Burt Lancaster Centennial Celebration At UCLA.

With Burt Lancaster’s 100th birthday on the horizon, UCLA has put together a terrific program to celebrate one of the greatest stars of them all. Running through June, it offers up a great sampling of Lancaster’s career.

For me, and readers of this blog, the best night of the bunch might be this Friday, with a 35mm screening of both Vera Cruz (1954) and The Professionals (1966). Both are terrific, with Vera Cruz being a highlight of the 50s Western. Like Shane (1953), it’s one of the films that fell victim to the widening of theater screens in the wake of CinemaScope. This time around, Robert Aldrich’s picture was cropped/blown up to SuperScope’s 2:1 ratio (it was probably shot for 1.85).

Another great evening will be the June 7 screening of Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957), a film I find flawed but wonderful. Its VistaVision should be a gorgeous thing on the big screen.

Vera Cruz (1954) and The Professionals (1966)
April 12, 2013 – 7:30 pm

Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957) and I Walk Alone (1948)
June 7, 2013 – 7:30 pm

The Billy Wilder Theater
10899 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90024

(310) 206-8013

UPDATE: Burt and Coop’s costar in Vera Cruz, Spanish actress Sara Montiel, passed away today at 85. She was once married to Anthony Mann.

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50s Westerns Wish List For 2013.

We did a 50s Westerns Want List a couple years ago and it was a blast — and a surprising number of our wishes have since come true! So it seems about time to do another one. Last time around, I polled a few people offline, but I’ve since learned that a lot of the fun comes from watching y’all feed off each other as you load up the comments box.

So send in your lists. I’ll compile and sort the responses — then see if I can get them to someone who can actually do something about it.

I’ll start. Reprisal! (1956) and The Hard Man (1957), both from George Sherman and starring Guy Madison, and Fred MacMurray and James Coburn in Face Of A Fugitive (1959) — all from Columbia. Then there’s a Blu-ray John Sturges/Kirk Douglas/VistaVision twin-bill of Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957) and Last Train From Gun Hill (1959). I could go on and on.

UPDATE: I’m compiling and sorting all your requests and will post them Christmas day.

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The Real West #8: The Death Of Doc Holliday.

On this day in 1887 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, Doc Holliday’s tuberculosis (and dependence on alcohol and laudanum) got the best of him.

Here’s Kirk Douglas as an ailing Holliday in Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957), with Burt Lancaster as Wyatt Earp. Some versions on the Holliday story/legend claim Earp was with him when he died. He was not.

Holliday’s tombstone reads “He died in bed.”

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Happy Birthday, Burt Lancaster.

Burton Stephen “Burt” Lancaster
(November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994)

Here’s a shot from Robert Aldrich’s Vera Cruz (1954) to mark Burt Lancaster’s birthday. Compared to most of the major stars we celebrate on this blog, Burt made relatively few Westerns — but what Westerns they are: Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957), The Professionals (1966) and Ulzana’s Raid (1972), to name just a few.

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The Real West #7: Gunfight At The O.K. Corral.

On this day in 1881, around 3PM, the infamous Gunfight At The O.K. Corral took place in Tombstone, Arizona. It involved Wyatt Earp, his brothers Virgil and Morgan, and Doc Holliday taking on the Clanton-McLaury gang. In a lead-filled 30 seconds, three men (Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers) were killed.

Here’s a couple shots from John Sturges’ 1957 take on the event, Gunfight At The O.K. Corral, starring Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster. It’s just one of many films to deal with the shootout, and to theorize on how it actually happened. It’s more likely that they came up with a good action sequence and left it at that. This one gets extra points for the simple fact that Lancaster spends a lot of time running around with a sawed-off shotgun.

This seems like a good time to post the lyrics to Gunfight‘s theme song, written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington, and sung by Frankie Laine. It’s woven throughout the film very effectively.

OK Corral, OK Corral
There the outlaw band make their final stand
OK Corral

Oh my dearest one must die
Lay down my gun or take the chance of losing you forever
Duty calls
My back’s against the wall
Have you no kind word to say
Before I ride away
Away

Your love, your love
I need your love
Keep the flame, let it burn
Until I return
From the gunfight at OK Corral
If the Lord is my friend
We’ll meet at the end
Of the gunfight at OK Corral
Gunfight at OK Corral

Boot Hill, Boot Hill
So cold, so still
There they lay side by side
The killers that died
In the gunfight at OK corral
OK corral
Gunfight at OK corral

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Ernest Borgnine On Gary Cooper.

Cowboys And Indians magazine has an interview with the late, great Ernest Borgnine in its October issue. Here’s a short piece on Gary Cooper and Vera Cruz (1954).

Ernest Borgnine: “When I got into this business, I’d have to say Gary Cooper was a huge role model. What a gentleman. I remember we were in a car together on the Vera Cruz movie set down in Mexico. I was going to get in the front with the driver to give him his privacy, but he said, ‘No, no, come back here with me.’ So we’re sitting there talking and he says to me, ‘Y’know, I sure wish I could act like you.’ Can you believe that? I said to him, ‘You’re Gary Cooper. You’ve got two Oscars in your house and you wish you could act like me?’ He said, ‘Aw, I just got them for saying ‘yup.’’ What a sweetheart of a man and an incredible talent he was. As unassuming as anything, but I learned a ton just by watching him… Just being honest, y’know? Being natural. Listening — I mean really listening — and responding in kind instead of just reciting lines and forgetting that you’re portraying an actual person. It sounds basic, and maybe it is, but it’s deceivingly hard and I think a lot of actors never really get it.”

You can read the whole thing here.

Image (L-R): Gary Cooper, Jack Elam, Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Burt Lancaster in Robert Aldrich’s Vera Cruz (1954).

 

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Gallery: Making Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957).

Another photo gallery — this time, a handful of production photos from John Sturges’ Gunfight At The O.K. Corral (1957).

I’ve noticed something odd about this film. When you think about it, it’s easy to find fault with it. It’s too long. There’s a lot of talk. Lancaster’s part seems underdeveloped. It’s got some great character actors in it, but they have very little to do. And on and on.

But when you’re watching it, it’s terrific.

Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster chat near the corral set at Old Tucson.

This time, they make the scene at Boot Hill.

I love the way Frankie Laine pops up throughout the picture with stuff like —

“Boot Hill, Boot Hill
So cold, so still
There they lay side by side
The killers that died
In the gunfight at O.K. Corral”

Kirk screws around in a (obviously not a prop) wheelbarrow.

John Sturges directs Douglas, Lancaster and DeForest Kelley in the actual gunfight sequence.

And while we’re on the subject, where’s the Blu-ray of this (and Last Train From Gun Hill)?

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50s Westerns On Blu-ray. A Few More.

Back in July of 2010, I covered 50s Westerns on Blu-ray — which was a paltry two titles (given, they were The Searchers and Rio Bravo).

Not many have been added to that last, but the additions are substantial, pictures that are not only important titles in the genre and the decade, but films that were poorly represented in standard DVD.

We’ve got The Big Country (1958, above). A stunning transfer of the Technirama film started out as a $10 Walmart exclusive and is now available elsewhere.

There was nothing good you could say about The Horse Soldiers (1959) on DVD. The Blu-ray looks so good, however, it invites you to give the maligned John Ford film another chance. And guess what? It holds up well, especially this scene.

Robert Aldrich’s Vera Cruz (1954) has had problems with its presentation since SuperScope was thrust upon it after it had been shot. The Blu-ray recreates that 2:1 framing, but is careful enough to make it work. Rarely do you notice just how tight some shots are, and the overall transfer is miles ahead of what you’ll replace when you buy this one.

Just think, at this rate, by summer of 2012, we might have, say, eight or nine 50s Westerns to chose from when we want ride into the 1080 sunset.

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50s Westerns DVD News #48: The Deep Discount Summer Sale

Laura has pointed out that Deep Discount’s Summer Sale has rolled around again. It’s a way to save 25% off their already discounted prices through June 19.

A number of codes usually surface as the sale progresses. Here are a few:

SUMMER11

SUMMERSAVINGS

25MORE

It’s a great way to get caught up on some things you missed or take the sting out of your gradual transition to Blu-ray. For starters, I’ll be snagging the new Vera Cruz (1954, above).

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Christmas Eve, 1954

It’s the night before Christmas, 1954, in Youngstown, Ohio. You’ve got your kerchief or cap on, and you’re about to settle down for a long winter’s nap. Winding down, you open the newspaper and you come across the ads above — two ads for the same film! — spread across the gutter. And you think to yourself: After the presents and the turkey and the in-laws, maybe we should head over to the Palace.

Someone commented on the upcoming Blu-Ray of Vera Cruz (1954) and the lack of aesthetic value in its packaging. That spurred me to revisit the film’s posters and ads. These ads were full-page height, so you can imagine how striking it would’ve been.

I’m really getting stoked about this Blu-Ray. Anybody out there know anything about the transfer and source materials?

By the way, opening the same day at the State — George Montgomery in Sam Katzman and William Castle’s Masterson Of Kansas.

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