I had to make sure this wasn’t April Fool’s Day — because a set of eight Westerns directed by William Castle (all but one produced by Sam Katzman!) sounds too good to be true. But here it is, coming from our friends at Mill Creek Entertainment.
Klondike Kate (1943)
Starring Ann Savage, Tom Neal and Glenda Farrell
One of Castle’s first directing credits — it came out a year before the first of The Whistler series.
Conquest Of Cochise (1953)
Starring John Hodiak, Robert Stack, Joy Page
Stack and Page had already appeared together in Budd Boetticher’s Bullfighter And The Lady (1951). Hodiak makes a good Cochise.
Masterson Of Kansas (1954)
Starring George Montgomery, Nancy Gates, James Griffith
James Grifftih’s performance as Doc Holliday really elevates this one.
Jesse James Vs. The Daltons (1954)
Starring Barbara Lawrence, James Griffith, William Phipps
This one was originally in 3-D and Technicolor. As you’d imagine, Castle throws everything he can think of at the camera.
Battle Of Rogue River (1954)
Starring George Montgomery, Richard Denning, Martha Hyer
Katzman cast “all six winners of the National Indian Beauty Contest” in this picture. I wouldn’t be surprised if this contest didn’t exist before Katzman and Castle came along.
The Gun That Won The West (1955)
Starring Dennis Morgan, Paula Raymond, Richard Denning
This tale of the US Cavalry taking on Chief Red Cloud makes good use of stock footage from Buffalo Bill (1944).
Duel On The Mississippi (1955)
Starring Lex Parker, Patricia Medina, Warren Stevens, John Dehner
Not really a Western, but it’s got a solid Western cast doing the Louisiana river pirate thing.
Uranium Boom (1956)
Starring Dennis Morgan, Patricia Medina, William Talman
A modern-day Western with Dennis Morgan and William Talman fighting over their uranium mine — and the lovely Patricia Medina.
Can’t tell you how excited I am about this set. Castle’s one of my favorite filmmakers, and I’ve got a real soft spot for these Castle-Katzman movies. Highly, highly recommended.
I have five of these already, but this is excellent news.
This looks like a really good collection .Some I have seen and have in my collection ,others I have not .I do have a DVDr copy of MASTERSON OF KANSAS and was thinking of upgrading it .This release must be part of Mill Creek’s deal with Sony.
I did speak to someone at Kino Lorber to ask about a A C Lyles western boxset and they said that he worked for another company as well as producing the Paramount films,but I think they are more worried about if they sell.
Scrolling through the titles my smile got wider and wider. Forget that box of candy I asked for my birthday in a couple of months (gotta tell hubby early), I’m switching it up.
Wow, I’ll definitely pick up this set. 🙂
Best wishes,
Laura
Excellent news indeed!!!
All of these except URANIUM BOOM and JESSE JAMES vs THE DALTONS have already been released as part of the Sony Choice collection of Columbia Pictures.
Jesse James Vs. The Daltons is the one I’m most excited about. These Mill Creek titles often have better mastering than the older Sony version of the same films, so this might be a bit if an upgrade across the board.
WOW!!!
8 films for the price of 1 Sony MOD.
I too am amazed at the non released JESSE JAMES VS THE DALTONS
as Mill Creek normally issue previously released material.
It’s a most diverting oddity Brett King (Who?) is not much of a leading
man but the film is a good showcase for underrated Barbara Lawrence.
Too bad THE LAW VS BILLY THE KID was not included,arguably the
best of the Castle/Katzman Westerns.
Needless to say this is a must have and too bad it’s not on Blu Ray as
well.
Mike URANIUM BOON (not a Western) was released as a Sony MOD.
URANIUM BOOM features William Talman who we discussed recently on
a previous thread.
All this goaded me to re-watch THE KID FROM TEXAS a knockout little
Billy The Kid Western with Audie Murphy.
THE KID FROM TEXAS broke Box office records for Universal and launched
Audie as a Western star.
There is an amazingly graphic scene where Talman is blasted in the face
by The Kid. It’s a blink and you miss it scene,and that’s how it got through
the censor. Freeze framing the scene you see Talman sliding down the
blood splattered wall with his face literally blown off.
Gary at DVD Beaver has given two thumbs down to Olive’s
THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL he calls it the worst of the year so far.
Gary is of course talking about the quality of the Blu Ray.
I’ve always thought THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL was the worst of Sturges’
Westerns and an odd choice to feature in high def.
gcwe1 mentioned Kino and the A C Lyles Westerns-they have already told
me that they have no intention of releasing them
Olive might be a safer bet-I’d rather see the weakest of the Lyles’ as
opposed to the overblown HALLELUJAH TRAIL
Hi Toby,
The only title I have in my collection is Masterson of Kansas so this set is a must buy for me. Has a release date been set? Enjoy reading your blog and I have picked up many great Westerns by following your advice.
All the best,
Bob
It would seem that most of the things young Toby and his
dedicated “Geezer Posse” wish for have a habit of actually happening.
I use the USA version of “Geezer” which means a bloke of advancing years.
I guess in the UK Geezer means “Dude”
I love those cats in the USA who call the A.C. Lyles films “Geezer Westerns”
Anyway,this Geezer would love to see the Sam Katzman Colonial Western
Collection namely LAST OF THE REDMEN,WHEN THE REDSKINS RODE,
FORT TI and THE PATHFINDER.
Those folks clued into this streaming thing tell me that the shorter
version of THE ALAMO in high-def looks sensational
There is no reason this cannot be released,I feel.
Furthermore I understand TCM are showing the 1080 version of
RUN OF THE ARROW so there’s no reason a Warner Archive release will
not follow soon.
Yet another Archive DVD destined for Amazon.
I have seen the high def version of THE DOOLINS OF OKLAHOMA and
it’s wonderful…a Mill Creek Blu Ray of this Scott classic would be most
welcome.
All I can say is thank you Mill Creek. After seeing the very good quality of their Durango Kid set, I feel confident it should be just as good. Do we have a release date yet?
Bob and Mike ,according to Mill Creek,the release date for the WILLIAM CASTLE WESTERNS COLLECTION is 1st May 2018.
The best thing about THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL is the theme .As I have mentioned before,I am not much of a fan of comedy westerns,with the exception of a few.
Last night I watched WALK LIKE A DRAGON .I sure wish either Olive or Kino Lorber would release this one.Somebody requested it on Kino which is what brought it to my attention.
Last night I saw “The Raid” from recommendations here (another thread). I would say it was an unusual film with not the usual plot, very enjoyable stars, and it was I color. Those are all the good points I can give it. I guess maybe it’s just going to take more time for me to enjoy this film as much as it was recommended. I would give it 2 stars, not bad, but really nothing, other than the enjoyable star watching, to go out in the rain for, fortunately I just had to walk to my Lazyboy.
Make that “it was IN color” not “I color”, when am I going to learn to proofread before hitting post.
Toby, I’ve kept thinking about Ben Cooper and THE LAST COMMAND, and I knew that I had read an interview given by Ben about being in the Alamo movie. I’m a reader of TRUE WEST magazine and I found it there. It’s from 2010 and Johnny D. Boggs(Western Novelist) called Ben and asked him about the movie. Boggs quoted Ben in this article. https://truewestmagazine.com/forget-the-alamo/
Thanks so much, Walter. That’s terrific.
This ‘n that……………
Firstly,thanks Walter for the link to the great Ben Cooper interview.
I certainly never knew Witney did second unit work on THE LAST COMMAND,
and also according to imdb Ellis Carter- second unit photography.
Secondly,despite my dismay with Movinside’s ghastly transfer of
SIERRA BARON the fine French site DVDClassik are quiet impressed
with Movinside’s Blu Ray transfer of CATTLE EMPIRE there are 28 screen
grabs to back this up.
A very interesting overview of the film as well.
DVDClassik do not seem to have too high a regard for Joel McCrea
and even less for Charles Marquis Warren.
I have never thought of Warren as much of a director but even I find the
DVDClassik piece somewhat harsh.
They seem more impressed with Warren as a writer and have a high regard
for De Toth’s SPRINGFIELD RIFLE.
As for other Warren efforts they regard ARROWHEAD mediocre and
racist and TROOPER HOOK shabby.
Not too much to add from me there.
They seem more impressed with screenwriter Dan Ullman and find favor
with FORT OSAGE,WICHITA,GOOD DAY FOR A HANGING and FACE OF
A FUGITIVE..
The star ratings for CATTLE EMPIRE range from half a star to two stars which
again I find rather unfair…as Warren’s Westerns go CATTLE EMPIRE
is certainly a cut above but as a McCrea vehicle it’s certainly sub par.
Odd that the French,certainly as far as DVDClassik goes do not seem to
rate McCrea too highly-I feel he fares better in Germany.
Hollywood Scrapheap have just released THUNDER IN THE SUN
but sadly as a 4×3. The Scrapheap’s review of THUNDER IN THE SUN
is very amusing especially as they dwell on the non-P.C. aspects of
the film..I feel most FWOTF followers will find this an entertaining read.
One good thing about DVD Beaver,and Cinesavant and DVD Classik in
France is that their concise reviews are great guidelines in deciding
whether to “splash the cash”
Glenn at Cinesavant has just trashed Olive’s THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL
he gives the Blu Ray quality as “poor” a rating,I understand,he rarely gives.
A film that will appeal to many FWOTF followers,though not a Western is
HIGHWAY DRAGNET.
Glenn is not too impressed with the film overall but thinks Kino’s 4K scan
is the tops in quality.
Glenn has written a fine piece on the film giving great details on some of the
people involved-it makes for fine reading.
I urge cats like Jerry,for instance to read Glenn’s piece-there is much
to enjoy here.
Any film that has Reed Hadley as a cop has me sold straight away.
I may be wrong but was not Toby slated to do the commentary on
HIGHWAY DRAGNET…but other projects made this impossible.
Whoever thought that we would one day get Allied Artists programmers
scanned to 4K on Blu Ray..I hope more are in the pipeline especially
JACK SLADE,AT GUNPOINT and DRAGOON WELLS MASSACRE.
Hopefully Warner Archive will upgrade some of the Allied Artists films
already released on DVD especially titles like WICHITA,SOUTHSIDE 1-1000
and LOOPHOLE. The latter is a cracking unheralded Noir which Glenn
name-drops in his fine piece.
Thanks for the suggestion, John. It is an interesting piece and is a film I want to see. Only released on BluRay??
Most Kino releases are also released on DVD.
Import CD’s have the DVD of HIGHWAY DRAGNET for a mere $11
Still amazed that you are still resisting the Blu Ray format Jerry,
especially with all the classic Westerns in high def appearing
these days and especially as you are a discerning film fanatic.
You cannot use finances as an excuse these days Jerry,after
all you play golf,a pastime I certainly cannot afford these days. 🙂
Yes, John, it’s the timing that’s all wrong. Had I been able to get BluRays of all my favourite films in the first place I would be quite happy but I’m not prepared to double dip everything. My loss perhaps, but there we are.
Not just golf btw but 2 grandchildren also. Priorities……..
Thanks for the info re “HIGHWAY DRAGNET” too, my friend.
Jerry ,I thought you would have had BLU RAY for sure ,but like you I’m not prepared to double dip everything .Besides I’m about to join the grandad club soon myself.
Well at the risk of poking my nose in where I don’t belong – one extra plus to a Blu-ray player is that it does upconvert (translation somewhat improve) the resolution of dvds as well. So if you had one it would play your inventory of DVDs as well as play any Blu-ray you purchase. I get the problem of double dipping – I quadruple dipped High Noon for example but am very happy that I went to Blu-ray for new purchases and for some titles e.g. The Horse Soldiers the difference is major. Just an opinion of course.
I note that Eureka UK are releasing BREAKOUT PASS on Blu Ray
in their “Masters Of Cinema” series no less.
Since when was Tom Gries a “Master Of Cinema” I might ask.
Even WILL PENNY is no great shakes-certainly Gries best film.
BREAKOUT PASS is good when on location but the many interior
scenes are deadly dull.
Furthermore the film is totally unworthy of the great Ben Johnson-Bronson’s
starring Westerns are patchy at best with CHATO’S LAND far and away
the best…FROM NOON TO THREE is terrible as is Charlie’s attempt at
“light comedy”
I DO wish video companies would release something new-not titles that
have been released elsewhere.
Eureka would be better of releasing,say WINCHESTER’73…I still cannot
track down the Aussie version and will avoid the Sidonis version
WINCHESTER’73 really needs the Criterion treatment.
I hope that the rumours posted here earlier of THE NAKED SPUR getting
the Criterion treatment are in face true.
Hi,Hi,
I thought your comments on WILL PENNY would generate
some flak,especially as it’s such a highly regarded film.
For me,the film is trashed by another appalling performance
by the dreadful Donald Pleasence.
There’s an interesting piece on the equally dreadful SOLDIER
BLUE over at Jeff Arnold’s West,where Jeff points out the awful
Pleasence “Ham” is several Westerns.
I don’t what is is with several American directors that they seem
unable to reign in OTT British Ham Actors.
Pleasence could be good with the right director and he is certainly a
case of “Less is More”
As much as I love Donald Pleasance in The Great Escape, he can be over the top. The just-released The Hallelujah Trail is a good example. Interesting enough, Funko has included Pleasance as Blofeld in You Only Live Twice to their Pop series of toys.
Re Will Penny. I don’t like it either, but my problem isn’t with Donald Pleasance or any performer, but conceptual. By that I mean the protagonist is portrayed as an illiterate depressive. The backbone of America. Fine, but I don’t have to either agree or be interested. For the record, no nation was built by such a person and t he limited success Penny has enjoyed comes directly from the kind of person who accepts this thing as a kind of political statement. Not me.
Hi Linnet ,there is a copy of WINCHESTER 73 Region 4 on Amazon released by Shock Entertainment .If you live in Australia ,you should be able to order it locally from say JB HI FI or Sanity.
Those who follow the Koch Media website will
see that they have now listed several new Koch releases as well
as the new Explosive ones that they distribute.
The artwork for Explosive’s UNCONQUERED looks very appealing
and although the film is mostly nonsense,the huge budget and expansive
production values should look awesome in high-def-I’d go as far as
to say this is the sort of film Blu Ray was created for.
I note with great interest that Classicflix have just announced
DOWN THREE DARK STREETS a Noir that I have never seen,so I’m
doubly excited about that.
With the wonderful Broderick Crawford and a socko supporting cast
shot by Joseph Biroc and directed by the very underrated Arnold Laven.
Classicflix are not the cheapest label on the market but you get
wonderful transfers,generally super extras and booklets.
There has never been a better time to be a fan of classic movies,
apart of course from living in the 1950’s and seeing all these
fine films at your local cinema.
Toby ,there is a review for THE SINGING GUNS on Movie Fanfare.
I got an email alert from Movies Unlimited about the Singing Guns release and I responded to the question one of the commenters had.
I think you and I might be the only two BluRay hold-outs among the regulars here, Graham.
Glad to hear you will soon be joining the granddad club btw – a place of joy!!
Oh no, you’s two ain’t all. I’s glad to be a member of the never-bluer club. I love my DVDs, they look perfect to me and see no reason to start re-buying once again everything I already have.
I only have seen a couple of exceptions to the “DVDs are perfect” rule. Here’s where I prove to be honestly open minded. On 2 DVDs I’ve bought, MY FAIR LADY & TWIN PEAKS the Showtime new series, the picture shows a blurriness around the details, sort of double lines, EXCEPT when you hit “pause” or “freeze” then the picture looks beautifully sharp. I have only seen this on these 2 commercial DVDs. I never saw anything wrong with the DVDs when I had the old cathode ray tube TV only now with the thin screen LCD screen do I have this problem. Once again proving for every advance forward there are always 2 steps backward.
Now I experimented with the Twin Peaks set and I played it thru the HDMI connection to the TV from the DVD player and blurred lines picture cleared up! Trouble is my regular DVD player that I use most of the time is connected via the red, green, yellow RCA connectors and doesn’t have an HDMI connection option. But when using another DVD player with the HDMI it cleared up the problem.
Bottom line, I still have not and have no intention of going blu.
HDMI is the way to go Johnny, it should improve all your retail DVDs.
Johnny Guitar,I thought you were a DVD purchaser only.I do have a couple of BLU RAYS which I’ve never played but that’s only because they came with a DVD and some of them come with a nice booklet .
For the record, I also own one Blu ray, the Holiday Inn colorized version. I still don’t own a blu ray player, but then again, my record is true, I remember buying CDs before I ever bought a CD player. I bought the CDs because they weren’t available as tapes and likewise the colorized DVD of Holiday Inn has stopped being made, so I bought the blu ray for the day I can no longer get it on DVD though I already have the color Hol Inn on DVD too. Guess I can’t help double dipping when it’s something I really like.
I WILL double dip when it’s a case of upgrading from a poor transfer to a good one or from an ‘off-air’ to a commercial DVD. But continually buying the next version to come out, particularly if the difference is fairly minimal, is something I cannot justify. Heck! I’ve already run out of space for my film collection now so doubling everything would be impossible LOL!!
Hi Jerry..with all due respects the upgrade from DVD to Blu Ray
is generally more than minimal,apart from when a less than stellar
master is available. Films like THE MAN FROM LARAMIE,COMANCHE STATION,THE HANGING TREE and BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK need to
be seen in the best visual quality possible..the Blu Ray’s of those films
trash the DVD versions the difference is huge.
I used to be anti Blu Ray…I used to refer to the cats on Home Theatre
Forum as “high definition freaks” I thought nothing could surpass my
beloved DVD’s.
I might also add that an upgrade from an “off air” copy to Blu Ray is beyond
description.
It does create future problems,I might add…what am I going to do when,
as they surely will,happen when THE SEARCHERS,RIO BRAVO and
THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES appear in 4K Ultra HD versions-that involves
buying not only a new disc but also a new TV and player….when all is said and
done I feel then I will say my Blu Ray is good enough…enough already!!
Having said all that if I were 20 years younger I would be condidering
replacing all my Blu Ray’s but by then who knows what they will have
thought up to part us from our cash.
I’m far from anti-Blu, John. I accept all you say – I’ve just reached that ‘enough already’ point now rather than later, I guess.
Just watched the new Arrow UK Blu Ray of RAMROD..it’s a perfect
transfer great grain and contrast.
Too bad they never got Toby to contribute the video essay….Preston Foster
is the heavy not Robert Preston..the knowledge of some of these so called
“experts” never fails to amuse me.
I look forward to Gary at DVD Beaver’s take on the transfer.
I also watched the De Toth interview at London’s National Film Theatre
in 1994. The questions from the person interviewing De Toth and the
audience are uninspired to say the least.
The only worthwhile bit in the 46 minute interview is when an audience
member mentions MORGAN THE PIRATE…Andre replies…”don’t punish
me”…although he did admit he thought Steve Reeves was a nice guy,.
Hopefully the audio interview also included will include better material.
I’ve had a long horrible history of double dipping, triple, quadruple and in some cases quintriple dipping. Is it any wonder why I refuse to be taken in anymore by the “latest greatest” copy? From beta to VHS to laser disc then to DVD. I think I have 6 versions of Holiday Inn now, 4 versions of Searchers, I’ve had it, I don’t want to depress myself by going on.
On to a more worthy subject, William Witney. Tonight I just saw a really incredible episode of Mike Hammer, the Darren McGavin version from the ’50’s. Episode name was “Wedding Mourning” and was directed by William Witney. For a TV show it was very violent, esp. for one from the ’50’s, it was dramatic and showed a man insane with having revenge. The man being Hammer. It was one of the more memorable episodes and it even had one of my favorite girl stars, Linda Lawson. I don’t know where I’ve seen her before but I’m sure it was in other TV shows of the era, Perry Mason, maybe even Bachelor Father. But she was beautiful and played the ill-fated future Mrs. Hammer. I do admit to predicting what would be the future for her. As with most TV shows anytime the main star falls in love and wants to get married the future wife is sure to be a goner before the end of the 1/2 hour.
But in spite of all this, I was pleasantly informed at the end of the show that it was Witney who directed. Good show.
Linda Lawson had an impressive list of TV credits.
One of her best movie roles was in APACHE RIFLES,directed by
William Witney. Linda told an interesting tale.
One morning a driver got lost and Linda through no fault of her own
turned up on set late. An assistant really tore into her,but Audie was not going
to stand for this he told the guy if he behaved like this again he would kill him.
The guy froze on the spot and Linda actually said she felt sorry for him,
there were certain things you just did not do on an Audie Murphy set.
Linda liked Audie quiet a bit but did regret one incident.
In one scene in the film Linda is shot and wanting to get it right and knowing
Audie’s wartime experiences Linda asked him what it was like to get shot.
Audie replied “at first you don’t feel it..then you do”
Linda realised Audie was uncomfortable with the question,and wished she had
never asked it.
Linda is best remembered for Curtis Harrington’s cult classic NIGHT TIDE.
Linda eventually married Paul Newman’s business partner.
Jeepers Johnny just what are you doing up at this time in the morning!!!
I’ve watched many a TV episode of “BONANZA”, “STATE TROOPER”, “WELLS FARGO” etc where it was more actionful or violent than the norm that the director was Wild Bill Witney. He raised the game of most things he worked on.
i would like to backtrack at this point. I think highly of WILL PENNY(1967), In my opinion it is one of the best, if not the best, authentic Western movie ever made about an aging, near fifty-year-old cowhand, or any other. It is beautifully photographed by Lucien Ballard. The performances of Charlton Heston, Joan Hackett, and Jon Francis(Jon Gries, the writer-directors son) are so in tune with this psychological character study. It is Heston’s finest performance and his personal favorite. The chemistry between Hackett and Heston is magical. The story is a simple one written and directed by Tom Gries. He never reached these heights again. The story is unconventional compared to other Westerns we discuss here at this blog-site, because it is truer to life.
When I watch WILL PENNY, I see people that I have known, yes I knew them. I think of my grandparents, on both sides of my family. The way they talked, my maternal grandfather used the term “the big auger” as used in the movie. The way they worked and lived is in this movie. Many viewers are put off by the Quint family led by the fanatical fake preacher-father played by Donald Pleasance. I’m not, because the evil Quints remind me of a family of brothers that I knew as a youngster. A family of brothers who were mean down to their bone marrow. You didn’t want to tarry in their neck of the woods for too long. The youngest was only a year, or two older than me. They caught the county sheriff alone at a dance. They ganged up on him and beat him black and blue, they were stomping him into the dance floor. If it hadn’t have been for some of the other men at the dance jumping in and holding them back, they might have killed him. My maternal great grandfather was beat to an inch of his life and left in a ditch, but he lived. My grandfather told me that his father was, “never much good after that.”
I think that I have probably written too much, and I could have written more, but I don’t want to be a bore. I’m a movie fan, because it is an escape. Although, sometimes a movie comes along that is a little too close to home.
I think I’ve seen Will Penny once many years ago. Only thing I remember is I didn’t like it. Will have to watch again to see what all the hub bub’s about. It may be a while though considering all the other ’50’s westerns I’ve yet to see which are more to my favor.
Don’t really care for late ’60’s and beyond “westerns” they are usually much too liberally bent and with anti-decency themes. I’m afraid the subversive counter-culture had taken over Hollywood by this time and now it rules the roost to the point where if you are anything but a wild eyed anti-American liberal you are blacklisted.
Amusing how libs always paint blacklisting of the ’50’s as the horror of all time yet their blacklisting of conservatives for the past 3-4 decades is just dandy. At least the ’50’s blacklisting only lasted a decade or less while the current blacklisting by libs goes on unabated. Is it any wonder I quit watching the self-congratulatory award shows that became nothing but a platform for anything anti-decent and anti-American and anti-Reagan back in the mid ’80’s. In many ways it’s like living a deja-vu today with Trump being treated just as Reagan was then. Libs never change and neither do their tactics.
Seeing as this thread has seen some criticism leveled at Will Penny, I just wanted to chip in and say that I can’t go along with any of that. I think it remains one of the great late-era westerns, a very solid movie with a genuinely human heart driving it. Personally, I have issues with Donald Pleasence in this – he is bit broad I suppose but I’m not especially troubled by it.
I’m not sure why a couple of posters are bringing up politics in relation to this – the film has a rich and affecting emotional point, but I don’t see any political aspect worth talking about. I hope Toby doesn’t mind my throwing in a link here, but I wrote about the film on my own site a few years ago – https://livius1.wordpress.com/2013/06/26/will-penny/ – and felt there was plenty to admire about this title.
I don’t mind at all. Thanks for tossing it in there.
My grandfather was a real cowboy. Rodeo’d a bit (I have one of his trophies) and trained cutting horses. Will Penny was one he didn’t find much wrong with, and he was pretty critical of how cowboy life was shown in movies. So, if he didn’t have a problem with it, that’s a big feather in its cap.
Pleasance is too broad, but I thought a lot of the performances were really good and Lucian Ballard can do no wrong when he’s pointing his cameras at a Western.
Thanks, that’s interesting how a genuine westerner viewed the film.
On Pleasence, I meant to say, but ended up with a typo, was that while I feel he probably plays it too broad, I don’t have a major problem with the performance. Sure it could have been toned down a bit but it’s effective enough in its portrayal of villainy and, anyway, he and his character are there as devices to move the plot along rather than as the main focus of either the story its theme.
I agree with Colin, and I’ve always liked the film, it feels very real and authentic. It’s strange that one of Charlton Heston’s better performances as the worn out cowboy Will Penny has to get so political.
Is he really letting America down?
I don’t think so, Mike, and I’m at a loss to see why such points need to be raised on a movie site. But that’s all I want to say on the matter as I don’t want to drag out a discussion that not really relevant anyway.
Will Penny is making a social statement, and therefore is fair game for comment.
Colin, that was a great review of WILL PENNY. I really enjoyed it and the comments that went along with it. I liked the movie the first time that I saw it, when I was a youngster, and I still do. My family’s background is raising cattle, horses, mules, hogs, and chickens I grew up driving and herding cattle. The movie rings true. It isn’t a romantic life, it is a hard working life.
The movie has a sad ending, but a true one for this story. Yes, I could have done without the Quint Family, but as Colin wrote, the writer had to have a devise to move the plot forward. Again, thank you Colin for your grand review of WILL PENNY.
Some really interesting and unusual background is emerging here from Walter and Toby. I loved hearing Walter’s disquieting family history, which is so close in many ways to the real west that we all enjoy seeing depicted, however accurately or otherwise.
Having grown up in the inner suburbs of London my life was about as far away from Walter’s as you get yet from a very early age the western films stole my heart.
I think “WILL PENNY” a fine film personally and Heston was never better.
The full details of the Budd Boetticher/Randolph Scott
Blu Ray collection from Indicator are up on Colin’s blog.
Indicator have extended their normal 3,000 run to 6,000-I guess that they
are anticipating a high demand for this release.
The good news is that it’s region free and none of the extensive extras
duplicate with the Sony DVD collection from 10 years back.
Added to all this is an 80 page booklet.
I don’t want to wade into the DVD vs Blu Ray debate but I will say that
a “Randolph Scott fan” who can resist this release is not worthy of the
name. I don’t include folks who have the Sony DVD set from 2008
for them the double up resistance is understandable.
Judging by many supposed Randolph Scott UK fans that I know-they
have not even got this but are more than happy with their “off air”
copies.It’s great that Indicator have included Randy’s name on the
packaging and who knows if it is a great seller,which I hope it will
be in spite of the UK’s “off air” brigades reluctance to splash the cash,
who knows we may get a Randolph Scott Columbia collection.
I for one would relish high def versions of films like THE WALKING HILLS,
THE DOOLINS OF OKLAHOMA,MAN IN THE SADDLE,HANGMAN’S KNOT,
and A LAWLESS STREET.
This has generated a huge amount of “heat” on Indicator’s Facebook
page….lots of people really excited about this release.
Hi-I could not agree more regarding the UK’s “off air” brigade….
what these guys don’t realize is that this Indicator set will soon be
a prized collectors item whereas “off air” copies are worthless.
One of these cats wanted to copy my Boetticher DVD collection..my
response to him is unprintable here,and besides he lives in a house
valued at well over a million quid!
Many of us have been moaning about the lack of any
A.C.Lyles Western on Blu Ray.
What we are getting is the A.C.Lyles production NIGHT OF THE LEPUS
on Blu Ray.NIGHT OF THE LEPUS has Stuart Whitman and Rory
Calhoun vs an army of mutant rabbits.
Whitman,(who I’ve always admired) didn’t need the bread-he was already
a multi millionaire through his business and horse breeding ventures-
at this point in his career he was happy to take the money and run.
Rory was probably happy with the gig now that the Lyles Westerns
had run their course.
As Mr Maltin so aptly states The Nation Guard,not Elmer Fudd,
come to the rescue.
The NIGHT OF THE LEPUS Shout Factory Blu Ray proves that Horror
fans will buy ANYTHING in high-def.
Oddly enough,and this is a first; Shout Factory have leased this film from
Warners-it was previously a Warner Archive DVD.
I don’t even know if NIGHT OF THE LEPUS is Hannibal8 worthy especially
as at the moment they are in one of their “up-market” phases. A lapse in
taste is always welcome over at the H8.
Looking over the WILLIAM CASTLE WESTERN COLLECTION, I’m familiar with four of the eight listed. I remember watching CONQUEST OF COCHISE(1953) on the CBS affiliate Channel 3 WREC-TV Early Movie when I was a youngster. I was enthralled with this movie. I liked looking at maps and the movie showed a map of the Gadsen Purchase of 1853. At school, the next day I looked up the map in an encyclopedia(those were the days). I kept playing the movie over in my minds-eye. At home, I would go outside and run down to the creek, where my older brother and I had built a miniature log cabin. I would pretend and play-act that I was in the land of the Gadsen Purchase with the U.S. Cavalry, Apaches, and Mexicans. Those were the days.
You brought back a kid memory of mine too, Walter. My best friend was the kid next door, he had a miniature log cabin in his back yard. I thought that was the greatest, we’d go in there and pretend we were cowboys out in the forest shooting bad guys thru the windows. Just imagine, we kids had cowboy cap pistols with holsters, hats and everything and we didn’t grow up to be mad psychopaths. How did that ever happen? Today the know it alls tell us never give kids play guns they’ll turn into mad killers. What crap. We had fun pretending and playing outside. We sure didn’t spend our every waking hour on video games.
Oh, and Colin, if you don’t know it, just from the examples I’ve given, politics are pervasive they’re everywhere and they are put there by the libs in never announced or heralded ways. Lib politics have taken over the “entertainment” TV/Movie industry, over Education, which is now nothing more than indoctrination centers for liberal anti-Americanism and of course the so-called news industry which is now just a tool of the extreme left former Democrat party. Open your eyes, it’s pervasive and must be pointed out and people need to be aware. Granted this is probably not the place, but when talk goes to these supposed westerns made in the late ’60’s and beyond they are all politically motivated, depicting life in America as nothing but being surrounded by low-life ignorant immoral raping slobs. Even the latter days of the color Gunsmokes ran into this same trap. I won’t fall into the trap that’s set.
Bingo Johnny.
I agree with everything you’re saying except for the color Gunsmokes. Frontier towns and mining areas had extremely high crime and lots of violent crimes against women and native Americans. Off the charts high crime that’s probably even with Detroit, Baltimore and Miami. The lawlessness and crimes against women in some areas were off the charts. My grandmother told me that many children of the early 1900s in the western US were the product of rapes and forced marriages.
Count me also an ‘old school’ western buff. The gradual introduction of modern cynicism tends to undermine the very things about the genre that I like. In some ways, I’ve often supposed the ‘psychological’ trend in post-war drama (and by extension, in westerns) was a double-edged sword. I love the extra dimension in the ‘character study’ realm, but I lose my patience when narratives become too insular, too beset by psychological demons guiding everyone. It seems to cultivate cynicism that ultimately alienates me. The aspect of the western that draws me in the relative moral rectitude of “a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do,” accompanied with the kind of pioneer spirit of civilizations cutting new paths and overcoming the innate dangers and adversities.
Mythic in many ways, but genuinely more akin to the worldviews of those older generations. I just so well remember the outlooks and perspectives of my grandparents and their friends and peers, who often came from some pretty rustic and hardscrabble backgrounds. I loved talking with them. Things like cynicism, detached irony, self-indulgent emotional blatherings… just wasn’t part of their world or outlook. Hence, it also seems so weirdly foreign to me when I see it in a western. It hits a discordant note with me.
I relish the old westerns for many things, but one aspect is simply the comportment of the protagonists. Straight-arrow stuff. Like a textbook for being an adult. Yet I see young folks often deriding a lot of my favored actors, like Randolph Scott, Alan Ladd, Rod Cameron, and such as being “wooden.” Well, they certainly don’t follow modern culture’s always-rewarded propensities towards endless bleating emotional outbursts. And thank goodness for that! As the world gets more and more demented by the day, I look at these old westerns (along with some other vintage fare) as a needed, well-grounded anchor, keeping me from being swept away in a sea of crazy.
Looking forward to the Castle set. Have about half of them via Sony’s m.o.d. line, but look forward to revisiting those, along with seeing the others.
You are in the club, but anyone who say Randolph Scott is wooden has made up his mind before seeing the picture. That is a fool. Rod Cameron is pretty good too, though not as talented. As for Alan Ladd, in some ways, Shane excepted, is stiff, but then his success was not predicated on versatility , no ones really ever was, but on empathy. You can be handsome like Clark Gable or Cary Grant, or homely like Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman, or downright ugly like Edward G. Robinson and Charles Laughton, and still be a top star. The magic, and that is what it is, comes from screen presence, and that is empathy. They are interested in you, and no one can tell who has it before time.
That’s a marvelous insight Bert. “…one aspect is simply the comportment of the protagonists. Straight arrow stuff. Like a textbook for being an adult.” Beautifully written. An echo from a world that is fast disappearing. I would also have to agree with Johnny Guitar’s State-of-the-Nation analysis above. Spot on Johnny and it’s just the same here in the UK. At the moment almost the entire political class are attempting to thwart the Democratic vote on Brexit.
Yes Nick,and the UK government are running scared regarding
President Trump’s visit..they know the rabble rousers will be out in force.
The French did not invent anarchy there are a few cats like Wat Tyler
to take into consideration but in France there has always been
plenty of left wingers and anarchists.
Despite all that when President Trump visited they treated him
as the leader of their great ally their manners were respectful and
decent. The French love American culture and American Movies
in particular; did not Clint Eastwood receive France’s highest honor.
I would go as far as to say that Clint is more popular in France
than in his home nation.,
Over in the UK where the lunatics have truly taken over the
asylum the hard left are already plotting the demo to end all demos
when President Trump arrives.
All this despite President Trump’s investment in the UK his promise to
put England at the front of the trade line up and reinstating Churchill’s
bust back into The White House.
Furthermore the only UK politician President Trump has any
respect for; Nigel Farage;is shunned by the current government.
Some of the demonstrations the hard left are planning are truly
disgusting and I will not detail them here.
We now have the weakest UK leader in living memory and the
prospect of Jeremy Corbyn being Prime Minister which would be
the worst thing to hit England since The Black Death.
Sorry to get political here Toby but I hope my rant gives some of our
American friends the dire reality of living in the UK in 2018-thank
God we have these great Western releases to take our minds off
reality.
Randolph Scott is a pretty good actor ,but Alan Ladd had more talent then some people give him credit for ,and not only in westerns .I would prefer watching a Ladd film first over Scott ,but then that’s my preference .
A lot of the westerns made after the late 60s ,are rubbish ,but there are some that are not.
With The Hannibal 8 still in up-market mode I thought I’d comment
on Mill Creek’s Hammer Blu Ray’s here instead…I don’t know how many FWOTF regulars are horror fans..not many I would think.
Anyway,Gary at DVD Beaver has given very positive reviews to the latest
Mill Creek double feature he’s even shown the screen grabs for the
UK Indicator releases and to me the Mill Creek’s look better.
The main attraction is the price of the Mill Creek releases..a bargain to
be sure.
Regarding the Castle release I could do without KLONDIKE KATE and
URANIUM BOOM and furthermore I’d love some of the Castle/Katzman
epics as double features on Blu Ray especially with Mill Creek getting
such high praise from Gary.
No takers here,I guess, for NIGHT OF THE LEPUS on Blu Ray but it’s
certainly a first Warner Archive leasing previously released titles to
other companies.
I for one would love to see some of the Warner Randolph Scott’s to
appear in high-def no matter who released them and it’s also high time
we had a Warner Bros Andre De Toth Western Collection…including a
fully restored version of THE BOUNTY HUNTER..all on Blu Ray,of course.
I make a point of never getting political on these havens of peace (talking about westerns) but all I will say is: “Where is the centre ground of political opinion now?” The centre seems to be in full retreat sadly, all over the Western world and certainly in the US and UK. Polarised opinions, divisive attacks upon moderation from the extremes of both Left and Right. We need the voice of reason more than ever now. But in the UK we seem to have an ineffective government, leaving us with the frightening alternative of “The Black Death”, as John puts it succinctly.
I don’t see any voices of reason coming from the top of the US government either though, I might add. Putin must be laughing up his sleeve!
Put on another Randolph Scott film, for the sake of sanity!
I think we may need to pull hard to the Right in order to eventually find a new Centre, Jerry.
Jerry, it all sounds so wonderful, let’s all sing We Are The World and lay in the middle of the road. Only trouble is those who refuse to take a stand and instead remain in the middle are those that get run over.
There is no middle to what’s right and what’s wrong. You’re either one or the other and throwing out your principles and all that you know is right just to make the extremist socialist freedom-hating left happy and “not mad at you” is a truly losing battle. The left don’t need to be appeased or made happy, they need to be defeated and defeated soundly. These leftists will never agree to anything in the least bit sane, they are all out and out commie and socialists who firmly believe in one all mighty tyranical ruler who is the only one who knows all and tells the people what to think, where to live, whether or not having a job is something to value, what kind of job you will be assigned, how to transport yourself (no cars), total control over the, what they consider, sheep and helpless rabble who are incapable of thinking for themselves and could never possibly elect someone to REPRESENT them, not rule.
As the great President Reagan would constantly remind and repeat, those in government are the SERVANTS of the people not the other way around the people are not servants of government. Unfortunately the left wing extremists believe the people are here to serve the all knowing all seeing government. And if you disagree, into prison with you or suffer a nerve gas attack as just happened again to a former Soviet spy who disagreed with the all knowing Soviet leader. No matter what sweet and wonderful names they give themselves the left wing mean to do only one thing rule and control you.
Yes, Hi, England is just what happens when you allow the far left anti-freedom loving socialists to take over your country and to allow every low-life illegal alien to invade your country, do nothing about it, attack your country with terrorist tactics, do nothing about it except to respond by patting them on the head and by all means never saying anything that might offend the terrorist. When you bend over backward to please the enemy you get what you deserve.
The US was headed in your country’s same tragic direction under Obama until the great President Trump arrived on the scene and saved the day and our country from the far out leftists. They continue in the media to lie and smear Pres. Trump just as they did with President Reagan. The left tactics NEVER change and neither do their total takeover goals.
I’m sorry, Lee, but Trump is no Reagan unfortunately. Anyway, I’ve said enough – no more politics from me here.
I agree, Trump is not a true conservative, but 99% of his decisions are right on the money. I think he just gets it even if he doesn’t know why. Trump’s the best thing since Reagan, but Reagan is still by far my favorite. Reagan knew how to explain what was the right thing to do, he knew and did explain conservatism and regularly talked to the public thru prime time speeches. I believe this is something Trump should have been doing ever since he was elected. Trump needs to talk to the people in prime time instead of daytime mid day announcements which get only biased and edited coverage by the left media. Live prime-time speeches to the people is a skill Trump needs to begin to exercise. By talking directly to the people in prime time when people were home to see it Reagan was able to go over the heads of the editing media and communicate directly his real thoughts. Trump tries this thru tweets but I believe this isn’t as effective as a direct talk to the nation like Reagan regularly did.
I see that actor Tom Reese has passed away. He was good, brutish villain in many a tv-western. Also a nice guest at a few film festivals. Always hate seeing these guys check out.
John Knight, I seen your comment about KILLERS OF KILIMANJARO not being on DVD .As mentioned in a previous post,I have a Spanish copy of this film which is fine for me ,however I’ve no doubt that WB Archive will get around to releasing this in the future .They have said that no BLU RAYS are planned for at the moment.You may have noticed my request for THE DETECTIVES with Robert Taylor on Indicator .I also asked Olive about this and explained that it was released in Germany with no English and they said at least it shows there must be decent prints around.I guess the chances of this TV show getting released by either of these labels is minimal but if you don’t ask then you don’t get.
KILLERS OF KILIMANJARO was a Columbia picture, so it would not be a Warner Archive prospect. I think there was a VHS of it from Goodtimes Video when they licensed Columbia titles.
Texican ,thank you.You are correct .I was probably thinking of some of his MGM releases which later came out on Warner Home Video.Maybe Mill Creek might release it if they still have a deal with Sony.
I mean’t to say in my previous post that if anyone releases THE DETECTIVES in BLU RAY only ,I would go out and buy a BLU RAY player(multiregion of course)Hello ,any of you companies reading this.
I’d love to see THE DETECTIVES released officially on DVD, this was a neat little series with a young Adam West and Don from Lost In Space, not to mention Taylor. Maybe Shout or even Mill Creek? I’d be happy.
I’m still pining away for the B&W Dragnets with Webb and Ben Alexander.
Decent prints of “THE DETECTIVES” TV series certainly do exist at least. A TV channel here in the UK has shown about one-third of the 30 minute episodes and the entire 30 episodes at 60 minutes. They looked just fine too.
I had hoped they would get around to the remainder of the half-hours but maybe they aren’t available to them.
The channel owns Renown Pictures who have put out some sets though nothing as large as the 96 episodes of “THE DETECTIVES” -yet anyway.
I will email them and ask. They always reply so I will report their response back here.
I think it was a very good series.
Jerry ,be sure and mention Robert Taylor’s name to Renown as there is a later series in the UK called THE DETECTIVES .I contacted them a couple of months back to see if they were planning to release Vol 2 of THE EARLY COWBOY COLLECTION but they said the person who worked on the first one had nothing in the works at that stage.
Thanks for that, Graham. Email already gone to them and I DID specify the Robert Taylor connection. I will report back.
I also asked if they might have access to two other very rare British TV series, “DIAL 999” & “FABIAN OF THE YARD”. Not likely unfortunately but it’s always worth sewing a seed…….
The aforementioned KILLERS OF KILLIMANJARO was a Warwick
picture and like several Warwick pictures they are on the missing list.
Other titles include HIGH FLIGHT a huge hit in England but only
shown in the USA in black & white….it turns up on TCM in color
but as a 4×3 not CinemaScope.
Other missing Warwick titles include THE MAN INSIDE,A PRIZE OF
GOLD,NO TIME TO DIE (Tank Force) and THE BANDIT OF ZHOBE.
Several Warwick titles have appeared as Sony MOD’s but that
series seems to have more or less bit the dust.
KILLERS OF KILLIMANJARO was released in the UK pared with
THE BATTLE OF THE CORAL SEA a great double bill for action loving kids.
Thanks for indulging us in a “political” diversion Toby….
“there are just some things a man can’t ride around”
Anyway back to reality and I’m kinda sorry as this is buried at the tail end
of an epic thread.
Firstly let me state that I’m a “Hardcore Luddite”..I don’t have a home
computer and have only recently got a mobile ‘phone…I’m an analogue
guy living in a digital age.
All this downloading and streaming is totally alien to me-but I know a man
who can…..
A pal sent me a high-def download (on Blu Ray) of the 164 minute version
of THE ALAMO and it’s gorgeous. Apart form everything else I forgot what
a beautiful looking film is-just chock full of gorgeous looking compositions.
It’s also perfectly cast The Duke and Widmark make an inspired team and
Laurence Harvey is perfectly cast and the great Richard Boone makes
a supreme Sam Houston.
I know there have been lots of talk about the complete version needing
a restoration but at least it proves there is a glorious high def version of
the 164 minute version.
A friend of mine in Europe says he is showing the download version to
his 14 year old son in his home cinema..this will be the first time his son
has ever seen the film.
Oddly enough I was 14 when I first saw the film in Todd AO..the same
week I might add as THE GUNS OF NAVARONE.
I also remember reading that The Duke was highly amused by Harvey’s
antics who had the habit of calling him “Dukey”
Harvey also had his private chef flown in preparing gourmet meals while
the rest of the cast & crew ate the standard ranch stash.
Hey, john k….Just a little flashbacking. We kids in the neighborhood, thanks to one kid’s father, got dropped off in bunches most likely the same week (it seems so in my memory) for both THE ALAMO and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE. Both left HUGE impressions on my young mind as I thought back then (and still do) that these were perhaps the greatest films ever made, especially THE ALAMO with it’s awesome sense of scope and spectacle. I had never experienced anything quite like that. As for NAVARONE, I can still feel the vibrations from the theater sound system as the guns were fired during the climax. Such memories define a childhood.
…..about 10 years ago my wife’s brother from Georgia came visiting with his family for a couple days. His son (about 15 at the time) was told that I was an action film fan and started telling me about all the great films he had recently seen which were all CGI mega hits. I explained that I was okay with CGI when it was used to represent science fiction, but that I was not impressed seeing some hero type doing gravity defying backflips off a skyscraper while firing pistols from both hands, bouncing off building ledges and crashing through windows 60 stories high. I told him that I preferred real stunt work rather than comic book antics, which led to talking about action films of my era, Westerns, John Wayne, He told me that he had heard of John Wayne but had never seen a John Wayne film and didn’t even know what the man looked like. I proposed that we watch a John Wayne film together and he agreed. Now, which one to select? SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON or THE SEARCHERS were probably too character driven and slow. I settled on THE COMMANCHEROS and THE WAR WAGON as a proposed double feature; big, colorful films, with rousing soundtracks, lots of well-staged action and plenty of witty lines. I put the first movie on and after about 15-18 minutes my nephew wanders out to the kitchen. From there he wanders out to the enclosed back porch, only to eventually disappear into the back yard. At about the 40 minute mark I realized that he wasn’t coming back……
Sad, actually, to flashback to how exciting and meaningful these movies were to me when I was his age (10-15). How thrilled I was to experience THE ALAMO and THE GUNS OF NAVARONE and THE COMMANCHEROS and THE WAR WAGON at the theater, before mini-plexes and CGI silliness.
Believe me, I identify with your childhood viewing experience, and am so glad that I lived in an age when such films had so meaningful an impact on my life.
Hi Richard,
Wonderful to see you make a “guest appearance” on this now epic
thread. I don’t know…kids these days.
I simply cannot stand these films starring the likes of Tom Cruise
and Vin Diesel..I just refuse to watch them and that goes for virtually
everything made these days.
Earlier on we mentioned NIGHT OF THE LEPUS a film so bad
that it’s been rejected by The Hannibal 8,Toby says he hated it
even as a kid!
I don’t remember it being THAT bad but then I’ve always had a
sift spot for Stuart Whitman and Rory Calhoun.
As mentioned before we get “Lepus” on Blu Ray but none of
producer A.C.Lyles 13 Westerns-of which only one has had a DVD
release-possibly the worst of the lot;JOHNNY RENO.
Regarding Lepus,domestic bunnies were seen stomping miniatures
and stunt people in rabitt costumes were used for the “attack”
scenes.When all is said and done Richard “Lepus” must qualify for one
of your Good Wine Bad Movie Evenings..if it’s too bad for one of
those then my memory is failing,yet again.
john k…..NIGHT OF THE LEPUS has actually already made it to the Good Wine Bad Movie Evening several years ago when we were tearing through Stuart Whitman/Cameron Mitchell movies. I do admit to owning LEPUS on DVD and to actually enjoying it at the drive-in when it first came out, in a weird sort of way. I give them a lot of credit for even daring to attempt the whole the giant bunnies thing, and it never really seemed that bad of a movie overall, but then again, I’m a real sucker for this kind of inane fodder.
…as for WILL PENNY, I recall seeing that double billed in a theater (long since torn down) in Hubbard, Ohio in the early 70s. The strange thing here is that I somehow recall the second feature as being SNOW WHITE AND THE THREE STOOGES, making this one of the most offbeat pairings that I’ve ever encountered. Bring the kids in for the Stooges and let Donald Pleasance visit them in their dreams later on that night…NIGHT OF THE LEPUS would, of course, make an excellent double bill with DAMNATION ALLEY at any art house revival theater!
Graham, I have heard back from Renown. Not much information but they are hoping to restore and broadcast the rest of the half-hour episodes of “THE DETECTIVES”. That in itself is good news from where I stand (or sit). As to whether that might then lead to a DVD set is open to question. I will be watching out…..
Jerry ,thanks for the feedback on THE DETECTIVES .The trailer for this show on Amazon De looks ok ,but no English .They may have got the prints from German TV .I just got an email from Lyle Goff from Mill Creek about THE DETECTIVES and he said unfortunately they don’t have the distribution rights for it .I think ABC and NBC originally had it.
Jerry ,I too contacted Renown about THE DETECTIVES and got a similar answer ,but they said they are trying to locate some missing 30 min episodes to justify a release.Maybe they should just go with the 1 hour episodes .
I also inquired about THE EARLY COWBOY COLLECTION Vol 2 and they said that Vol 1 didn’t sell well.
That’s interesting extra detail, Graham. Thanks for that.
I particularly like the half-hours of “THE DETECTIVES” that featured the excellent Russell Thorson as the older detective, Otto.
I was searching for something on Amazon France when,I came
across a Warner Archive DVD of THE WRATH OF GOD selling for
100 Euros. I mention this because some while back,gcwe1,I think, mentioned
that this Robert Mitchum starrer had been deleted by Warner Archive.
I thought I’d check on Amazon USA and a new copy will set you back
$66 and an OK used copy not much cheaper.
I only mention this because when I saw the film during it’s initial release
the support feature was NIGHT OF THE LEPUS..a pretty good value
double bill I then thought.
Hi Linnet ,a Spanish copy of THE WRATH OF GOD is available for about 10 euro .on Amazon Es.
I am waiting for a Jerry Lewis 11 film collection sealed and a couple of weeks ago received THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES Official Seasons 1-4 US copy sealed but no slip cover both of which were not cheap.
Maybe M.O.D. doesn’t mean made to order anymore. One of first films to be deleted by W.A. a couple of years back was John Garfield’s The Breaking Point”.That’s now gone up to collector prices.
THE BREAKING POINT recently received a Criterion Collection release on both DVD and Blu-ray…interesting it also used to be available from the Warner Archive, I hadn’t realized that. Just sharing the Criterion info in case it happens to be “new news.”
Best wishes,
Laura
Thanks Laura, that’s interesting news, I’ll check that out.
It’s always very good news when another Audie Murphy
Western debuts in high def.
Germany’s Explosive Media have just announced POSSE FROM HELL
on Blu Ray this June.
It’s certainly one of the most controversial Westerns Audie ever made,
not only for the violence but for the gang rape of Zorah Lampert.
Thankfully, this is not shown on screen but is described in graphic detail.
The esteemed Blake Lucas and yours truly have, on these pages,
given our differing opinions about the ending which I certainly don’t like.
That apart it’s what Mike Richards likes to describe as a “Tough Little
Western”
Audie is a big seller in Germany,and it’s superb that the cats at Explosive
and Koch keep these high def Audie’s coming.
Knockout supporting cast,I might add including John Saxon,Vic Morrow,
Lee Van Cleef and Robert Keith.
Interesting that the excellent HOSTILES has just clocked in at $30
Million domestic takings.
All this despite being overlooked by The Academy.
It possibly proves that there still is a place for a low budget indie
Western even these days.
$30 Million is of course,chicken feed in today’s blockbuster obsessed
Hollywood,but pretty darn good for an indie Western and a genre that
the so called experts consider dead in the water.
I reckon the film fully deserves any success, financial or otherwise, that comes its way. It’s a solid piece of work with an interesting voice.
Ha! Nice to see UK Spag Western expert Mike Richards name dropped here
Mike will be very happy…others won’;t…that the aforementioned Koch
Media also has a couple of Euro Westerns also slated for June.
Firstly there’s AMIGOS..aka A Sky Full Of Stars For A Roof….never seen
this one but it’s directed by Giulio Petroni who had just made DEATH RIDES
A HORSE one of the genres all time classics.
imdb describes it as a Spaghetti “Buddy Movie” and it’s pretty well reviewed.
The Koch cover art is very appealing.
Also from Koch on Blu Ray is KILL THEM ALL AND COME BACK ALONE
which Kristina at the excellent Speakeasy has noted as a recent “discovery”
in a veritable feast of Euro Thrillers and Horror Classics certainly
my kinda movies.
Kristina sums it up perfectly when she says star Chuck Connors has the
perfect “big charming presence”
Some killjoy on imdb says KTA&CBA is set in the Civil War and dynamite
was not invented until after the Civil War…heaven knows how many
Civil War Westerns that has ruined for me…NOT!!!
Nice that this thread has nearly clocked in at 100 while our erstwhile host
has gone fishing…. 🙂
You learn something new every day……
never realized that KILL THEM ALL & COME BACK ALONE’s Frank
Wolff was the same Frank Wolff from those early Monte Hellman/.
Roger Corman films…Beast From Haunted Cave and so on…
Frank went on to be very popular in Spaghetti’s
Frank Wolff was the rancher, who with his children, was murdered by bad guy Henry Fonda and his gang in my favourite Once Upon A Time In The West.
While John K still raves about “Hostiles”, which l still haven’t seen, Hi Linnet gives us some Spaghetti western news.
I’ve never seen A Sky Full Of Stars….but with Giuliano Gemma and music from Morricone, it must be worth a look.
Kill Them All and Come Back Alone is a Dirty Dozen western, very action packed with a good star role for Chuck Connors. I have the DVD, so maybe not an upgrade to Blu ray, but the Gemma western will be for me.
While on the subject of Spaghetti westerns, I wish someone would release SARTANA DOES NOT FORGIVE with Jack Elam and Gilbert Roland with English audio .I have a German copy with English subs and I have seen it on U Tube with English audio ,but I won’t hold my breath as a few companies have released it with no English .It could do without the rape scene.
Yesterday I tried playing the Kino Lorber release of THE LONG RIDERS .I have had it for a couple of months and played it once and decided to watch it again but decided to watch 3 of the interviews first .I could not get back to the main menu ,I tried swiching off the remember last scene section on my DVD player,I tried playing another DVD and then went back to LONG RIDERS but nothing worked .Has anyone else encountered this problem?
OOOPS ,sorry guys and gals .Regarding THE LONG RIDERS ,I thought it only had 1 disc .The main disc was under the catalogue .