Happy Birthday, Vera Miles.

Vera June Miles
(Born August 23, 1929)

In a film filled with one incredible image after another, this is one of my favorites. So when I realized this was Vera Miles’ birthday, there was nothing else that would do. Of course that’s a frame from John Ford’s The Searchers (1956). Ford can somehow say more in a single frame than others can get in an entire feature.

Vera Miles appears in a few of the finest films ever made: The Searchers, Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962). Not a bad run, huh? (Wichita ain’t too shabby, either.)

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Screening: The Searchers (1956) And Stagecoach (1939).

There’s not a lot I need to say here, is there? Two of the finest Westerns ever made — John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939) and The Searchers (1956), both starring John Wayne — will run at New York’s Film Forum on Monday, August 28th.

And yes, that’s one of the coolest photos to ever turn up on this blog.

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Post-50s Western Blu-ray News #193: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

Directed by John Ford
Starring John Wayne, James Stewart, Vera Miles, Lee Marvin, Edmond O’Brien, Andy Devine, Woody Strode

One of the greatest Westerns of them all — and in my opinion, one of the finest American films ever made — is coming to Blu-ray in October. From the performances to the stunning black-and-white cinematography to the direction, John Ford’s The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) comes as close to perfection as any film I can think of. Every time I see it, I find something new to marvel at, from the huge steaks hanging of the sides of giant plates to a particular shot (like the one below) to John Wayne kicking Strother Martin in the face. The last time, it was the grace Woody Strode brought to his part as Pompey, Wayne’s ranch hand.

I can’t think of a film I’d rather see make the move to Blu-ray.

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