Now Playing, 1958.

Here are a couple of interesting movie marquees from 1958. First, Gary Cooper in Anthony Mann’s Man Of The West playing in Buenos Aires.

Next is a marquee for a theatre on a military base somewhere. Friday’s feature is Frontier Gun, a Regalscope picture with John Agar, Joyce Meadows, Barton MacLane, Robert Strauss, James H. Griffith and Morris Ankrum. It was directed by one of my favorite unsung directors, Paul Landres. On Tuesday is It! The Terror From Beyond Space, a terrific little science fiction thing starring Marshall Thompson and directed by Edward L. Cahn.

That marquee is as good a pitch for joining the military as anything I’ve ever seen. Take me back to 1958 and sign me up!

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50s Westerns Blu-ray News #178: The Wonderful Country (1959).

Directed by Robert Parrish
Starring Robert Mitchhum, Julie London, Gary Merrill, Albert Dekker, Charles McGraw, Jack Oakie, Leroy ‘Satchel’ Paige, Anthony Caruso

It’s great to see Robert Mitchum’s independent, self-produced pictures — some of his best work, in my opinion — making their way to Blu-ray. First, Thunder Road (1958) just came out from Shout Factory. And now, Kino Lorber has announced The Wonderful Country (1959) for Blu-ray release in September. Based on Tom Lea’s novel, this is an unusual Western, to say the least (just look at that cast), and a really terrific movie.

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