Directed by Sam Fuller
Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Barry Sullivan, Dean Jagger, John Ericson, Gene Barry
Criterion has announced a December 11 date for their edition of Sam Fuller’s Forty Guns (1957). The extras sound terrific and I can’t wait to see its black and white Scope in high definition.
This is one of those movies where you find something new to be dazzled by each time you see it. Absolutely essential.
Looking forward to this release. I
have Criterion’s original release from several years ago. It will be interesting to see the upgrades.
I need help. Does anyone out there know where I can find a good copy of BELLE STARR with Gene Tierney and Randolph Scott? Thanks🤓
Max-
I only know of two DVD versions of BELLE STARR-
The French Sidonis will,of course have “forced” subtitles and it gets a
terrible review on Amazon USA.
Perhaps Cole,now he’s on-board will confirm this.
Some years back Impulso,Spain released the film,which will not have
forced subs-it’s going for a fortune on Amazon USA but can be picked
up cheaper from Europe-I’m afraid that’s it-the Fox master of this film
seems to need an upgrade but I very much doubt if it’s on Criterion’s radar.
Regarding FORTY GUNS black & white ‘scope with a 4K remaster should
look sensational.
The French edition of Belle Starr was released in 2012 (We reviewed it here : http://testdvd.westernmovies.fr/testdvd.php?i=378). The subtitles are forced. It was sourced from an older (subpar) print. It would benefit from a new 4K restoration. With such a great casting, I keep hoping that it’s in the card for a future Blu-ray release by Twilight Time, Kino Lorber or another label.
As I said on the other thread, I am looking forward on this new restoration of Forty Guns.
Cole ,my contact at Sidonis tells me that they are waiting for a better print of COUNT THREE AND PRAY from Columbia .Any idea how long this will take.I see they have the artwork for it as it was on Amazon Fr but the release has been delayed.
gcwe1, the initial released in may 2017 was delayed because the master supplied to Sidonis was cropped to 1.33:1. Fortunately, they’re waiting for a master in Scope from Sony. I have no further information yet. It’s up to Sony now.
If only Barbara Stanwyck had played Barry Sullivan’s mother, we would have had classic Greek tragedy, instead of an over the top contrived conclusion.
Pure Barry Lane,and pure genius….
as always. 🙂
BTW,Barry I’ve been trying to educate Margot
on what exactly is a Poverty Row studio and what
exactly is a B Movie actor (GUN CRAZY thread)
but I see you have already been there….I don’t know
kids these days….still despite our gripes this lady sure
can write-on that we both agree!
We do agree on Margot’s site. Excellent stuff. And on a personal note, your comment is appreciated.
KIno has announced a blu-ray of THE GUN RUNNERS starring Audie Murphy.
It’s not a Western, but hey….
Thanks Texican….more Don Siegel in high def….WOW!
Texican, this is good news. THE GUN RUNNERS(1958) is a good movie. Audie Murphy is good and Eddie Albert makes for a better than good villain. The story has been described as Ernest Hemingway(“One Trip Across,” a 1934 short story) “lite,” but I think screenwriters Daniel Mainwaring, Paul Monash, with an uncredited Ben Hecht did a good job in updating the story to gun running during the Cuban Revolution. Of course it didn’t hurt to have Don Siegel in the director’s chair and Hal Mohr as director of photography.
Since watching KONA COAST I’ve been catching up on a few Richard Boone films including THE NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY which I didn’t realise he was in. I would also like to see HEC RAMSEY on DVD which only had 10 episodes .Richard Boone in my opinion rates as one of the best bad guys in movies.
Graham, how did you come by watching the little known Big Island cult movie KONA COAST(1968)? Was it because Chips Rafferty was in it? I remember first seeing this movie on the CBS THURSDAY NIGHT MOVIE in 1972. Later i saw it on the CBS LATE MOVIE more than once. I thought it was a colorful movie of its time, which was the 1960’s. I had been watching HAWAII FIVE-O for almost four years, and KONA COAST fit right in.
Walter ,I think the reason was because Richard Boone was in it .I didn’t realise Chips was in it ,so that came as a surprise .Today I watched THE OVERLANDERS ,one of my favourite Chips Rafferty films ,sort of an Aussie western ,which features Brisbane ,the capital city near where I live .I read where Chips persuaded the director to let him star in this film .
What a great little film “THE OVERLANDERS” is, Graham. It has a really authentic feel.
Jerry , I love the music in it even though it is basically simple .One thing that worries me is the scene in which several cows fall over a cliff ,did they use dummies or were they real cattle.I don’t know if RSPCA officers were around in those days to ensure their safety.
I’m going to have Toby on my case for firstly daring to post negative
vibes about a director who started off making Bill Elliott detective flicks,
and RegalScopes and secondly by lowering the tone of his blog….
yet again.
Anyway Graham; some background on NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY.
I might state that director Hubert Cornfield had already angered Edmond
O Brien on THE THIRD VOICE whereby the actor had threatened to
mash the director’s face to a pulp!
It would seem Brando in particular, had little time for Cornfield;according to the
Bob Thomas biography. One scene Boone himself questioned,in typical
Boone style….”I’ll do it Hubert;but it makes as much sense to me as a rat
******* a grapefruit.”
Thereafter Brando was convulsed with laughter and a disgruntled Cornfield
left the picture which Boone himself finished directing.
Typical Boone direction “Hey,it’s me ******* quit phoning in your lines!”
I might add that I’ve censored myself here.
I don’t know what Cornfield’s problem was-his early work is certainly not
without considerable merit,but NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY was his
last American financed film.
Trivia Note: in the UK NIGHT OF THE FOLLOWING DAY was supported
by COOGAN’S BLUFF. THE GUN RUNNERS was supported by TERROR
IN A TEXAS TOWN.
Graham and Jerry, I’ve never seen THE OVERLANDERS(1946), but I hope to in the future. I have always liked Australian Westerns, and this one is Historic in nature.
I first saw the 20th Century Fox production of KANGAROO(1952) on the Memphis, Tennessee Channel 3 WREC-TV EARLY MOVIE during the 1960’s. This movie introduced me to the Australian Outback in a visual sense.
Has anyone ever seen THE KANGAROO KID(1950)? I haven’t, but would like to. It was filmed on location in Australia and was Jock Mahoney’s first starring role. He was still going by Jock O’Mahoney at the time. It was scripted by Sherman C. Lowe from a play by Australian Anthony Scott Veitch and directed by Lesley Selander. https://forum.westernmovies.fr/viewtopic.php?t=16255
Walter,I would recommend buying THE CHIPS RAFFERTY COLLECTION from Umbrella Entertainment which I have.This has THE AUSTRALIAN STORY ,BITTER SPRINGS ,THE EUREKA STOCKADE ,THE OVERLANDERS plus 4 other films all of which you’ll enjoy .Highly recommended.
Walter,I’ve never seen THE KANGAROO KID but would I’d like to .KANGAROO aka THE AUSTRALIAN STORY starred Maureen O Hara ,Peter Lawford and Richard Boone.Have you seen THE SUNDOWNERS with Robert Mitchum and Deborah ?Gary Cooper was originally cast but had to pull out due to poor health.He was replaced by Errol Flynn who passed away before production began .
Graham,
I haven’t seen ” THE SUNDOWNERS” in many a year but have very good memories of it. Deborah Kerr and Mitchum together were terrific.
I have two books on Ealing Film Studios but there is no mention of how the cattle going over the cliff was filmed or dealt with. So I can’t answer that interesting question.
Incidentally, I was born and brought up in Ealing, reasonably close to Ealing Studios at the time they were making their greatest films. Of course, I was too young to know about all that at the time.
Walter, I’ve not seen either of the two ‘Kangaroo’ films you mention though I would certainly like to, particularly the Mahoney film (of course!).
Jerry ,I contacted Renown Films this morning to request releasing THE KANGAROO KID and received a reply just now from Sarah saying that they don’t own any of the rights to the Ealing films .I’ll try Ealing and see what they say.I believe that Deborah Kerr did a lot of research into her role in THE SUNDOWNERS.Good music too by Dimitri Tiomkin.
Graham, I bought the single of the theme for “THE SUNDOWNERS” by Tommy Reilley in 1961 and still have it. Fine music, as you say
I think Renown may have their wires crossed (unusually), Graham, as “THE KANGAROO KID” is not an Ealing film.
Jerry,according to IMDB Ealing are listed as one of the production companies along with Allied Australian films and British Empire films Australia ,so I’m not quite sure who owns it.
A curiosity question, Graham. I suppose IMDB MIGHT be correct but I cannot find a connection anywhere else, including my Ealing books and even my 1951 Speed’s Western Film Annual which doesn’t list Ealing as UK distributor even.
Jerry,I’ll contact Ealing and see what they say .I see United Artists is also listed as a distributor.
Might be of interest here – Hollywood Scrapheap has just released “DEVIL’S CANYON” (1953) with Dale Robertson. I don’t believe this film is readily available elsewhere?
Graham, thank you for the recommendation of THE CHIPS RAFFERTY COLLECTION. I’m sure that I would enjoy it. I don’t have an all-region DVD Player, so I would have to have a region-1 DVD of the collection. I will be on the lookout.
THE SUNDOWNERS(1960) is one of my favorite movies, ever since I first saw it as a youngster. If my memory serves me right, I read an interview with Christopher Mitchum, Robert’s son, where he was asked about how it was to work with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara in BIG JAKE(1972). He said that they reminded him of his father and Deborah Kerr, because of how well they worked together.
Walter ,a couple of years ago I bought a DVD player and they told me it was multi region and it wasn’t .A bloke who I worked with showed me how to convert it to multi region by looking up the number on the internet and typing it in.It worked.You may be able to do the same .Just Google your brand name and say covert to multi region and see how it goes.I got my multi region BLU RAY player (a replacement) back from the manufacturer and it’s working ok,but I had to hook up my multi region DVD player to play this one DVDr .The BLU RAY player loads it up but won’t navigate the episodes.At least I can watch it.My other DVDrs play fine.
Graham, thank you for the good information, I appreciate it. We’ve come a long way since I first saw a VHS recorder in 1981, which no one could afford to buy.
Jerry, KANGAROO(1952) a.k.a. THE AUSTRALIAN STORY is a good movie, well worth watching. Mill Creek put out a DVD in 2013, but I haven’t bought it yet. THE KANGAROO KID(1950) DVD costs $20 on eBay. I don’t know what kind of shape the transfer is in. https://www.ebay.com/itm/THE-KANGAROO-KID-DVD-Jock-Mahoney-Veda-Ann-Borg-/230525164407
Thanks for that link, Walter, I appreciate it. I will give that serious consideration though the shipping cost of $11 on top of the $20 makes it kinda costly. But hey…….
You know, I couldn’t manage at all without a multi-region player. For anyone in Region 2 (here in the UK) or Region 4 (where Graham is), the restriction would be impossible to bear LOL.
Jerry, you are welcome for the link. I don’t like that cost either, especially for a 69-72 minute movie, with no extras. Because of the cost, I usually wait for a sale or clearance.