Directed by Rudolph Maté
Starring Tyrone Power, Piper Laurie, Julie Adams, John McIntire, Paul Cavanagh, John Baer, Ron Randell, Ralph Dumke
Kino Lorber is bringing Rudolph Maté’s The Mississippi Gambler (1953) to Blu-Ray — and that’s a really good thing.
The thing I’ve always wondered about this movie is “Why is this called a Western?” The question still stands, but who cares? It’s really good.
For a vehicle for a major star, Tyrone Power, it’s interesting that it has so many rich character roles — a good part for John McIntire and a great one for Paul Cavanaugh. And it parades a steady stream of others through its 98 minutes. That’s what made doing the commentary for it so much fun — the chance to shine a little light on guys like Ralph Dumke and Bill Walker.
Coming in April. Recommended.
50 Westerns From The 50s. 
Not a bad picture, but the characterizations are clearly driven by the memory of Gone With the Wind.
To clarify, I saw The Mississippi Gambler in 1953 and was blown away by it. Along with Abandon Ship, these are my two personal Power favorites.
I’m a Nightmare Alley fan.
Many are, I just did not like the part he played.
It was pretty brave of Power to take that one on.
I’ve been wanting to see Abandon Ship again. Saw The Last Voyage the other day, and that got me thinking about it.
In case my fellow westernistas, Graham, Walter and John K. etc, have not heard elsewhere I am drawing your attention to the new release by Hollywood Scrapheap of “RIDE THE MAN DOWN”. Jonathan has done a fine restoration over a 7-year period taking from multiple sources. My copy arrived on Saturday and I (unusually) sat straight down to watch it. The Trucolor is rich and vibrant and those important night scenes where everything was too dark to see are no longer invisible. The film now looks as was intended. I’m somewhat ‘over the moon’! LOL
Jerry:
A month or so ago I noticed that the H Scrapheap had Ride the Man Down and so I bought it as well as various Audie Murphy movies, Bullwhip as well.
I’ve bought over the years 20+ movies from Jonathan’s site and rarely been disappointed – he notes in the description an opinion on the PQ of the source & I’ve found the description to be adequate.
I haven’t caught up the Ride The Man Down yet other than the opening sequence so I have that to look forward to. So many movies – so little time:)
Thanks for the info Jerry on RIDE THE MAN DOWN.The other say I watched SITTING BULL which has been restored on a German BLU RAY.Far better then the ones you buy in bargain bins.
I appreciate that endorsement very much, Lyson. H Scrapheap has given me super-looking releases of Rod Cameron and William Elliott favourites among others over past years and I shall be forever grateful.
One correction from me – I meant to say I found Jonathan’s description of PQ to be accurate – not adequate – Laughing at myself.
Yes – I also have purchased the Rod Cameron, Wild Bill Elliott & of course Rory Calhoun as well as other releases.
Now I just have to finish watching them!
Add Captain From Castille and Prince of Foxes to my Power favorites.
Does anyone know if a restoration of THE BIG LAND is possible?Those of you who have it will know that the colors are washed out and faded.With a lot of releases getting changed from B/W to Color it may be possible but that may be a different process.I guess it’s up to the suits at WB Archive.
I have that DVD and don’t remember how good it looked. The movie was in WarnerColor, which is just Eastmancolor. If the negatives are in good shape, it can be made to look wonderful — Carson City, Dragnet (1954), etc. look real nice.
The question is, does WB think it’s worth their time and effort to put it on Blu-Ray at all AND do a thorough restoration on it.
We may just need to be happy with what we have!
In a review a few years ago I described the color on the BIG LAND WAC DVD as “all over the map.” Some of the exteriors have an orange tinge.
I seem to recall reading somewhere there were issues with the negative and some of the problems are inherent to the original print, but I can’t swear to that. In any event my impression is that restoration would be a challenge. Hope I’m wrong.
Best wishes,
Laura
Toby,I have a feeling WB won’t make the effort,but stranger things have happened.This is one of my favourite westerns with a great supporting cast of Virginia Mayo,Edmund O.Brien,Don Castle and Anthony Caruso.
Via Vision has a worldwide first.The complete season one of RAWHIDE is being released on BLU RAY on March 22nd.I already have the complete series on DVD so I’ll be happy with that.
RIP in peace Raquel Welch 1940 – 2023.I will watch HANNIE CALDER tonight.
Graham, good choice, because Raquel Welch is good in HANNIE CAULDER(1971).
The Raquel Welch Western movie that I would like to view, in a decent print, is THE LEGEND OF WALKS FAR WOMAN(filmed 1979, released 1980). This made for tv movie is based loosely on true stories. Writer Colin Stuart created his WALKS FAR WOMAN(1976) book from boyhood memories of stories told by two elderly Lakota women. I have the book, but haven’t read it yet.
THE LEGEND OF WALKS FAR WOMAN was first aired on BBC 1 in the UK on THE SUNDAY FILM on August 24, 1980. It was first shown in the USA on the NBC-TV SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIE on May 30, 1982. This is when I first viewed the movie. If my memory serves me right, I think the movie was a good one and worth watching. At the time, I thought it had a rushed ending, but the rest of the movie was okay. I think it’s distinctive for the late 1970’s, in that the story is told from the viewpoint of a young Piegan(Piikani) Blackfoot/Lakota(Sioux) woman during the days when they still roamed free in Montana. How many Westerns are done from that viewpoint? Also, I think Raquel did a good job of portraying Walks Far Woman.
THE LEGEND OF WALKS FAR WOMAN was a personal project of Raquel Welch and her production company co-produced the movie. They shot a three-hour movie out on location in Montana and envisioned a 2-parter for NBC-TV. Apparently, the suits(executives) at NBC-TV didn’t see the movie as a 2-part movie and cut it down to 110-111 minutes, so a lot was left on the cutting room floor. I don’t know if the full uncut version was ever shown anywhere.
Just watched the German Blu Ray of THE LAST POSSE which is just an upscale of the old Sony MOD DVD.
The image is virtually the same.
The cover art and reverse is more attractive and the only extra is a trailer in English.
There are no subtitles
John K, I really like THE LAST POSSE(filmed 1952, released 1953). Harry Joe Brown produced a lot of top-notch Western Movies during the heyday of the genre, especially the ones he co-produced with his longtime partner Randolph Scott.
Walter,I thought HANNIE CALDER was well made for a UK company.It had a good director and supporting cast.Stephen Boyd had an unusual role as a mysterious preacher who never says a word.
Graham, your right about Stephen Boyd’s character. I wonder at the time if they were planning a sequel and Boyd would have had speaking role.
I thought Robert Culp and Christopher Lee were good in the movie. I think this was Lee’s only Western Movie role.
Walter,I would have liked a happy ending with Robert Culp living .Oh well.He played Wild Bill Hickok in THE RAIDERS which I have.This should have been a much better film.Stephen Boyd said he was happy being a character actor.I love the music in Hannie Calder.