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.
Archive for the ‘Julie Adams’ Category
Blu-Ray News #354: The Mississippi Gambler (1953).
Posted in 1953, DVD/Blu-Ray News, John McIntire, Julie Adams, Kino Lorber, Rudolph Maté, Universal (International) on February 2, 2023| 23 Comments »
DVD/Blu-Rays News #344: The Lawless Breed (1953).
Posted in 1953, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Explosive Media, Glenn Strange, John McIntire, Julie Adams, Lee Van Cleef, Raoul Walsh, Rock Hudson, Universal (International) on May 4, 2022| 2 Comments »
Directed by Raoul Walsh
Starring Rock Hudson, Julie Adams, Mary Castle, John McIntire, Hugh O’Brian, Dennis Weaver, Forrest Lewis, Lee Van Cleef, Glenn Strange
Next up from Explosive Media is Raoul Walsh’s The Lawless Breed (1953), coming to DVD and Blu-Ray (region free!) in September.
It’s a pretty inaccurate story of the outlaw John Wesley Hardin, played by Rock Hudson. The manuscript for his autobiography is used to launch the picture as a series of flashbacks.
With Walsh’s typical no-nonsense, propulsive direction, a really strong cast and incredible Technicolor photography from Irving Glassberg (which will really be something to see in high definition), The Lawless Breed plays as a better movie than it actually is. Highly recommended.
Meet Rosie!
Posted in 1952, Julie Adams on February 26, 2021| 10 Comments »
Presley recently rescued a kitten from a shed in our neighbors’ back yard. She was very successful in finding it a home, ours, and we’ve named her Rosie — after Julie Adams in The Lawless Breed (1952). We considered names from Marie Windsor movies, too, but this one seemed perfect.
So far, the connection to The Lawless Breed has proved very appropriate.
Blu-Ray News #319: Horizons West (1952) And Quantez (1957).
Posted in 1952, 1957, Budd Boetticher, Dorothy Malone, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Fred MacMurray, Harry Keller, James Arness, John McIntire, Julie Adams, Kino Lorber, Robert Ryan, Rock Hudson, Universal (International) on January 21, 2021| 24 Comments »
Quantez (1957)
Directed by Harry Keller
Starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy Malone, James Barton, Sydney Chaplin, John Gavin, John Larch, Michael Ansara
Just finished recording a commentary for Harry Keller’s Quantez (1957), a film I appreciate more every time I see it. It feels awkward to plug these things when I work on ’em, but this one is something special. The movie is ripe for rediscovery — and I think it’s the best commentary I’ve done.
It’s also a picture with superb art direction and cinematography, so high-definition will be a big plus.
Horizons West (1952)
Directed by Budd Boetticher
Starring Robert Ryan, Julia Adams, Rock Hudson, John McIntire, Raymond Burr, James Arness, Dennis Weaver
Horizons West (1952) has the great cast of contract players — Adams, Hudson, McIntire, Dennis Weaver — and gorgeous Technicolor we expect from Universal International Westerns of the early 50s. It’s a post-Civi War story of Ryan’s ambitions getting the best of him. Budd Boetticher keeps it short on running time and long on action.
The color will make this one really pop on Blu-Ray. I’ll be recording a commentary for it next week. Both pictures are expected in May from Kino Lorber.
There haven’t been many 50s Westerns riding up on DVD or Blu-Ray lately. These will help make up for it.
RIP, Lori Nelson.
Posted in 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, Anthony Mann, Arthur Kennedy, Audie Murphy, Chuck Connors, Jane Russell, Jimmy Stewart, John Agar, Julie Adams, Roger Corman, Universal (International) on September 1, 2020| 17 Comments »
Lori Nelson
(August 15, 1933 – August 23, 2020)
Lori Nelson, has passed away at 87. She was born Dixie Kay Nelson. Her family moved to Hollywood when she was four. Soon after, she was crowned Little Miss America.
In 1950, Ms. Nelson signed a seven-year contract with Universal-International. Her first film was Bend Of The River, followed by Ma And Pa Kettle At The Fair and Francis Goes To West Point (all 1952). In 1953, U-I put her in Douglas Sirk’s All I Desire. She appeared in two Audie Murphy pictures, Tumbleweed (1953) and Destry (1954).
In 1955, she did Ma And Pa Kettle At Waikiki, Revenge of the Creature, Roger Corman’s Day The World Ended and I Died A Thousand Times, a remake of High Sierra (1941) — which has already been remake as Colorado Territory (1949). Underwater! was released in 1955, though it’d been shot some time earlier. She was loaned to Howard Hughes and RKO for that one. She’s also in Pardners (1956), one of the last Martin and Lewis pictures, Hot Rod Girl (1956) co-starring Chuck Connors and Howard W. Koch’s Untamed Youth (1957) with Mamie Van Doren. What a great batch of 1950s cinema.
Blu-Ray Review: The Man From The Alamo (1953).
Posted in 1953, Budd Boetticher, DVD reviews, releases, TV, etc., Glenn Ford, Hugh O'Brien, Julie Adams, Mill Creek Entertainment, Neville Brand, Universal (International), Victor Jory on June 20, 2020| 12 Comments »
Directed by Budd Boetticher
Produced by Aaron Rosenberg
Screenplay by Steve Fisher and D.D. Beauchamp
Story by Niven Busch and Oliver Crawford
Music by Frank Skinner
Cinematography: Russell Metty
Film Editor: Virgil W. Vogel
Cast: Glenn Ford (John Stroud), Julie Adams (Beth Anders), Chill Wills (John Gage), Hugh O’Brian (Lt. Lamar), Victor Jory (Jess Wade), Neville Brand (Dawes), John Day (Cavish), Myra Marsh (Ma Anders), Jeanne Cooper (Kate Lamar), Mark Cavell (Carlos), Edward Norris (Mapes), Guy Williams (Sergeant)
__________
It took Budd Boetticher a while to find his cinematic sweet spot with stuff like The Killer Is Loose and Seven Men From Now (both 1956). But he made some terrific pictures in the meantime. The Man From The Alamo (1953) is one of the best of those. It’s a short movie completely filled with action — from the attack on the Alamo to a number of fist fights to the climactic wagon train scenes. It’s all handled perfectly, and when you learn this was a shoot plagued by injuries, it’s easy to see why.
John Stroud (Glenn Ford) is the one man who left the Alamo after Travis drew his line with his sword, and he’s been labeled a coward. We know he’s not. Stroud sees the chance to help other families make their way to safety as a way to clear his name — and get his revenge on Wade (Victor Jory), the leader of a band of mercenaries who have hired on with Santa Anna.
We get an early version of the usual Boetticher hero — an outsider obsessed with a personal mission, a character Randolph Scott played to perfection in pictures like The Tall T (1957). Glenn Ford does a good job here as a man who’s lost everything, even his good name. Not many movies have us rooting for a character so clearly burned out and cynical. That’s where Ford really comes through, always showing enough of the decent family man to keep us from writing him off. It also keeps us from wondering why Julie Adams would be interested in him.
Victor Jory is Wade, the soldier for hire responsible for the death of Ford’s family. Jory is a great bad guy, and he’s at his absolute slimiest best here — though it’s hard to top him in South Of St. Louis (1949). He’s given some sweaty, sneering closeups that’ll make your skin crawl.
Julie Adams is so beautiful in Russell Metty’s Technicolor — she was perfect for Universal International’s bright, colorful Westerns of the 50s. And she’s always able to pull something out of an underwritten part. Neville Brand is terrific, too. Chill Wills can be a bit grating, as usual.
Back to Russell Metty. He was a master, and his Technicolor work here is incredible. In a picture that takes place largely in rocks and sand, he manages to find enough of a color palette to create plenty of vibrant visuals.
And that’s what makes this new Blu-Ray from Mill Creek such a treat. It’s a gorgeous transfer of the original material, and the movie really benefits from the boost in definition, a solid improvement on the old DVD (which was nice to begin with). The color is really terrific. Mill Creek has paired it with Robert Rossen’s They Came To Cordura (1959), which also looks splendid. A pair of movies like this, looking this good, at such a great price — you can’t get too many of em. Highly recommended.
50s Westerns Blu-Ray News #295: The Man From The Alamo (1953) And They Came To Cordura (1959).
Posted in 1953, 1959, Budd Boetticher, Columbia, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Gary Cooper, Glenn Ford, Hugh O'Brien, Julie Adams, Mill Creek Entertainment, Neville Brand, Universal (International), Van Heflin on February 13, 2020| 17 Comments »
Mill Creek has announced a twin-bill Blu-Ray of The Man From The Alamo (1953) and They Came To Cordura (1959).
The Man From The Alamo (1953)
Directed by Budd Boetticher
Starring Glenn Ford, Julie Adams, Chill Wills, Victor Jory, Hugh O’Brien, Neville Brand
Glenn Ford leaves The Alamo before the siege to notify families of what’s to come, and he’s branded a coward for it.This is a beautiful Technicolor Universal-International Western. Ford’s good, Julie Adams is gorgeous and Victor Jory is despicable. Just what you want in a 50s Western.
They Came To Cordura (1959)
Directed by Robert Rossen
Starring Gary Cooper, Rita Hayworth, Van Heflin, Tab Hunter, Dick York
This one’s in Eastmancolor and CinemaScope, with Gary Cooper and his men after Pancho Villa. Dick York was injured making this, and it plagued him for years. It’s why he had to leave the role of Darrin Stephens on Bewitched.
Let’s hope this is the beginning of a trend with Mill Creek. Their two-fer Blu-Rays of Hammer and William Castle horror films are terrific.
Happy New Year!
Posted in 1953, 1954, Budd Boetticher, Jack Arnold, Julie Adams on January 1, 2020| 1 Comment »
Here’s Julie Adams ringing in 1954. Well, if it was good enough then, it’s good enough 66 years later. This would’ve been around the time she’d done Wings Of The Hawk (1953) and Creature From The Black Lagoon (1954).
Hope you’re having a great time ushering in a new decade.
50s Westerns Blu-Ray News #288: Wings Of The Hawk In 3D (1953).
Posted in 1953, 3-D, Budd Boetticher, DVD/Blu-Ray News, Julie Adams, Kino Lorber, Nestor Paiva, Noah Beery Jr., Universal (International) on November 14, 2019| 5 Comments »
Directed by Budd Boeticher
Starring Van Heflin, Julia Adams, George Dolenz, Antonio Moreno, Noah Berry, Jr., Abbe Lane, Rodolfo Acosta, Pedro Gonzales-Gonzales, Lyle Talbot
Kino Lorber and the 3-D Film Archive are bringing Budd Boetticher’s Wings Of The Hawk (1953) to Blu-Ray with its 3-D and 1.85:1 framing intact. (It was the first film composed specifically for 1.85:1 exhibition.) A 2-D version is included.
It’s also a terrific picture, technology aside. Heflin’s great (or course), Julie Adams is beautiful (of course), and Boetticher, DP Clifford Stine and editor Russell Schoengarth deliver a solid, good-looking 50s Western with plenty of action. One complaint: why didn’t they put Nestor Paiva in there somewhere?
Also, the 3-D Woody Woodpecker “cartune” The Hypnotic Hick, made by U-I to play with Wings Of The Hawk, will be included (in 3-D).
Coming in 2020. I can’t tell you how excited I am about this one. Highly, highly recommended.