Kino Lorber’s three-Blu-Ray Audie Murphy Collection is gonna be a good one. I’m not sure what I’m more excited about, that I get to do commentaries for two of ’em, or that these films are coming out, period.
Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray of Night Passage (1957) is one of the best-looking Blu-Rays of a 50s Western I’ve seen, and these should look terrific, too. Universal International’s Westerns from this period were beautifully shot — and they’ve taken pretty good care of them.
The Duel At Silver Creek (1952)
Directed by Don Siegel
Starring Audie Murphy, Faith Domergue, Stephen McNally
Don Siegel’s first Western, and first film in color, is a fun, fast-paced little picture with gorgeous camerawork from Irving Glassberg. It’s also got a terrific supporting cast — Hal Mohr, Walter Sande, Frank Wilcox, Harry Harvey, Lee Marvin (his first Western), etc. It has fun with the conventions it tosses into the mix.
The story goes that Siegel’s cut of the picture was barely an hour long. The prologue tacked onto the picture to pad out its running time works perfectly. Siegel and Murphy would work again on The Gun Runners (1958).
Ride A Crooked Trail (1958)
Directed by Jesse Hibbs
Starring Audie Murphy, Gia Scala, Walter Matthau, Henry Silva, Joanna Moore
Audie’s an outlaw reformed more or less by circumstance. Walter Matthau is a lot of fun as a judge Murphy gets mixed up with. Gia Scala and Joanna Moore look terrific.
Jesse Hibbs was a good director for Murphy; they’d already had great success with To Hell And Back (1955). This was Hibbs’ last feature before embarking on a busy run (about a decade) as a TV director. Harold Lipstein shot it in CinemaScope and Eastmancolor.
No Name On The Bullet (1959)
Directed by Jack Arnold
Starring Audie Murphy, Charles Drake, Joan Evans, Warren Stevens, R.G. Armstrong, Whit Bissell
Over the years, U-I got pretty smart with their Audie Murphy movies. They learned to give him a strong supporting cast, and they built movies around his strengths as an actor. (I don’t think he was anywhere near as limited as some say he was.) No Name On The Bullet (1959) might be the best example fo the latter approach. It’s well-written by Gene L. Coon, later of Star Trek fame, and he gave Murphy some terrific lines. Jack Arnold’s no-frills style is a perfect match for the material.
There’s nothing better than a little low-budget movie where everything clicks to create something much bigger than it should’ve been. This is one of those movies. (On a personal note, this is one of the pictures that launched my obsession with 50s Westerns.)
The set gives you the three movies on separate discs, contained in a slipcover. Trailers and commentaries are included (I’m doing the first two.) Highly recommended. Now, when will someone get around to Tumbleweed (1953) and Seven Ways From Sundown (1960)?
fyi fyi audie murphy’s legs were so short people utilized shoe laces to hold his feet in the stirrups just a tidbit of info howard hfmcompanyinc@aol.com
That’s an attractive looking box set. Congratulations on the commentaries on those – no better man for it!
Thanks for that, Colin. I sure appreciate it.
Please be aware if you want to send for anything through the mail at the moment that the United States Postal Service is in total chaos due to the Covid19 lockdown. Most people have been waiting for items that were sent to them weeks and weeks ago, especially buyers in the UK in particular and Europe in general. I sent for an item seven weeks ago from a seller in Houston, Texas. He posted it to me on the same day and in two days, it had reached Chicago International Distribution Center and that’s where the tracking stopped and as far as I know, it’s still stuck in Chicago like thousands and thousands and thousands of other packages. Will I ever get it? Who knows? But it could take at least two months more. If you can buy DVDs direct over the counter in a store, do so. But as for buying items online that will be sent through the USPS, don’t bother,
We’re seeing that with domestic packages, too. How much space do these post offices have to store this backlog of stuff?
The backlog must be huge by now Toby as they’re still accepting mail at Post Offices. Unofficially, they might dump a lot of the mail to make room for more coming in all the time, although that would mean them having to pay out millions in compensation for expensive, insured items that will never arrive.. A very badly managed postal service.
NO NAME ON THE BULLET is great Western, a perfect companion piece to another Gene L. Coon-scripted dandy about hired gunmen, Don Siegel’s 1964 THE KILLERS. Unfortunate that events prevented Siegel from realizing his idea to cast Audie as the psychotic killer in DIRTY HARRY, the role that went to Andy Robinson. I hope that KL or someone will release a Blu-ray of THE KID FROM TEXAS, a vastly underrated film.
The camerawork in that one is stunning, and it’s got a good part for Frank Wilcox as Pat Garrett.
So far everything I’ve ordered via USPS has arrived promptly, including medications. Really looking forward to this Audie Murphy box!
Sign me up for THE KID FROM TEXAS,SEVEN WAYS FROM
SUNDOWN and in particular HELL BENT FOR LEATHER.
Incredible moment (if you freeze frame!) in THE KID FROM TEXAS
where William Tallman literally gets his face blown off as he slides down
a wall-to quick for thew censor to notice I would say.
My Blu Ray of BULLET FOR A BADMAN arrived in a couple of days
from Germany. There’s no Audie trailer gallery as noted on the Koch
website but the film on this Explosive release is presented as 4×3 and
1.85. imdb had the film listed as 4×3 and Explosive say the 1.85 version
is from 1969,no matter they both look darn good. The disc is region free.
Been noticing lately how R.G.Springsteen liked to make his bad gals
really suffer,more so than the guys actually.
This all dates back to Marie Windsor’s bullet ridden demise in HELLFIRE.
Later fare like HE RIDES TALL and TAGGART had bad females meeting
violent ends,scalping or fire arrows in the back.
In BULLET FOR A BADMAN the bad lady of the piece meets a similar end
though this time right out of the blue in a calmer moment,I must say that
the scene provided quiet a jolt to me at least.
Overall BULLET FOR A BADMAN is very good with Audie trying to
do the right thing with his greedy posse only interested in the loot.
Quiet a few old timers in bits with Bob Steele in a blink and you miss
him scene as a lawman.
Sadly,not all vintage Universal Westerns are in good shape,we won’t even
mention the “lost” CinemaScope titles. The DVD’s available of SIX BLACK
HORSES are very poor the film needs a total remaster,and that’s a shame
because the film is very good.
Another Western in dire need of a 4K remaster is THE LAST SUNSET
the various “official” Euro Blu Ray’s available are very poor and have
generated pages of flak from fans.,
Finally and now we are in Hannibal 8 territory Imprint,Australia have
announced their June releases and only one ticks my box I’m afraid.
The only title of interest to me is WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE on Blu Ray
and that’s big news.
The others I will pass on in fact I’d rather have an A.C.Lyles Western than
any of ’em.
With all the stuff people request on Imprint’s Facebook page I hold
out very little hope for LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL on Blu Ray.
I’d love to see those six Gordon Kay Murphy pictures (Murphy’s last for Universal) make it to Blu-Ray. They’re so much better than they get credit for being.
The “face blown off” moment in THE KID FROM TEXAS sounds shocking. How did they get that past the censors? Is it only on a single frame?
Does William Tallman really get “his face blown off” in THE KID FROM TEXAS? I find that hard to believe. Are you sure it isn’t motion blur you’re seeing?
Yep, it’s done very quickly and nowhere near as graphic as what you might be imagining. But it’s there.
I’ll have to check it out then. And, congrats on your book Toby. I loved it.
Thanks! Glad to hear you liked the book. It’s hard to believe it’s been out there almost a year now.
I’ve got them, but now I need them. Well, that’s the way it goes. My needs get overwhelmed by my wants.
I have enough Audie Murphy collections to sink a battle ship.I spoke to Imprint earlier in the week and they said their new titles will be on their site yesterday.Nothing of interest for me,but I did request WILD HARVEST for Alan Ladd Vol 2 and they said they think it will be included.This is one I’ve never seen but what I have seen on U Tube looks great. I have been getting orders from the USA ,UK and Germany.According to tracking,a parcel for me is in Australia waiting to be delivered .I recently bought THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN remake BLU RAY .I thought it was a bit overdone .Give me the original any day.I don’t know why they bother to remake some classics.
Note to our friend, David Rayner….. All the stuff I order within the UK arrives promptly. I have a DVD coming from Germany, so we’ll see, but I expect it soon.
I had to wait several weeks for a DVD from the U.S. but it did arrive OK.
The one I am really waiting (and waiting) for is a package coming from NZ. They sent it Airmail on 23 March and it still hasn’t come! Maybe sitting in UK Customs??
Btw, Toby, congrats on doing what I know will be your usual great job on this new Audie set. Your name and high reputation are out there!!
I already have NO NAME ON THE BULLET on Blu Ray so will not
be forking out for this set,I do wish Kino would release the three films
as stand alone titles as well. I’m sure the other two will eventually turn up in
Europe but it’s a shame that I will miss the Toby commentaries.
Couldn’t agree more regarding the Gordon Kay productions they are all
so good even the last Kay/Murphy GUNPOINT has plenty going for it
despite using stock footage from NIGHT PASSAGE.
I also really like the two Tony Young pictures Gordon Kay did TAGGART
and HE RIDES TALL and the non Gordon Kay programmer INCIDENT
AT PHANTOM HILL. Even the larger budget Westerns Universal were
making at the time hold up very well especially the Dean Martin pictures
ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO and SHOWDOWN.
THE APPALOOSA would have been great if say Paul Newman or
Burt Lancaster starred but the mumbling Brando spoils whatever
potential the film had.
These Kino releases are just three films in a slipcase,nothing special
there,unlike the Shout Factory Universal Horror sets with more lavish
packaging and nifty booklets as well. I note that a couple of the
earlier Shout Vincent Price sets now OOP and are fetching massive
collectors prices.
I’m really mad at myself for missing the 2nd Price set.
Of the Price sets I only have Volume 3 because I really wanted
MASTER OF THE WORLD and TOWER OF LONDON in high def.
Vol 3 is still in print,but not for long,vol 1 is already asking insane prices.
Those Universal sets will become collector’s items over time.
Regarding Imprint the next wave of releases hits the streets August 27,
so it would seem at the moment they are releasing 5 titles every three months.
I’m very excited about WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE I wonder if Criterion
or someone will pick it up. I look forward to the reviews of those Imprint
titles-hopefully the quality will justify the price. For me,the second wave not
nearly as exciting as the first.
WAR OF THE WORLDS is on it’s way to me from Imprint.Criterion also released it.THE APPALOOSA is one of my favourite westerns.I’m sure I have seen John Saxon in another film playing a Mexican.The other day I received THE APPALOOSA in a 3 BLU RAY set from Germany.The other 2 films are RED SUNDOWN and SASKATCHEWAN.It came in a book like case and was more compact then it looked in the picture where I saw it.The only Imprint release that I’d be interested in is THE CARPETBAGGERS .They might start releasing monthly when this Covid thing is over.Alan Ladd showed that he still had his acting skills.I have it on DVD.
Graham,I will be very interested to hear your opinion on Imprint’s
WAR OF THE WORLDS.
John Saxon also played the Mexican Luis Charma in the underrated
JOE KIDD.
Despite varying reports according to bad guy Paul Koslo JOE KIDD
was a fun shoot. Out of hundreds of people he worked with including
The Duke and Heston Paul stated he only worked with two assholes,
James Franciscus and Charles Bronson.
There is some initial feedback on Home Theatre Forum regarding two
Imprint releases namely SORRY,WRONG NUMBER and I MARRIED A
MONSTER FROM OUTER SPACE.
Firstly I don’t go a whole bunch on what the cats at HTF say they tend to
be TOO precious and most of them seem to have the very latest kit and
view their Blu Ray’s on 65″ TV’s.
The REAL acid test is when Gary at DVD Beaver and Glenn at Cinesavant
review these titles,those guys you can always rely on.
The word on “Monster” is that while the transfer is fine there is a ton of neg
damage,on every single frame so the guy says.
“Number” is described as totally mediocre certainly not one expects from a
pricey boutique label….lets see,as I said before I’m very wary of these HTF
cats and now I’m even more intrigued what our friend Graham says
regarding WAR OF THE WORLDS.
BTW Graham as much as I love Alan Ladd I just don’t think I could sit
through THE CARPETBAGGERS but having said that I’d love it’s prequel
NEVADA SMITH to be released on Blu Ray.
There was a good looking HD print of War Of The Worlds on Amazon Prime about 2 years ago, so there is one out there.
John k,JOE KIDD was where John Saxon played a Mexican.After waiting for over 2 months,THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF RAY HARRYHAUSEN vOL 1 from Limewood finally arrived.WAR OF THE WORLDS is also released by Criterion .I don’t normally go for these SC-FI things and have never seen this film.
John, lol James facially does not have the look of asshole but Charles could be no surprise.
Hi Chris,
Glad I’ve brought some fun into your day. 🙂
Don’t know what Paul’s problem was with James but his experience on
MR MAJESTYK has been well documented.
Richard Fleischer thought Paul’s character was so much fun in that movie
we should let him live at the end of the movie.
Bronson was not amused saying “I’m not here to make a star out of Paul
Koslo” he stormed off the set.
Paul smiled and Bronson replied “you think that’s funny,perhaps I can
fix your face so you never smile again”
Richard Fleischer never thought that much of Bronson who he dubbed
“Mr Personality”
MR MAJESTYK is the best of Bronson’s 70’s pictures,working with a
creative director makes all the difference.
In the early days Bronson worked with many creative talents:
Delmer Daves,Sam Fuller,Roger Corman,Andsre De Toth,Gene Fowler
John Sturges and so on;the results show.
The people he worked with later in his career were not in the same league:
Michael Winner,J Lee Thompson,Tom Gries.
To be fair some of Thompson’s earlier work was very good THE YELLOW
BALLOON being a prime example.
By the time Thompson worked with Bronson he was little more that a
hack for hire,furthermore that man should never have been let anyway
near a Western.
I believe MR MAJESTYK was first offered to Eastwood who also would
have been great in the role and would not have seen Koslo as a threat.
I would have loved Fleischer and Eastwood to have worked together
in the 70’s,I feel he would have been an ideal director for Clint,too bad
it never happened.
Watched THE NEW CENTURIONS the other night a wonderful Fleischer
cop thriller and one of the 70’s best IMHO.
I’ve mentioned this a time or two on here, but my God I love Mr. Majestyk!
Toby,did you ever catch THE NEW CENTURIONS
great 70’s film equally as good as Majestyk if not better,
Fleischer directs with real energy,the film sizzles!
Sure, I love it. It’s got Scott Wilson in it, who was a terrific actor and a family friend.
Toby,always knew you were a fan of Mr Wilson,
but the family friend bit WOW!
That scene in Centurions where he kills the innocent guy
by mistake…supreme acting or what!
Centurions seems strangely topical today in many respects
the film has not dated at all.
Mr. Wilson and my dad went to high school together in Thomasville, Georgia.
The New Centurions is very topical. Here in the States, we’ve got a real mess going on in Minnesota right now where some officers treated a man really harshly and he died while they were “arresting” him. Protests, looting — it’s a real tragedy.
John, thank you for your wealth of info above, I enjoyed Bronson best at pre-stardom days. Best regards.
Thanks Chris,I too much prefer Bronson in pre stardom days.
John, just recall Paul was a such an asshole in Alec Baldwin ‘s The Getaway. Ben Johnson was one in Steve McQueen’s version.
John, opps its Al letieri not Paul in Alec’s version. My apologies!.
John, opps its Al Lettieri not Paul in Alec’s version. Sorry for mixed up.
As mentioned previously ,future releases from Sidonis Calysta will not have forced subs.I asked my contact there,and he said by contract with the studios the subs must be forced .However,Sidonis has taken the decision to ignore that policy.As much as we hate forced subs,I just hope they don’t get into trouble for breaking that contract.I am getting a boxset of 20 Noir films from them,but the subs will be forced.I am looking forward to the release of SOS TITANIC with David Janssen,a TV film.Kino were supposed to release it in March this year,but it has been delayed because they found extra footage.
According to Blu Ray.com Kino have announced BACKLASH.
Sure,the film is minor Sturges but Widmark and those lovely Old Tucson
locations make it hard to resist.
Furthermore William Campbell plays “Johnny Cool” and Bob Wilke and
Harry Morgan are “The Welker Brothers”….that Tony Welker..he’s really
something!
Hope Toby snags the commentary on this one,sadly I’m going to have to
pass because I already have the lovely Explosive 2.0 Blu Ray and it’s a
beauty.
I know Backlash gets panned but for some reason every time it’s on I watch and enjoy it. And yes the Welker Brothers are a handful.
have ordered the Audie bluray set. I recently saw Ride a Crooked Trail for the first time and really enjoyed it. Always enjoy Walter Matthau & really liked Gia Scala who I had never come across before. Henry Silva was as usual a good heavy. Haven’t seen No Name on the Bullet or Duel at Silver Creek – so I’m sure it will be enjoyable for me
Lyson, for your interest in Gia Scala, please look for her in Two Headed Spy with Jack Hawkins, The Angry Hills with Bob Mitchum and The Guns Of Navarone with Greg Peck. I think these are available on You Tube. Enjoy!
Chrisk – thank you for the suggestions – since I like Jack Hawkins, Bob Mitchum & Gregory Peck – I can’t go wrong here checking her work in those movies. I have a blu-ray of The Guns of Navarone – which I haven’t seen ion ages – that’s going to be tonight’s movie!
In the meantime, I have a shipment date later in June for the A. Murphy set!
I’d just like to second Chrisk’s recommendation of The Two-Headed Spy. I watched it for the first time myself not that long ago and found it a thoroughly absorbing experience. Gia Scala is excellent as is Jack Hawkins and Andre de Toth really wrings every ounce of tension out of the story.
@Chrisk & @ Colin – I found The Two -Headed Spy on youtube – couldn’t access a North America DVD so I’ll be streaming it this week. looking forward to it.
Colin, thank you very much for your most valued support. For record, this is my 1st from you. Very underrated movie and believe not many people saw it on the big screen. On and off, have been viewing it. Best regards.
I received WAR OF THE WORLDS .It has some good extras on it .Interviews with Gene Barry and Ann Robinson are included .The print is excellent ,very clear.If you’re a SC FI fan then I recommended it.It is not fullscreen with black bars on the sides.Sorry,I am not very good at describing the tech aspects.
@ Toby,
Of all of the director’s Murphy worked with, who would you say he had the best working relationship with? Boetticher? Arnold? Huston?
HUSTON
Yes, Huston for sure.
Let’s set up a meeting either in Manhattan new York or Naples Florida when the times are comfy for all. Howard. hfmcompanyinc@aol.com ♥️. We can talk westerns up front and personal. Think about it.