Your 50s Westerns Want List.

Don’t know if you’ve been naughty or nice, but one thing is certain: you people sure know your cowboy movies. Going through your responses for this year’s Want List, I was reminded of several films I’d forgotten. Thanks to everyone who played along.

The titles have been grouped by studio, according to their original release — independent productions such as The Hired Gun (1957) are with their distributor (MGM in this case). I’ve indicated the widescreen films (off the top of my head, not researched — sorry, it was really late).

20th Century-Fox
Canadian Pacific (1949)
Caribou Trail (1950)
The Gambler From Natchez (1954)
Pony Soldier (1952)
Sierra Baron (1958, Scope)
The Silver Whip (1953)

Allied Artists/Monogram
Arrow In The Dust (1954)
At Gunpoint (1955, Scope)
Bitter Creek (1954)
Dragoon Wells Massacre (1957, Scope)
Fargo (1952)
Jack Slade (1953)
Kansas Territory (1952)
Oregon Passage (1957, Scope)
The Rawhide Trail (1958)
The Tall Stranger (1957, Scope)
Wild Stallion (1952)

American International
Gunslinger (1956)

Columbia
Ambush At Tomahawk Gap (1953)
Cripple Creek (1952)
Domino Kid (1957)
The Doolins Of Oklahoma (1949)
Face Of A Fugitive (1959)
Fury At Gunsight Pass (1956)
The Gunfighters (1947)
Gunman’s Walk (1958, Scope)
The Hard Man (1958)
Jack McCall, Desperado (1953)
Jesse James Vs. The Daltons (1954)
The Pathfinder (1953)
Reprisal! (1956)
Stage To Tucson (1950)
The Texas Rangers (1951)
The Walking Hills (1949)

MGM
Heaven With A Gun (1969)
The Hired Gun (1957, Scope)

Paramount
The Eagle And The Hawk (1950)
Flaming Feather (1952)
Red Mountain (1951)

Regal (all RegalScope)
Ambush At Cimarron Pass (1958)
Apache Warrior (1957)
Badlands Of Montana (1957)
Copper Sky (1957)
Frontier Gun (1958)
The Quiet Gun (1956)
Ride A Violent Mile (1957)
Showdown At Boot Hill (1958)

Republic
Brimstone (1949)
California Passage (1950)
Dakota Incident (1956)
Hellfire (1949)
Last Stagecoach West (1957, Naturama)
A Man Alone (1955)
Man Or Gun (1958, Naturama)
Ride The Man Down (1953)
The Road To Denver (1955)
Rock Island Trail (1950)
The Savage Horde (1950)
The Showdown (1950)
Stranger At My Door (1956)
Timberjack (1955)
Trail Of Robin Hood (uncut, 1950)
Woman They Almost Lynched (1953)

RKO
The Big Sky (1952)
Blood On The Moon (1948)
Great Day In The Morning (1956, SuperScope)
The Lusty Men (1952)
Run Of The Arrow (1957)
Treasure Of Poncho Villa (1955, SuperScope)

United Artists
Abilene Town (1946)
Beast Of Hollow Mountain (1956, Scope)
Gun Belt (1953)
Ride Out For Revenge (1957)

Universal (-International)
Apache Drums (1951)
Black Horse Canyon (1954)
Bronco Buster (1952)
A Day Of Fury (1956)
Day Of The Bad Man (1958, Scope)
Destry (1954)
Four Guns To The Border (1954)
Incident At Phantom Hill (1966, Scope)
Last Of The Fast Guns (1958, Scope)
The Lone Hand (1953)
The Man From Bitter Ridge (1955)
Man Without A Star (1955)
Money, Women And Guns (1958, Scope)
Rails Into Laramie (1954)
Raw Edge (1956)
Saddle Tramp (1950)
The Saga Of Hemp Brown (1959, Scope)
Showdown At Abilene (1956)
Slim Carter (1957)
The Spoilers (1956)
Stagecoach To Dancer’s Rock (1962)
Star In The Dust (1956)
Walk The Proud Land (1956, Scope)
The Yellow Mountain (1954)

Warner Bros.
The Big Land (1957, Scope)
The Bounty Hunter (1954)
Charge At Feather River (1953)
Drum Beat (1954, Scope)
Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend (1958)
South Of St. Louis (1949)
Sugarfoot (1951)

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50s Westerns DVD News #103: Three More John Wayne Republics.

I haven’t seen the first three Blu-rays of John Wayne’s Three Mesquiteers films from Olive Films. But I’ve heard very good things.

Three more early Wayne Republics are on the way, with one being The New Frontier (1939), directed by George Sherman. They list it under its TV title, Frontier Horizons. This is probably because they’re also bringing out the other John Wayne Republic called The New Frontier (1935)! The 1939 film co-stars Jennifer Jones.

The third title in this batch is King Of The Pecos (1936), directed by Joe Kane. Republic put this one out on DVD several years ago. Confused yet?

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50s Westerns-Related DVD News #101: The Quiet Man (1952).

Coming to Blu-ray and DVD from Olive Films, January 22, 2013 — John Ford’s The Quite Man (1952).

Suddenly, a lot of people have plans for Saint Patrick’s Day. Yeah, I know, it’s not a Western.

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Pre-50s Westerns DVD News #98: Ramrod (1947).

Olive Films is continuing its string of Westerns on DVD and Blu-ray with Andre de Toth’s Ramrod (1947), which will arrive on November 20.

Based on a Luke Short story, Ramrod is an early example of the kind of psychological Western the 50s would be full of, taking a strange approach to the usual cattle ranchers vs. sheepherders story. Veronica Lake inherits her fiance’s ranch (when he’s run out of town), and hires Joel McCrea to help her run it and deal with pressure from the cattle ranchers. Before long, things get rough.

Veronica Lake was married to Andre de Toth at the time, a union that sounds rather hellish. Of course, she and McCrea had already appeared together in Preston Sturges’ Sullivan’s Travels (1941). Not long after Ramrod, her career would go into decline.

The press release from Olive Films says a 35mm fine grain was used for the transfer. It’ll be nice to see this film looking like it should.

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Roy Rogers And Trucolor And DVD.

Henry Cabot Beck of True West Magazine and I were emailing back and forth this morning about the color Roy Rogers pictures (Trucolor, to be precise), how wonderful they are, and how terribly they’re represented on DVD. It’s a matter that has been beaten to death on a number of newsgroups, which shows just how important this really is. With these pictures in mind, a hastily-constructed post seemed in order.

The official releases worth your time and money are:

Bells Of Coronado (1950) is the only Roy Rogers film that Lions Gate got around to putting on DVD during their handling of the Republic catalog. (Maybe this new arrangement with Olive Films will result in a few more.) Coronado is a good one, with Dale Evans, Trigger, Grant Withers and Pat Brady adding their usual support. William Witney lends his masterful direction, the songs are great and the Trucolor looks good. I think this is out of print, but it’s still listed here.

VCI’s Roy Rogers Western Double Feature Volume 1 presents Under California Stars (1948) and The Bells of San Angelo (1947) — both uncut and both looking just fine. California features Jane Frazee and Andy Devine, while San Angelo has Dale Evans, Andy Devine and Bob Nolan and the Sons of the Pioneers. Witney directed both. It’s also a deal, available through their website for just four bucks! Trailers are even included. So mosey on over and pick one up.

I wish this was a lot longer post, with lots of links so you could complete your color Rogers collection. Maybe someday. Till then, “may the good Lord take a liking to you.”

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50s Westerns DVD News #92: Four Three Mesquiteers (1938-39).

Since starting this blog, and the book that’s its namesake, I’ve come to really love the work of George Sherman. He’s a sadly overlooked Western director, with a handful of films that rank with some of the genre’s very best. Reprisal! (1956) is a particularly good one.

Olive Films has done us a favor (again) by prepping four of Sherman’s The Three Mesquiteer films, all starring John Wayne, for an October DVD and Blu-ray release. These are the first series Westerns to hit hi-def — it’s appropriate that they’d be Republics — and I’m excited to see ‘em coming. The titles are: Overland Stage Raiders (1938), Red River Range (1938), The Night Riders (1939) and Three Texas Steers (1939).

Wayne’s co-stars are Ray Corrigan and Max Terhune, the other two Mesquiteers. In Overland Stage Raiders, they’re joined by Louise Brooks. As a kid, I thought The Night Riders was really, really cool. Looking forward to revisiting it.

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50s Westerns DVD News #87A: Johnny Guitar Update.

A number of recent posts have pondered what the Olive DVD and Blu-ray of Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar might be like. DVD Beaver has reviewed the Blu-ray, answering many of our questions along the way.

• The Sedona, Arizona scenery appears behind the titles, which is how it played theaters.

• It’s presented 1.33:1, which is how it’s often seen, though it was shot for cropped widescreen presentation (up to 1.85). If it bothers you, the zoom feature on your HDTV should take care of that.

• It includes the “appreciation” by Martin Scorsese, who loves the film.

As you can tell here, frame grabs from it are quite impressive. Order with confidence, folks!

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From The 50s Westerns Department Of Useless Knowledge.

Kit Parker and I were going back and forth about Johnny Guitar (1954) recently. He brought up that when his company distributed 16mm films for Republic, the Johnny Guitar prints had Arizona scenery behind the titles, while the restored 35mm prints did not. (Martin Scorsese had a hand in the restoration, by the way.)

Did a little looking, and there it was. You can find anything on the Internet. Wonder what the story is on this?

Thanks to Kit Parker for giving me something to obsess about today.

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Colin on Johnny Guitar (1954).

Colin over at Riding The High Country recently posted a great writeup on Nicholas Ray’s Johnny Guitar (1954). Be sure to read it.

With a Blu-ray of Johnny Guitar coming from Olive in August, I’m getting excited about seeing the picture again (it’s been almost a year). It’s one of those films that, as Colin points out, shows us something each time we see it. A friend once described it as “the damnedest thing I ever saw” — a concise and completely accurate appraisal.

Any Western where Frank Ferguson and Ward Bond are in a group of vigilantes lead by Mercedes McCambridge has to have its merits.

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(Pre-) 50s Westerns DVD News #88: Pursued (1947).

Coming on DVD and Blu-ray from Olive Films in August — Raoul Walsh’s Pursued (1947).

Cool, huh?

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