I recently had the extreme pleasure of being a guest on Todd Liebenow’s terrific podcast Forgotten Filmcast. Our subject was William Castle’s Jesse James Vs. The Daltons (1954). It’s up now — just click the ad above. It’s a good way to spend an hour of your “stay at home” time.
It’s a picture I’ve written about before, and it’s available in Mill Creek’s terrific set The Fastest Guns Of The West: The William Castle Western Collection.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
Off Topic…..
Sidonis,France have just announced Hugo Fregonese’s terrific
APACHE DRUMS on Blu Ray,for June.
Sidonis,now seem to have stopped using “forced” subtitles on their discs.
APACHE DRUMS is going to look sensational in high def.
I’m somewhat heartened to see that two of Coleen Gray’s best films
are forthcoming on Blu Ray with Kino’s recent announcement of
George Sherman’s equally terrific THE SLEEPING CITY.
Just watched Apache Drums again (it gets a chapter in my book). That’s a great movie and it’ll be terrific on Blu-Ray. Are Sidonis Blu-Rays typically region locked?
Toby,I believe Sidonis Blu’s are Region B locked
but as they have stopped forced subs that’s a
major step in the right direction.
Explosive Media out of Germany are the only Euro
imprint that I know of that are generally always
region free. They do however have to state
region B on the packaging.
Perhaps Kino will release APACHE DRUMS in one
of their Western sets.
Wouldn’t APACHE DRUMS,MAN FROM BITTER RIDGE
and HELL BENT FOR LEATHER make an awesome
McNally set…problem is only die hard fans remember
Mr McNally these days.
So glad APACHE DRUMS gets a chapter in your book
an inspired choice,to say the least.
Mighty fine to hear your dulcet tones again Toby,a great listen,and worth
an hour of anybody’s time.
Yep! I too much prefer HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL over THE HAUNTING
and THE INNOCENTS for that matter….what does that say about me?
I hope that Mill Creek include THEY RODE WEST if they release another western comp.This is from Columbia and is very hard to get,although Sidonis released it .
I note Kino have announced NEVER STEAL ANYTHING SMALL on Blu Ray.
I always,wrongly assumed that this was one of the “lost” Universal
CinemaScope masters especially as it’s a Cagney film and has never even
had a DVD release.
I know the film is far from Cagney’s best but it’s one of the few films that
the Great Man made in color and CinemasCope, and besides Tony Caruso,
Robert Wilke and Royal Dano are in it too.
It’s great to see Kino release an “unreleased” Universal picture.
Does this mean that there is any hope for the “lost” Universal CinemaScope
Westerns like DAY OF THE BADMAN,WILD AND THE INNOCENT and
SAGA OF HEMP BROWN.
John k,Sidonis have both DAY OF THE BADMAN and SAGA OF HEMP BROWN on DVD.Unsure about BLU RAY and Subs.THE WILD AND THE INNOCENT are on at least 3 Audie Murphy collections here in Australia.
But are they in ‘scope prints, Graham, or the same old pan & scans??
This ‘die-hard’ fan certainly remembers Stephen (Horace) McNally. In 1961-2 he starred in a rather good hour-long TV series, “TARGET: THE CORRUPTORS” that was pretty hard-hitting for its day. We were fortunate in the UK to have episodes (there were 35 of ’em) shown here in the last two years or so.j
Jerry ,they are probably pan & scan but they will do me.
It’s a pretty depressing chore,these days looking for decent Western
releases,say as opposed to a few years back.
Universal,Germany have announced a June Blu Ray release of
DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER and as a die hard Widmark fan I’ve been
waiting for this one for ages.
France’s Elephant were supposed to release this some time back but
the Universal release will at least be region free.
It’s a shame we don’t know more about how much Don Siegel footage there
was in the final cut but aside from that DEATH OF A GUNFIGHTER is an
excellent Western with a very well cast Widmark.
Viavision Entertainment on April 1st released THE ALAN LADD COLLECTION VOL 1 .The films are-
TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST
CALCUTTA
RED MOUNTAIN
THUNDER IN THE EAST
13 WEST STREET
I have all of these except 13 WEST STREET .I only watched the trailer,and it was sad to watch ,not because of Ladd’s performance ,it was probably good,but because we’re used to seeing him kick some butt.RED MOUNTAIN had some good acting and action scenes but I thought it concentrated too much on the cave scene.I have been trying to contact Viavision to find out what the transfers are like ,but they are probably understaffed in this epidemic emergency.
Since these are Paramount releases,they may find there way over to Imprint.
Hi Graham,
13 WEST STREET is excellent later Ladd.
Alan looks in much better shape than he did in ONE FOOT IN HELL
which I find painful to watch.
The twist in 13,WEST STREET is that the “punk kids” are not slum,street
hoods,but all come from comfortable upper middle class backgrounds.
The other twist is that Rod Steiger actually underplays the cop on Ladd’s
case. The very least I can say about the film is that it’s vastly superior
to the much later Death Wish.
This is a great site. Thanks for all the work and info you share.
James Drury is gone, and not from the goddamned disease shutting down our world. Just dead from life.
RIP James Drury .He was good in RIDE THE HIGH COUNTRY .He shared the same birthday as my twins.
I am very sad to learn we have lost James Drury. For me, he will always be The Virginian, a TV series that was decidedly superior quality. I am working my way through it (slowly) after having seen it originally 50+ years ago.
RIP JAMES DRURY I shall raise a glass to him tonight (well, any excuse!).
Let’s all remember Honor Blackman who passed away April 6th who starred with Sean Connery in GOLDFINGER and SHALAKO .One of the most memorable Bond girls .Honor Blackman,you will not be forgotten RIP.
Yes indeed, Graham! A very beautiful woman, Honor Blackman. It seems amazing that she was starring as long ago as 1949 in “A BOY, A GIRL AND A BIKE”, then a decade later as Dan Dailey’s ‘Girl Friday’ in “FOUR JUST MEN” on TV before her big break as Cathy Gale in “THE AVENGERS”, again on TV.
I always enjoy seeing her appearances in movies too. RIP Honor.
I watched GOLDFINGER today to remember Honor Blackman .Today I also received THE ALAN LADD COLLECTION Vol 1 and watched 13 WEST STREET .I also inquired about the transfers on this collection and received a reply today.They said as far as they were aware all films in this collection are presented in their original aspect ratio.It varies with each title but can confirm that RED MOUNTAIN and THUNDER IN THE EAST come from a HD master but not restored .CALCUTTA comes from a HD master also and has had some restoration carried out .
James Drury, R.I.P. …as one of Elvis’ Yankee brothers returning home from the Civil War, in the 20th-Century Fox CinemaScope Picture : LOVE ME TENDER (1956).
Drury was actually slated to be a guest at the Memphis show (recently redubbed Midsouth Nostalgia festival) in June, before it was cancelled due to this virus mess. Drury attended several of them over the years, and was always a pleasant guy to chat with. First encountered him at a Houston book-and-paper show, many years back. He lived in the vicinity, in the north Houston area. Sad to see him go, following in the footsteps of so many other tv-cowboys in recent years. RIP
JAMES DRURY: THE VIRGINIAN R.I.P.
https://www.thevirginian.net/
For Alan Ladd fans, this Collection of rare titles in a box-set sounds terrific! A question here, is: WHERE is “DUEL OF THE CHAMPIONS” ? Has anyone ever seen this Italian-epic, or know how he came about to make this, his almost last film?
stevens733 ,if you would like DUEL OF THE CHAMPIONS on a possible Vol 2 Alan Ladd release ,the best thing to do is phone or email them with a list .That’s what I did with 5 of his action films,however I didn’t include DUEL OF CHAMPIONS,only because I know little about it.The person who I spoke to said they have received many requests including their Imprint label.
Regarding DUEL OF CHAMPIONS I remember seeing this at the time as
the support feature to the pop musical EVERY DAY’S A HOLIDAY.
At the time I felt sad seeing Ladd in this type of picture he looked very out of
place.I understand at one point he walked off the thing because the producers
has failed to pay him;this was later resolved.
Terence Young had some involvement with the direction just prior to hitting
the big time with DR NO.
Young had previously directed Ladd in the smash hit THE RED BERET.
(Paratrooper) Ladd’s other costume picture THE BLACK KNIGHT was
a project he almost passed on until his friend Euan Lloyd persuaded him that
he would not have to commit too much time to filming as a stunt double would
mostly be employed, not visible under the suit of armor.
How DUEL OF CHAMPIONS would stand up today,who knows but it’s hardly
going to be considered as one of Ladd’s finest hours.
I remember Carroll Baker who seemed to adore most of the people that she
worked with really hated the way George Peppard treated Ladd on his final
film THE CARPETBAGGERS. Carroll said that Ladd was so frail on that
picture Peppard kept bullying him constantly telling him to “get with it”.
Perhaps Peppard was trying to coax one final great performance out of him,
but Carroll was disgusted by Peppard’s attitude.
I started to watch DUEL OF THE CHAMPION on a Mill Creek DVD called WRATH OF THE SWORD.I only watched it for a couple of minutes,not because the story was bad but because the print was terrible ,and I am a Alan Ladd fan.If Viavision put this on an Alan Ladd collection,they better search for a better copy.