON TRAIL (Gene Fowler Jr. 1959)
Fred MacMurray,Gloria Talbott,William Bishop,Henry Hull
The latter two titles I understand are sparkling scope
transfers;at least according to the screencaps on the
DVDmundo website.
I know Oregon Trail is not very highly regarded but its
a very rare film and no way are Fox going to issue it in
the US.