The Classic Western Thread part two

[Spectre07]

Since the other ones is now in that great Coral in the sky.

[John Hodson]

Very sad indeed; in many ways the old thread was instrumental in helping create this forum. Ironic that it started and ended on a discussion of the same film. As it drops off the page, it might be useful to place a link to it; it's still worth a trawl for information - the orginal Classic Western Thread.

[Spectre07]

Good point John. I was going to mention mention Warlock, a film I knew nothing about but which I watched a couple of days ago. I thought it was brilliant, if not up there with some of the great westerns, it was very very much above average. Not your usual good guy vs bad guy as sometimes you weren't sure who was the good guy and who the bad. I don't think it would have registered if it wasn't for the previous thread.

[jroadley]

And to think that first thread started with me asking about The Searchers. And here we are all that time has passed and we are still taking about that film

[douglasb]

Well, I'll post this for everyone of a certain age. The Searchers story doesn't finish quite yet. You'll can all dip in again as part of the John Wayne collection

http://www.deagostini.co.uk/johnwayne/index.htm

It's worth bearing in mind these aren't necessarily ports of existing transfers. The Prisoner set was an upgrade on the previous box set and I understand the Dad's Army discs had material not available elsewhere.

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by douglasb

It's worth bearing in mind these aren't necessarily ports of existing transfers. The Prisoner set was an upgrade on the previous box set and I understand the Dad's Army discs had material not available elsewhere.

Bearing in mind the front page has '© 2006 Universal Studios' I'd be flabbergasted is the transfers are any different to the current R2 transfers (and some are truly awful), and if it includes The Searchers; but I'll be keeping an eye open for any suggestion that they are.

[Jacqui]

Just interested in opinions on The Left Handed Gun. I watched it the other and still found it quite hard to swallow. One of Newman's few performances I don't care for.

[Cecil B]

I keep hoping for a DVD of the restored Alamo, and worry that somehow the print is slipping away- is there any public access to MGM/Sony (or whoever owns it these days) to express the desire for this film in all its glory?

[John Hodson]

We discussed it in the here in the John Wayne thread; I'm glad you brought it up again. Robert Harris has long been a champion of the film, and at the time, said that Sony were well aware of the situation, but I'd be interested if Robert has any more information.

[John Hodson]

Found this at the HTF, a link to a comparison between the German Kinowelt R2 of Johnny Guitar and the Universal UK R2 - here.

I unloaded my UK version because, well, frankly, I found it both hard to look at and listen to, and there was rumour of an R1 about to appear. That hasn't materialised, but the Kinowelt, who do some very fine work in Germany, appears to be an excellent alternative and cheap to boot..

[Spectre07]

That german review looks familiar and here's the reason why.

[bosque]

Originally Posted by douglasb

Well, I'll post this for everyone of a certain age. The Searchers story doesn't finish quite yet. You'll can all dip in again as part of the John Wayne collection

http://www.deagostini.co.uk/johnwayne/index.htm

It's worth bearing in mind these aren't necessarily ports of existing transfers. The Prisoner set was an upgrade on the previous box set and I understand the Dad's Army discs had material not available elsewhere.

I bought the 6 page "magazine" today, with the free DVD of She Wore A Yellow Ribbon - shouldn't have bothered, the picture quality is dreadful, looks like a VHS transfer, and the colour is crawling all over the place. I haven't see the US release yet and I hope that is better than this deagostini thing - there is a telephone number in the mag to ring if you have any quality issues to raise with them, wonder if its manned ?.

[John Hodson]

The Universal R2 of SWAYR is God-awful, the Warner R2 and the German Kinowelt R2, as detailed in the first post of the 'John Ford' thread alongside the linked reviews, are both transfers of great beauty.

[John Hodson]

Those Randolph Scott and John Wayne triple features are up at DVD Pacific for £5.13 each plus p&p:

Man Behind The Gun/Thunder Over The Plains/Riding Shotgun
Colt 45/Tall Man Riding/Forth Worth
Ride Him Cowboy / The Big Stampede / Haunted Gold
The Telegraph Trail/Somewhere in Sonora/The Man from Monterey

[Spectre07]

Originally Posted by John Hodson

Those Randolph Scott and John Wayne triple features are up at DVD Pacific for £5.13 each plus p&p:

Which one are worth getting?

[CinéKarine]

From the DigitalBits, for any Gene Autry fans out there....

Image is releasing six volumes of The Gene Autry Collection on September 26th. Each volume will consist of four discs containing previously-released titles. For those who haven't bought any of the titles yet, this should allow significant savings over the individual title releases. The contents are as follows: Volume 1 (Cow Town/Whirlwind/The Old West/Sons of New Mexico); Volume 2 (Valley of Fire/Mule Train/Beyond the Purple Hills/Indian Territory); Volume 3 (Back in the Saddle/Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride/Rancho Grande/Melody Ranch); Volume 4 (Robin Hood of Texas/Wagon Team/Sioux City Sue/Blue Canadian Rockies); Volume 5 (Bells of Capistrano/Heart of the Rio Grande/Under Fiesta Stars/Shooting High); and Volume 6 (South of the Border/Down Mexico Way/Mexicali Rose/Gaucho Serenade).

[John Hodson]

Originally Posted by Spectre07

Which one are worth getting?

Depends on your tolerence for 'oaters'; the Wayne westerns hail from very early in career, you'll find him gauche and still learning his craft - you'll also find 'Duke the Miracle Horse' in a couple, so you might get the idea from that. Think cheapie knock-offs, no budget, much the same script.

The Scott westerns are rather better, though a mixed bag. Riding Shotgun is pretty good I recall, as is Thunder Over the Plains. Can't argue really at the price.

[CinéKarine]

Not a Scott fan, but I really enjoy TALL MAN RIDING (1955).

[Spectre07]

Thanks John. I think I'll try some of the Randolph Scott westerns and give the John Wayne ones a miss even at that price.

[Mr Blobby]

Couple of good westerns on BBC 2 Thurs and Fri afternoon this week.

Thursday 13.30.
Jesse James, 1939 stars Henry Fonda, Tyrone Power, Randolph Scott. Tyrone is Jesse James and Henry plays the brother Frank. The film shows the two growing up and gives background to why they ended up as outlaws.

Friday 13.30.
Two Rode Together.James Stewart and Richard Widmark. This is about attemps by Stewart and Widmark's characters to get white hostages free from the Comanches.