Happy Birthday, Randolph Scott.

George Randolph Scott 
(January 23, 1898 – March 2, 1987)

Let’s mark the birthday of my all-time favorite movie star, Randolph Scott — one of the key players in 50s Westerns. The still above is from The Bounty Hunter (1954), the last of six Westerns Scott made with director Andre de Toth.

The picture also stars my favorite actress, Marie Windsor — and that pairing makes this seem like a better movie that it really is. Despite its faults, I like it a little more every time I see it.

It’s a huge shame The Bounty Hunter is still missing on DVD and Blu-Ray, though there’s an OK-looking DVD out in Spain. Wish Warner Archive would move it to the top of their to-do list. Since it was shot in 3-D, but never released that way, it made sense a few years ago to consider a 3-D Blu-Ray. But it doesn’t seem like the world’s all that in love with 3-D television, and I wish they’d scrap those plans if they’re what’s holding it up.

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Blu-Ray News #247: The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953).

Directed by Andre de Toth
Starring Randolph Scott, Claire Trevor, Joan Weldon, George Macready, Alfonso Bedoya, Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine

The Stranger Wore A Gun (1953), one of six Randolph Scott pictures directed by Andre de Toth, had all sorts of interesting technical things going for it — which makes the announcement that Explosive Media is bringing it to Blu-Ray in Germany something worth celebrating.

The one-sheet for The Stranger Wore A Gun bragged about it all: 3-Dimensions, wide screen and stereophonic sound.

Andre de Toth was chosen to test-drive and fine tune a number of Hollywood’s technical developments of the 50s. For instance, the second of the De Toth Scotts, Carson City (1952), was the first Warnercolor film. House Of Wax (1953), the first major-studio 3-D movie, was filmed in the Natural Vision 3-D format and Warnercolor, with the added bonus of stereophonic sound.

The Stranger Wore A Gun was the first film composed and shot to be projected at 1.85. This aspect ratio is still the standard, in use in theaters and on video today. This framing in, for me, the key benefit of this upcoming Blu-Ray, along with the high definition, of course. It will not be offered in 3-D, and sadly, the three-track stereo elements were lost years ago.

This is not the best of the de Toth Scott movies, but it’s got Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine and Claire Trevor. And George Macready is totally despicable as the bad guy. Scott is so cool in the movies from this period, no matter how strong the movie around him is.

Not sure what Explosive’s region policy is. I’m sure hoping The Stranger Wore A Gun is something we can all enjoy. Can’t wait.

Thanks, John, for the tip.

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RIP, Elsa Martinelli.

Elsa Martinelli
(January 30, 1935 – July 8, 2017)

Elsa Martinelli was an Italian model and actress. She was “introduced” in The Indian Fighter (1955), which was produced by its star, Kirk Douglas, and directed by Andre de Toth.

In the Fifties and early Sixties, she split her movie career between European pictures and American stuff like Howard Hawks’ Hatari! and Orson Welles’ The Trial (both 1962).

She passed away in Rome today at 82.

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Making Movies: The Indian Fighter (1955).

With The Indian Fighter (1955) making its way to Blu-Ray from Kino Lorber, this seemed like a good time to share some more of the photos my wife’s finding as she helps with the research for my commentary. (Photos don’t do too well in an audio commentary.) I’ve been really wallowing in this movie the last couple weeks.

Here, they’re shooting a scene with Hank Worden and Walter Matthau.

Elisha Cook rests between takes in Bend, Oregon, as Ira Eagleman (whose parents were working as extras) looks on. Cook, Worden, Matthau — what a cast!

A prop man fires flaming arrows at the fort.

Elsa Martinelli, an Italian fashion model, made her screen debut in The Indian Fighter. Douglas’ wife Anne saw her in Vogue and recommended her for the part.

Here, they’re shooting inside the stockade. I can’t find director Andre de Toth in this photo, but this seems to be a scene with Douglas and Walter Abel. The Indian Fighter was the first picture from Douglas’ Bryna Productions. It was also de Toth’s first time chance to work with CinemaScope. He does a couple of really cool 360-degree pans that really use the Scope frame (and show off the distortion in those early Scope lenses).

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The Bounty Hunter (1954).

Some research on Andre de Toth unearthed this goofy news story about the making of The Bounty Hunter (1954), a Randolph Scott picture.

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Fort Benham, Oregon.

I’ve been doing research on Andre de Toth’s The Indian Fighter (1955) for a commentary on Kino Lorber’s Blu-Ray. (When it comes to research like this, my wife Jennifer does a lot of the heavy lifting.)

The Indian Fighter was the first picture from Kirk Douglas’ Bryna Productions, and they built an elaborate 200-foot square fort for it. It looks terrific in those CinemaScope tracking shots.

The stockade belonged to the Bend, Oregon, Chamber Of Commerce (it was built by a local construction company), and they rented it out for various things, including Oregon Passage (1958), a Paul Landres picture I really like. A forest fire damaged the area around the fort, really hurting its usefulness as a movie location. It was burned in the early 60s and the area replanted. It’s a shame, since it’s really impressive, compared to other movie forts I’ve seen.

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DVD Review: The Westerner – The Complete Series (1960).

The Westerner — the short-lived 1960 Western series created by Sam Peckinpah and starring Brian Keith — is a really amazing thing. First, it’s just a good show, period. Next, for a Peckinpah fan, it’s a chance to see the whole Peckinpah Thing take shape before our eyes. From the dialogue that rings so true to his unique blend of the hard-ass and the sentimental to particular scenes or dialogue that’d crop up in his later work, The Westerner feels like a prototype for Sam’s career (or at least the early part of it). His visual style still had a way to go.

I’ve been dragging around bootleg copies of The Westerner for years. I’d never seen the pilot from Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theatre — but Shout Factory has taken care of that with their marvelous new two-DVD set. You get the 13 regular episodes and the pilot (featuring Neville Brand at his despicable best), along with commentaries from Peckinpah scholars like Paul Seydor, who’s written some excellent books on Sam and his work. His The Authentic Death And Contentious Afterlife Of Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid: The Untold Story Of Peckinpah’s Last Western Film has become one of my favorite movie books.

Haven’t made it through both discs yet, but all the shows I’ve seen look great. This is one a lot of folks have been waiting for, and this is certainly worth the wait. Right now, it’s a Walmart exclusive — at just $14.96 — and I encourage you to put aside whatever hangups you might have about the megastore and go get one of these. It’s a must.

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