Warner Archive has some great stuff promised for April.
The Hired Gun (1957)
Directed by Ray Nazarro
Starring Rory Calhoun, Anne Francis, Vince Edwards, Chuck Connors
This is one I’ve been wanting for a long time. Black and white Scope with Rory Calhoun and Anne Francis, directed by Ray Nazarro. What’s not to like?
Black Patch (1957)
Directed by Allen H. Miner
Starring George Montgomery, Diane Brewster, Tom Pittman, Leo Gordon, Lynn Cartwright
A solid Montgomery Western written by character actor Leo Gordon.
Arrow In The Dust (1954)
Directed by Lesley Selander
Starring Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Jimmy Wakely, Lee Van Cleef
Hayden and Gray appear together a couple years before The Killing (1956), directed by the great Lesley Selander.
The Marauders (1955)
Directed by Gerald Mayer
Starring Dan Duryea, Jeff Richards, Keenan Wynn
Duryea as the bad guy gets first billing. Enough said.
Son Of Belle Starr (1953)
Directed by Frank McDonald
Starring Keith Larsen, Dona Drake, Peggie Castle, Regis Toomey
Peggie Castle and Regis Toomey in 70 minutes of Cinecolor from Allied Artists.
Some good releases coming up here .As I said before in one of the previous posts, I only just bought BLACK PATCH ,but I bet the WB release is a better print .Really looking forward to THE HIRED GUN .
The Hired Gun’s been on my Want List for years. Can’t wait for another B&W Scope Western.
I’m looking forward to a nice copy of Black Patch. What I have is terrible.
Some seriously attractive titles there.
BLACK GOLD from 1947 with Anthony Quinn is also getting released may be of interest .I am surprised one of Anthony Quinn’s other movies ,GUNS FOR SAN SEBASTIAN is not on DVD except for a French copy which has no English and is apparently poor quality .
This is an exciting multi-release. The one I have never seen and therefore creates special excitement at Entract Towers is ‘SON OF BELLE STARR’. But great copies in their correct aspect of the others too means my wallet is going to be screaming ‘OUCH’ from feeling the pinch. Add to these ‘The Quiet Gun’ and things have suddenly turned very interesting!
The Quiet Gun and The Hired Gun will take two titles off the top of my Want List. You’re right, we’re all gonna feel the financial pinch next month! But if we can’t afford to go out, we’ll have plenty to do while staying in.
Yeah, how true! Feet up, a cold beer and a good western!
The only one I have never seen is THE MARAUDERS and as it
will be presented in color and widescreen,it’s certainly one I will get,
along with the others.
Have not seen THE HIRED GUN since seeing it at a revival cinema in
the Sixties,I too am really looking forward to it.
As ARROW IN THE DUST will be remastered in widescreen,that’s
pretty much off the top of my wants list.
Great Selander discussion over at Colin’s BTW with his very fine
piece on SHOTGUN. The word is spreading!
SON OF BELLE STARR is a very engaging little Allied Artists
programmer complex enough to attract A Western fans,fine cast too.
The only Western that has a female lead for Dona Drake and
with Peggie Castle in the cast as well whats not to like!
Previous Allied Artists/Monogram Cinecolor films released by Warners
have been great with HIAWATHA being an exceptional transfer.
BLACK PATCH is a film that I thought promised a lot more than it
delivered but I will get the Archive release because the transfer is
sure to be better than what we have had before.
imdb states the ratio as being 1.37 but I bet Warners will adapt it to
1.85…just guessing. The cover art on the previous release of
BLACK PATCH was dreadful so the Warner release will have really
cool poster artwork.
Please American Friends spare a thought for us Limeys,with the pound
going down the drain these releases are not going to be cheap.
With these releases following so fast on the heels of the previous
batch I have now decided to seriously cut back on my wine
consumption.
Who would have thought it Warner Archive is actually good for your
health,but certainly not your wealth.
Thanks Toby,for this scoop….ahead of the Warner Archive
website I might add.
And thank you gcwe1 for the info on BLACK GOLD.
I don’t know why but I always thought this was a Eagle-Lion picture,
but now discover it was an Allied Artists film in Cinecolor as well.
At any rate I’ve always wanted to see it as I love early Phil Karlson and
now I discover its in Cinecolor that more or less clinches the deal.
Furthermore the cover art is lovely,the best of the whole batch actually.
What makes these Archive releases so attractive for me is the
beautiful poster artwork that Warners source.
When I slide the DVD out of my storage unit and look at the artwork
it sort of just adds something,I think.
Furthermore I really wish previous Archive releases of previous
Cinecolor film like CAVALRY SCOUT,FORT OSAGE and WAGONS
WEST had been stand alone releases because all these films had
great artwork. I would get ’em again if Warners re-released them
as single features and perhaps added a few trailers as a bonus.
I cannot explain it but I simply adore Cinecolor..
Does anyone know if Warner Archive has the rights to the Hondo TV series?
It was an MGM production or co-production.
A hint to John K, as far as covers for DVDs. What I’ve done for many of my Western DVDs is I find the original movie poster on the web, then print it up, cut it out and either put it in the window of my DVD paper holders or put it under the plastic of a normal DVD holder. This way you get to see the beautiful poster artwork and you don’t have to buy them all over again just to see poster art. For the bulk of my westerns I have them in paper CD/DVD sleeves that have those clear windows. Stick a picture of the movie poster there and wa-la you have your own movie with the poster work you like so much.
Wrote the other day here about what great news this is but the whole message I typed disappeared, I was so mad I didn’t feel like typing it again. But this is good news, esp. the Peggy Castle movie Son of Belle Star. Also for the Sterling Hayden Arrow In The Dust. Getting official widescreen/restored versions of these movies will be a thrill even if you have them all already from TV recordings. The Warner releases are always so superb looking.
THE MARAUDERS( les maraudeurs) est un western banal où Dan Duryea joue un outlaw tuberculeux et dément, Bad western.
I don’t think I’ve seen The Marauders, unless it was years ago, but I did see Black Patch when I bought the pretty bad DVD of it. Being a George Montgomery fan I expected it to be a neat movie. But I was disappointed, as it seemed more like the kind of revisionist western made in the late ’60’s and early ’70’s where practically everyone in the entire cast is a lowlife and bum. Only George’s character (as I recall) was the only half-way decent person in the movie. Plus it was in b/w which was another disappointment. It’s from the early ’60’s but it seems to have gotten a jump-start on all the horrible scum type westerns made in the latter part of the decade and in the early ’70’s. The type of western I avoid at all costs.
I like BLACK PATCH (l’homme au bandeau noir) , petit western insolite en noir et blanc, qui ne manque pas d’attraits , le western avec George Montgomery que je préfère. Mais Allen H. Miner fera mieux avec ” The ride back” (la chevauchée du retour), lui aussi en noir et blanc.
It’s great news that Warner Brothers are going to release five further westerns in April. I am particularly keen to obtain The Hired Gun, which I have never seen and Arrow In The Dust, of which I have an off air copy. Incidentally I watched an interesting B western last week on UK television called The Desperado (1954) with a good cast of Wayne Morris, Beverly Garland, Lee Van Cleef and Jimmy Lydon. It was an intrigueing movie capably directed by Thomas Carr, who mainly directed films, mainly low budget westerns in the 1940s. It was made by Silvermine/Allied Artists. Has anyone any idea who has the rights to this movie and will there be any likelihood it will be released on dvd?
Great news about The Hired Gun. I shall definitely be getting that. I do have a pan and scan version of it on a DVD-R bought from an eBay seller, but that will be redundant when I get the CinemaScope transfer. I haven’t seen it in ‘Scope since I went to see it as a new release in January, 1958, when I was 10 and three quarters, so it’ll have taken me over 57 years to see it again full width.
Hey, David! Good to see you passing through.
I’m really excited about The Hired Gun. I’ve never seen it, so the idea of it being a nice widescreen transfer is terrific. Someone told me recently that the old pan-and-scan version was unwatchable.
Hi Texican,
People have requested the released to cinemas feature
HONDO AND THE APACHES (with Robert Taylor) which I think
they are planning to release.Some say it was the pilot episode,others
that it was two episodes cobbled together for an overseas cinema release.
At any rate the series had excellent production values and I cannot see
why Warner Archive may not give us the entire series at some point,
as long as “rights” issues are not involved.
Warners also say that they will release THE DANGEROUS DAYS OF
KIOWA JONES with Robert Horton another tele feature that had a UK
cinema release,.
It’s great that people are requesting these old shows on the Archive
Facebook page,
Ron Hills,
The fact that TCM UK showed THE DESPERADO is a good indication
that Warners own this title. I am sure there will be another Wayne
Morris Western set. I am very keen to see TWO GUNS AND A
BADGE which was filmed in 1.85 widescreen.
Lots of requests for Wild Bill and Johnny Mack Brown on Warners
Facebook page but not so much for Wayne Morris so I’m not too
sure what of his titles they hold.
Apart from B Western fare and Monogram obscurities (like
YOUNG DANIEL BOONE made in Cinecolor which Warners do own)
to my reckoning there are only two much sought after Allied Artists
Fifties Westerns yet unreleased by Warner Archive. These two
“much wanted” titles are COW COUNTRY and THE TALL STRANGER.
Someone at The Archive sure loves Allied Artists (and Monogram)
I hope that sales are good enough in this March and forthcoming
April wave to persuade Warners to get the rights to those very fine
Allied Artists titles now owned by Paramount/Republic,especially now
Olive Films seem to have lost interest in releasing any further titles.
Regarding THE HIRED GUN I remember when I saw it at a revival
cinema in the Sixties one thing I did notice,something that missed the
editor’s eye. There is a scene where two people are having a
conversation on horseback and you can see the whole crew in the shot,
I would love to know if this is included in the Warner Archive release.
Thanks for the info’ John. it’s good to know there is a good chance that THE DESPERADO will be released,perhaps as a Wayne Morris package in the future.
HONDO THE COMPLETE SERIES is available on Warner Archive Streaming, so I guess a DVD release can be anticipated at some point.
A person is in “Tall Timber” when one mentions the “S” Word on this
blog,but as one who never learns from past mistakes,here I go again.
The dreaded word is “Spaghetti” I might add.
One item I have noticed on Warner Archive’s April slate is Tony Anthony’s
“Stranger Trilogy” of Spaghetti Westerns in one neat package.
I know there is at least one other reader of this blog that will be interested
in this item.
I recently got Arrow Video’s recent Blu-Ray of DAY OF ANGER
certainly one of the best Spaghetti’s.
Very interesting booklet with a neat bio of the great Lee Van Cleef.
I’m ALWAYS on a Lee Van Cleef kick.
According to the booklet Lee had to borrow the air fare to Europe
from his agent to appear in the second of the Dollars films.
His fee was $17,000. That, according to the booklet, rocketed to
$100,000 for THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
One can completely understand why Lee took the money and ran
with some of the later “Euro Clunkers” that he made.
The lamentable GOD’S GUN not only junkheaped Lee but also
Jack Palance and Richard Boone…what an incredible waste.
The fact remains that lots of our great Western character actors
literally worked for peanuts in the Fifties as opposed to many of
today’s grossly overpaid no-talents.
I remember reading that Dennis Weaver before his GUNSMOKE
breakthrough had to supplement his income delivering flowers.
It’s also sad that greats like Richard Jaekel passed away penniless
though with some of those guys I guess lifestyle choices had
something to do with it.
My favorite Spaghetti….I guess it must be THE BIG GUNDOWN.
I’m kinda excited about the Anthony set. I remember liking those fairly well.
john k,…THE BIG GUNDOWN, a good choice and probably my favorite as well, the Leones aside. Always put A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL & FACE TO FACE up there as well, good epic feel to both. Alas, GUNFIGHTERS OF CASA GRANDE was all that you promised it to be, though I really was hoping for a little more than some nicely composed shots. ALPHA VIDEO, of all companies, is releasing Mark Stevens’ TIMETABLE any day now. As I don’t have a copy and have yet to see it, I’ll most likely be ordering it…Been on a silent film binge lately, gotta put some Westerns on, it’s time
Lee Van Cleef has a role in GUN BATTLE IN MONTEREY, which apparently is not a well-regarded movie. I don’t know if Warner Archive has the rights to it or not.
GUN BATTLE IN MONTEREY is certainly Sterling Hayden’s worst
Western. As it’s been shown on TCM I should imagine Warners do
own it. I have just posted on the Warner Archive Facebook page regarding
the Wayne Morris Westerns….let’s see what happens. I also asked
about a couple of Wayne Morris Monogram B pictures YELLOW FIN
an ARTIC FLIGHT.
Interestingly due to high demand Warners have noted that the initial
run of THE DAKOTAS will be “pressed” DVDs as opposed to MOD discs.
Toby, I saw this post when I was at the festival – what *fantastic* news. I’m especially happy about ARROW IN THE DUST on DVD but everything looks great! Rory Calhoun, Peggie Castle, Dan Duryea, George Montgomery, Regis Toomey, Leo Gordon — what’s not to like?!!!
Speaking of Leo Gordon, you all won’t believe a festival story I have to share — last Wednesday morning I visited the Hollywood Museum and my pal Aurora (Once Upon a Screen) was chatting with the lady at the front desk. Aurora came over and said that the woman’s dad had been in the movies and showed me the slip of paper on which she’d written down the name of the lady’s Facebook page — Leo Gordon. Yes, the front desk receptionist in the museum was Leo Gordon’s daughter! I was able to personally let her know how much his work is still enjoyed and mentioned my first exposure to him as Big Mike on MAVERICK. She seemed happy to know that her dad is still remembered and appreciated!
Best wishes,
Laura
Her Facebook page has some great photos of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon. So cool that you ran into her.
Richard,
Good to see you return to this blog.
At least GUNFIGHTERS OF CASA GRANDE is a really nice transfer,
and as you say visually its quite impressive.
TIMETABLE needs a restored release and I wish Kino-Lorber were
releasing this one.
Very good noir but did not like seeing Felicia Farr on the wrong side of
the law.Kino are releasing the abrasive BIG HOUSE USA which again has
lovely Felicia as a bad gal.
Recently enjoyed the Blu-Ray of CHARLEY VARRICK and was amused to
see Felicia and Walter Matthau in the sack together.
Was knocked out by the first “Stranger” film as an impressionable young (ish)
lad,have not seen the other two. In the third one does not Tony Anthony’s
character go to Japan?
Very interested that this set,sort of,has Toby’s approval.
Laura,
Welcome back, your comments and insight have been missed here and
elsewhere.
Fantastic Leo Gordon tale,how wonderful that you were able to tell his
daughter that he is fondly remembered by so many fans.
I too regard ARROW IN THE DUST as the “jewel” among the recent
Warner Archive wave.Cannot wait to see it in widescreen.
ARROW IN THE DUST’s Tom Tully has a good role in the aforementioned
CHARLEY VARRICK. Mr Tully had one of his legs amputated by the time
that film was made and the scene where he is roughed up by nasty
Joe Don Baker equals the notorious Widmark scene in KISS OF DEATH
In the extras on the truly stunning Koch,Germany Blu Ray Andy Robinson
states that he did not like Joe Don very much and the extended scene
where Baker roughs him up took all night to film,not a happy experience
for Mr Robinson. I totally agree with Toby that CHARLEY VARRICK is
one of the truly great films of the Seventies.
Not the most Laura friendly film perhaps but not as Laura “unfriendly”
as BIG HOUSE USA.
BTW,for anyone interested out there Warner Archive replied to my
Facebook comment regarding Wayne Morris. There will be more
Westerns and the two adventure films that I mentioned but not for
quiet a while…no works in progress at the moment
Still,I think we all have enough to keep us going for now.
Big House USA is pretty much everybody-unfriendly — which is one of the reasons I like it so much!
And thanks for joining in on the Charley Varrick evangelism!
Richard,
As you mentioned CASA GRANDE I thought that I would mention that
Wild East are soon to release Roy Rowland’s last Western,in fact his
penultimate film.
This film MAN CALLED GRINGO starred the popular German actor
Goetz George and co-starred the prolific Canadian actress Alexandra
Stewart. Previously this film has only been available with a German only
soundtrack. Its doubled up with a film called THE LAST TOMAHAWK
a film that I know nothing about.
I have never,as yet dipped my toes into the Wild East pond,although
some of their releases. sound interesting.
Don’t know if you have any info on these two Richard.
Laura,
On your blog you mention a TCM Selander fest…do you have a link
for this? WOW! I must say the word is really spreading
john k…I’ve never seen MAN CALLED GRINGO or THE LAST TOMAHAWK but can only assume that they’re most likely shoddy clones of the American pre-Leone product, which is all right by me, I mean, I like this early 1960s Euro-Western stuff, I just keep hoping for a hidden gem, as I did with CASA GRANDE, only to be ambushed by false expectations. Still, I’m keen on someday seeing the Richard Basehart starring Spaghetti SAVAGE GUNS (1962) directed by Hammer’s Michael Carreras…As for Wild East, I’ll pick up MAN CALLED GRINGO/THE LAST TOMAHAWK. Everything I’ve received from them, mostly Spaghetti Westerns, has been quality stuff, nice w/s transfers with great color & sound…..Also, saw the first two Stranger films doubled billed in a theater around the time THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY hit the theaters, or shortly after. Thought they were great, but then again, I was a teenager at the time and the more violence, shooting & killing, the better. Haven’t seen them since and from what I remember (from nearly 50 yrs. ago), is that they appeared to be rather low on plot, high on body count. Still, a good excuse to uncork a fine bottle of $6.99 wine and enjoy an afternoon….Never saw the third Stranger film which is set in Japan as hero Tony Anthony has to retrieve a horse?, not sure…seen previews on a compilation tape once…….hope to be more frequent on the site, but I tend to stray. Really enjoyed helping out to keep the Spaghetti discussion going during the record breaking marathon blog sometime last fall, which I believe you initiated…keep me, and all of us, informed of good stuff!
Hi John! If you click on the TCM schedule link in my blog post, search Selander’s name and it will take you to the listing of the titles. As far as I know TCM hasn’t posted something separately on it. Very nice news! 🙂
Best wishes,
Laura
That’s great — and most of them are Holts!
If there was a way of retracting a post I would like to retract my last one. I must have let my negative feelings over these type movies get the best of me. If you 2 want to talk please forget what I said, go ahead and have at it. I’m sure you don’t need my permission anyway, but wanted to apologize for bursting out, should have just not bothered reading this thread anymore. Sorry guys, the garlic bread’s on me.
Johnny, it’s retracted. Are we’re all entitled to a rant every once in a while.
Ha, Johnny did not mind your somewhat acerbic comments,at least
you are funny with it!
Richard,for the record Warner Archive are going to release a remastered
version of THE SAVAGE GUNS,possibly later this year.
It’s not a terribly good film but interesting as one of the first,if not the
first “Euro Westerns”
Alex Nicol seems to be doing a parody of his MAN FROM LARAMIE
role and Basehart and Don Taylor (Who I like BTW) are not really
right for Westerns.
Like CASA GRANDE it’s a nice looking film.
I don’t know what caused Carreras to break from Hammer Films and form
Capricorn Films but this film was their only venture.
I think Carreras and Jimmy Sangster had hoped to make a whole series
of Euro Westerns.
Basehart,Nicol and Taylor all starred in previous Hammer films and
Don Taylor had a very happy marriage to legendary Hammer icon
Hazel Court.
Certainly THE SAVAGE GUNS is not only going to appeal to Euro
Western fans but also “Hammer Completists”
There is one cat in England who has every Hammer film ever made
except one. This includes their Noirs and even stuff like “On The Buses”
TV spin-offs.
The one film he does not have is THE UGLY DUCKLING a Jekyll and
Hyde comedy starring, at the time, popular TV comic Bernard Bresslaw
and future Doctor Who Jon Pertwee.
A whole raft of conspiracy theories have evolved around this film,
the wackiest being that when Jerry Lewis was making his NUTTY
PROFESSOR he purchased the master neg from Columbia and
destroyed it.
All I remember of THE UGLY DUCKLING was that the Hammer version
was a lot darker than Jerry’s film.
I know I saw THE UGLY DUCKLING on with a Columbia Western,either
BUCHANAN RIDES ALONE or FACE OF A FUGITIVE……paging
David Rayner.
Richard,
Many thanks for the feedback on the Wild East product.
THE LAST TOMAHAWK gets a good review in Michael Pitts’ extensive
volume on Western films as well as the sole review on imdb.
Whats interesting about MAN CALLED GRINGO is that both the director
and writer were American but the leading man is German.
Lots of American Western Film directors went to Europe in the Sixties;
Lesley Selander,John Sturges,Burt Kennedy,Paul Landres,George
Sherman to name a few. The leading men in all their Westerns were
American.I also never thought an English language version of
MAN CALLED GRINGO existed so I was interested to see this Wild East
version.
Its also interesting how Roy Rowland and Rudolph Mate ended their
careers in Europe especially considering all the big budget Hollywood
films they made with A list stars.
Many of their peers ended up working in television,a trend that they
obviously resisted.
john k, “The Ugly Duckling”, supported by “Face of a Fugitive”, was released on the ABC circuit in July, 1959.
Thank you so much David.
I really miss your flickr site with all those wonderful reproductions of those
old cinema flyers,lobby cards and magazine/comic covers.
I really wish there was a website that included nothing but old Fifties
cinema flyers.
Am I right that THE SAVAGE GUNS was double billed with the Steve
Reeves THIEF OF BAGHDAD ?
One of the very first films that I remember seeing at the cinema
(with my parents of course) was the Lippert THE LOST CONTINENT.
Have you any idea what that played with at UK cinemas circa 1951.
Yes, The Thief of Baghdad (Steve Reeves version) was released as the top half of a double bill with The Savage Guns. Off the top of my head, I’d say late 1962 for that programme’s release. I will have a look through my programme archives later on regarding The Lost Continent (1951). But if it wasn’t a main circuit release, ABC, Rank, ect, it may have been supported by different films in different areas of the country.
Couldn’t find any release date for The Lost Continent in F. Maurice Speed’s Film Review annuals for 1951 or 1952, although it wasn’t a circuit release, as it was first shown for a week in Stoke-on-Trent at the Palace, Hanley, which was a large independant cinema, commencing on Sunday, April 5th, 1952, supported by Lash La Rue and Al Fuzzy St John in “Son of a Bad Man”, which sounds like a Western.
Thanks David,
I cannot remember where I saw this film but I do remember seeing it.
I had an idea it must have been a “floating” independent release.
Most of the time when I went to the cinema with my parents in those days
it was to main circuit cinemas. I guess we must have popped into a cinema
on a “day out” or something. Incredible to think a double bill that you
mentioned played at a really large cinema.
Of course this was the sort of fare,in those days which kept many a
small “flea pit” going.
In those days, the Palace largely showed the new releases that ABC and Rank didn’t want to show. In 1955, it was taken over by the Essoldo circuit and converted for CinemaScope with four track magnetic stereophonic sound and, because by that time Rank had fallen out with 20th Century-Fox over the installation of stereo sound with CinemaScope in all the Rank Odeons, Essoldo stepped in and got to book all the latest Fox CinemaScope releases throughout the country until Fox and Rank buried the hatchet some four years later. Because of the Essoldo, Hanley’s huge size, it had a CinemaScope screen installed that was 70 feet wide, The largest CinemaScope screen in the Midlands. It closed in May, 1962 and was demolished shortly thereafter.
Great to have David’s always interesting input again – it’s been sorely missed.
I remember going in 1959 to see “THE UGLY DUCKLING”. Bernard Bresslaw was very popular at the time (though fairly short-lived) and the film was so-so but it was, as confirmed by David, paired with “FACE OF A FUGITIVE” which, rather predictably, I absolutely loved – and still do!
And…….the Essoldo cinema chain….what a joy. Saw many great double bills at their flea-pits.