Had the extreme pleasure of being a guest on the Western Podcast. We talked about Don Siegel’s terrific Elvis Western Flaming Star (1960). Hope you have as much fun listening to it as I did recording it.
Where else can you hear French and Southern accents bumping into each other like this?
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
Recording this episode with Toby was a joy and the hour flew like an arrow. Toby was very professionnal and generous for this podcast. This was an excellent experience for me (despite my terrible english accent that I hope you will forgive).
Hearing Toby speak with passion and warmth about this film and its key protagonists should please you. During this spontaneous conversaition, we also mentionned a few favorite actors & westerns. I hope we get to do it again very soon. Cole
I had a blast. Whenever you want to do another one, just let me know.
Hi Cole,
Your English accent is fine and I very much enjoyed spending an hour
with you and Toby….wonderful company.
I was pleased to hear that Toby has more Western commentaries in the
works. I was also pleased that towards the end you both went into a
George Sherman vibe-Cole you really should convince Sidonis to release
REPRISAL! on Blu Ray.
I hope that Toby and yourself do a George Sherman podcast,so much to
cover there.
I always feel Sherman’s more intimate/character driven Westerns are
his best DAWN AT SOCORRO,REPRISAL!,THE HARD MAN,LAST OF THE
FAST GUNS,HELL BENT FOR LEATHER..
I have the Blu Ray of Sherman’s outstanding Noir THE SLEEPING CITY
and the commentary by Imogen Sara Smith is excellent and she does note
that esteemed writer/critic Dave Kehr has always fought Sherman’s corner.
Imogen correctly notes that THE SLEEPING CITY is a film about hard drugs
but the twist is there are no gangsters,Mafia or the like the whole thing
is centred on individuals..it’s a very cold sparse movie and I mean that as a
compliment.
I was also glad to see Cole and Toby’s admiration for EDGE OF ETERNITY
and as you both say Siegel’s widescreen compositions are breathtaking.
I recently watched the Blu Ray of THE BEGUILED and this film was a real
departure for Siegel (and Eastwood) it’s unlike anything Siegel has done
before or since. As a piece of Southern Gothic it’s in a class of it’s own.
I also enjoyed the diversions in Cole and Toby’s conversation especially
when discussing the “political” aspects of Siegel’s movies.
FLAMING STAR is a wonderful Western and I was so pleased to hear
this informed podcast from Cole and Toby.
John, Thank you for you appreciated comments. I would certainly love to do one (or many) George Sherman podcast(s) ! So much to be said. I have recently bought the Sleeping city Blu-Ray too and will listen to Imogen Sara Smith’s track. Dave Kehr has been quoted by French director Bertrand Tavernier on a few Sherman DVDs. Tavernier is one of a few historians who recently rehabilitated Sherman’s work (that Western Movies has praised for so many years).
Cole,
Great to hear that you are a Noir fan as well.
Yesterday Indicator’s Columbia Noir Volume 1 arrived and the packaging
of the set is fine the discs are in untra slim cases and the sleeves are printed
on high quality matt stock.
Can you believe I do not have any of the six films in my collection and
three of them I’ve never seen before OUT OF THE FOG/DRIVE A CROOKED
ROAD and THE GARMENT JUNGLE.
I watched DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD last night and it’s a knockout,I had
high expectations for the film and it exceeded them.
It’s classic Fall Guy/Femme Fatale Noir and Mickey Rooney and Dianne
Foster are perfect in thjeir roles.
Future stars Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly are wonderful as the ultra
smooth manipulative bad guys.
The disc also has an audio interview with Rooney from 1988 and a Three
Stooges short (as do all of the discs) There’s also a feature from 1953
which sees Mickey looking back on 1930 his “Mickey Maguire” days and
we see The Mickster larking around in Hollywood with cameos from
Douglas Fairbanks,Buck Jones and Joel McCrea.
When Indicator have done with Columbia they intend to plunder the
Universal vaults-there are just so many Universal Noirs that have not even
had a DVD release films from interesting directors like William Castle,
Crane Wilbur,Ted Tetzlaff,Joseph Pevney,George Sherman,Hugo Fregonese
and others.
Sadly for ourAmerican friends the Indicator Columbia Noir set is region B.
I thought It was a neat idea for Indicator to have “themed” 3 Stooges shorts
to tie in with the movies on their Columbia Noir sets.
The Stooges shorts are all in high def and two of them in 1.85 widescreen.
I grew up with the Stooges,in the UK we had what were called “News Theatres”
which were also know as Cartoon Cinemas-they were dotted all over London’s
West End with a few in main line stations.
You would get 6 cartoons,a British Movietone News, a serial and a comedy
short,more often than not The Stooges.
As it happens I don’t have any of the 6 films in Indicator’s Volume 2 in my
collection,although I’ve seen quiet a few of them. I’m really looking forward to
FRAMED with Glenn Ford and Barry Sullivan which I’ve never seen.
Generally,I find most people who love Westerns also really like Film Noir.
The Indicator noir boxsets are a real Bonanza with their original posters as covers. AI would love to have similar western themed boxsets (Columbia / Universal).
Cole and Graham,
I might add that Universal Germany’s 9 film Western set also arrived yesterday.
I have not watched any of the films yet but I’ve previewed them and to me
they all look fine.
The low cost of this set was enticing and although I already have several of
the films on Blu Ray I was very pleased,at last,to get DRUMS ACROSS
THE RIVER and WALK THE PROUD LAND on Blu Ray,two of my top
Audie Murphy pictures. DRUMS ACROSS THE RIVER in widescreen looks
very nice compared to what we have had previously.
Graham,you mentioned that you ordered this and I think you will be
very pleased,you certainly cannot carp at the price which means you get
9 films for basically the price of one Kino Lorber import.
Good news. I hesitated a few days ago. I would love to watch Tomahawk again in HD. But, then I am hoping that Kino Lorber will release those films with Toby doing the commentaries…
John k,Vol 1 I got from Amazon AU,Vol 2 is coming from Germany and it is a little cheaper .Yesterday I received THE SPECIALISTS .It was advertised and pictured on EBAY as having a limited edition slipcase and booklet neither of which was included.I will be returning it today .I know it’s limited,but if it’s not included then don’t advertise it.
WordPress blues strike again TESTING……….
Hi Cole,
So glad that you enjoy the Indicator Noir sets-the packaging,the slimline
matt printed slipcases,the great extras and The 3 Stooges make for a “must
have” collection.
I understand BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND DAWN is on a forthcoming set-Mark
Stevens superfan,Chip will be happy.
Gordon Douglas’ Noir is criminally underrated and I hope Douglas’
WALK A CROOKED MILE (which I’ve never seen) is on a future edition.
There is a decent version of WALK A CROOKED MILE on line but I for one
refuse to watch movies online.
Another blog I check in at from time to time is mainly peopled by vintage
movie fans who constantly watch “streamed” films or films available on line.
I do find this a bit depressing as reissue companies rely on decent sales
to continue releasing classic movies.
What a great selection John ! We are lucky these films are still coming out. I do think that film noir is more mainstream than western these days especially in the USA. Those Indicator packages (covers, book, extrats) are a steal. How could anyone possibly prefer streaming !
I know Toby has always championed the Kit Parker Noir sets but I’m
afraid that they do not have much appeal to me. Firstly all the films that they
released were previously released as Sony MOD’s so I had many of them
already. Secondly there were some bad movies in the mix (THE TIJUANA
STORY) and thirdly I read on Amazon that they had 3 discs on a single
spindle..I hate that.
Indicator have really shown how a Noir collection should be done.
I also understand that THE SNIPER will be on a future Indicator collection.
Indicator are not too hot on Westerns although their Boetticher collection
sold out pretty quickly.
They have released BUFFALO BILL AND THE INDIANS a film that I despise,
but then again that goes for most of Altman’s output as far as I’m concerned.
I suggested to Indicator a Sam Katzman collection to cover Horror,Sci Fi,
Westerns,Historical Mini Epics,Noir and of course Jungle Jin-set could be
padded out with a few of Sam’s serial episodes.
I had meant to say at the end of the last comment…thank goodness for
fans like Graham and Cole who by supporting reissue labels mean that
there will always be a market for vintage movies.
I love those Kit Parker sets. They look great and the price is nice. Some of the movies are better than others, but I like getting some of the lesser stuff — I want to see the whole range of what was coming out. Kinda like with Westerns, they’re not all The Searchers and some of the real jewels are the lesser things. In the Kit Parker sets, I absolutely loved The Crooked Web (1955), which I hadn’t seen before.
I’m with ya on Buffalo Bill & The Indians. Hated it.
Yep! THE CROOKED WEB is a good one and I agree
regarding the price on the Parker sets,’though having said
that with the lovely packaging,great extras,120 p..p de luxe
booklet and The Stooges in it’s own way the Indicator
set is a steal as well plus the fact in editions 1 & 2 all
of the movies are super-as I mentioned before I was really
blown away by DRIVE A CROOKED ROAD which I’ve
never seen before-Kevin McCarthy and Jack Kelly so good
in that movie.
I don’t really think Westerns are Indicator’s thing but they
are top of the heap regarding Noir.
Not a fan of BUFFALO BILL & THE INDIANS.
I wonder if Toby has any advance news on Imprint’s release of RAGE
(it has a Toby commentary) regarding the image quality.
I note Imprint are releasing FIVE a real ultra rare item from the Columbia
vaults. Imprint seem to be hot on the heels of Indicator with their classy releases
and to see a film like FIVE make it to Blu Ray is a relevation.
The file I was sent to work with looked good. Some white dust flakes here and there (which I imagine they’ve repaired), but it was nice and sharp and the color was good. It’s a gritty movie, so too much cleanup becomes my worry. It should look really good, and the movie’s a lot better than I remembered it being. Stella Stevens is terrific.
Thanks Toby,
Glenn at Cinesavant has just given a rave review to the restored (at last)
version of APACHE.
Only thing missing,according to Glenn is a Toby Roan commentary…Nuff said!!
More info on Eastwood’s CRY MACHO which is described as a
“Neo Western” it’s set in 1978 I understand.
Currently filming in Mexico started shooting November 6th and wraps
December 16th Warners like all of their 2021 output plan to stream and
release to cinemas at the same time,no other cast details available right now
but I guess this will be announced when shooting wraps-This Christmas
I’m going to be watching a whole heap of Eastwood and Siegel films-together
and separate.