The Apple MacBook Pro responsible for the heavy lifting on this blog and A Million Feet Of Film has reached the end of the trail.
Archive for January, 2020
Happy Trails.
Posted in Blogging, writing, etc. on January 31, 2020| 5 Comments »
50s Westerns DVD/Blu-Ray News #294: A Bunch Of Universal Westerns Coming From Kino Lorber.
Posted in Alan Ladd, Audie Murphy, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Fred MacMurray, Jeff Chandler, Kino Lorber, Randolph Scott, Rock Hudson, Universal (International) on January 24, 2020| 18 Comments »
No specifics yet, but Kino Lorber is preparing quite a few Universal Westerns for DVD and/or Blu-Ray.
They come from the 1940s through the 70s, and they feature folks like Audie Murphy, Jeff Chandler, Rock Hudson, Randolph Scott, Fred MacMurray, Alan Ladd and Clint Eastwood. More news as it turns up.
Happy Birthday, Randolph Scott.
Posted in Marie Windsor, Randolph Scott on January 23, 2020| 2 Comments »
George Randolph Scott
(January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987)
To mark Randolph Scott’s birthday, here’s an image by artist Tim Foley from his Western Screen Legends Coloring Book, published by Dover.
You’ll find some illustrations that didn’t make the book on his website, including a great one of Marie Windsor.
50 Westerns From The 50s – Now On Facebook.
Posted in Blogging, writing, etc., Books on January 22, 2020| 2 Comments »
When researching and writing my first book A Million Feet Of Film: The Making Of One-Eyed Jacks, the Facebook page I created for it turned out to be a real godsend. Through that page, I secured several images used in the book and even lined up a couple interviews.
So with this blog’s namesake a priority these days, it seemed like time to create a similar page for it. You’ll find it at facebook.com/50WesternsFromThe50s
There’s not much there yet, but there will be.
Pre-50s Westerns DVD/Blu-Ray News #293: Destry Rides Again (1939).
Posted in Brian Donlevy, Criterion, DVD/Blu-Ray News, George Marshall, Jimmy Stewart, Marlene Dietrich, Pre-1950, Universal (International) on January 16, 2020| 14 Comments »
Directed by George Marshall
Starring Marlene Dietrich, James Stewart, Brian Donlevy, Una Merkel
Criterion has announced they they’re bringing George Marshall’s Destry Rides Again (1939) to DVD and Blu-Ray in April. (We’ve sure seen a lot of James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich making its way to Blu-Ray lately.)
It comes with a slew of terrific extras, of course, but the draw for me is a new 4K restoration done with the Film Foundation. Can’t wait to see how this thing will shine! Absolutely essential.
50s Westerns Blu-Ray News #292: Kino Lorber’s Heading West In March!
Posted in 1957, Andy Devine, Audie Murphy, Ben Johnson, Brian Donlevy, Brian Keith, Dan Duryea, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Harry Carey Jr., Jack Arnold, Jack Elam, Jacques Tourneur, Jay C. Flippen, Jeff Chandler, Jimmy Stewart, Kino Lorber, Lloyd Bridges, Maureen O'Hara, Post-1959, Pre-1950, Robert J. Wilke, Royal Dano, Universal (International), Ward Bond on January 2, 2020| 41 Comments »
Kino Lorber is serving up four terrific Universal Westerns in March, an announcement that gets. 2020 off to a great start.
Canyon Passage (1946)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur
Starring Dana Andrews, Brian Donlevy, Susan Hayward, Patricia Roc, Ward Bond, Hoagy Carmichael, Andy Devine, Lloyd Bridges
Canyon Passage was Jacques Tourneur’s first Western and first film in color. It’s got a great cast (Ward Bond is terrific — and very scary) and incredible Technicolor photography from Edward Cronjager, who also shot Lang’s Western Union (1941). This is a very overlooked, underrated film.
Night Passage (1957)
Directed by James Neilson
Starring James Stewart, Audie Murphy, Dan Duryea, Dianne Foster, Elaine Stewart, Brandon de Wilde, Jay C. Flippen, Robert J. Wilke, Hugh Beaumont
Shot in Technirama, a high-fidelity combination of VistaVision and anamorphic widescreen, Night Passage is as sharp as movies could get in the late 50s. And with loads of incredible location work in Durango, Colorado, it’s stunning — and a perfect candidate for Blu-Ray. The movie itself, while it’s no masterpiece, has been unjustly maligned. You’ll find the story behind all that in an old post.
Man In The Shadow (1957)
Directed by Jack Arnold
Starring Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Barbara Lawrence, John Larch, Royal Dano, James Gleason
There are a thousand reasons to be excited about this modern-day (well, 1957) Western — Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, B&W CinemaScope and Jack Arnold, for starters. Welles and producer Albert Zugsmith got to talking here, which led to Touch Of Evil (1958).
The Rare Breed (1966)
Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen
Starring James Stewart, Maureen O’Hara, Brian Keith, Juliet Mills, Ben Johnson, Jack Elam, Harry Carey, Jr.
The best thing The Rare Breed has going for it is its incredible cast — how could it go wrong? Not to mention the Technicolor/Panavision cinematography of William H. Clothier.
All four films will feature a commentary (I’m doing both Passage films) and an original trailer. It’s no easy to recommend these things!
Happy New Year!
Posted in 1953, 1954, Budd Boetticher, Jack Arnold, Julie Adams on January 1, 2020| 1 Comment »
Here’s Julie Adams ringing in 1954. Well, if it was good enough then, it’s good enough 66 years later. This would’ve been around the time she’d done Wings Of The Hawk (1953) and Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954).
Hope you’re having a great time ushering in a new decade.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 