TCFHE Press Release: Fox Western Classics Collection and Big Trail

Ronald Epstein · 02-28-2008, 02:48 PM

A POSSE OF FILM FAVORITES
FOR FATHER’S DAY

FOX WESTERN CLASSICS COLLECTION
AND
BIG TRAIL:
FOX GRANDEUR SPECIAL EDITION

John Wayne’s Big Trail Receives Two-Disc Fox Grandeur Special Edition
With The Debut Of Its Original 70mm Widescreen Version,
Three New Documentaries, Featurettes, Galleries And More

Gun-Slingin’ Classics, Including Garden Of Evil, Rawhide And The Gunfighter,
Blaze Onto DVD For The First Time May 13th From Fox Home Entertainment

CENTURY CITY, Calif. – Watch the West be won all over again with beloved screen legends as Fox Home Entertainment cuts loose a slew of gems to DVD on May 13th. The 1930 film that put Academy Award® winner and icon John Wayne (True Grit) on the map, director Raoul Walsh’s (The Thief of Bagdad), The Big Trail: Fox Grandeur Special Edition debuts on two discs in its original 70mm widescreen version along with standard full screen, featuring historian commentary, documentaries and more. Preserved in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress, this historical classic follows Wayne as brave leader Breck Coleman who guides hundreds of settlers in covered wagons from the Mississippi River to their destiny out West.
The Fox Western Classics Collection features three DVDs riding into town for the first time; Garden of Evil, Rawhide and The Gunfighter, fully restored, meticulously re-mastered and brimming with bonus features.
Oscar® winners Susan Hayward (I Want to Live), Gary Cooper (High Noon) and Rita Moreno (West Side Story) star in Garden of Evil, the 1954 film set in Mexico where three American adventurers attempt to rescue one of their own trapped in a gold mine.
Also starring Hayward opposite the dashing Tyrone Power (The Sun Also Rises) and classic character actor Jack Elam (Gunfight at the O.K. Corral), Rawhide (1951) tells the tale of Vinnie Holt (Hayward) and her stagecoach crew getting caught up with outlaws on their journey from California to St. Louis.
Winding up the classic trio is The Gunfighter (1950), starring the legendary Gregory Peck (To Kill a Mockingbird) as aging gunslinger Jimmie Ringo who tries to escape his reputation and find peace in the old West.
Just in time for Father’s Day, the Fox Western Classics Collection will be available for the suggested retail price of $19.98 U.S. / $25.98 Canada and The Big Trail: Fox Grandeur Special Edition will be priced at $19.98 U.S. / $21.98 Canada. Additionally, other Fox western classics In Old Arizona (1929), The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972) and Brigham Young: Frontiersman (1940) will be re-priced to $9.98 U.S. / $11.98 Canada. Pre-book is April 23.

The Big Trail: Fox Grandeur Special Edition Synopsis
In this sweeping pioneer adventure, a courageous young scout (Wayne) leads hundreds of settlers across treacherous cliffs, through brutal snowstorms, Indian attacks and buffalo stampedes to their destiny out West. Along the way, he loses his heart to a beautiful pioneer woman (Marguerite Churchill) and never stops trying to win her love. Tyrone Power co-stars in this visually spectacular epic.

Digitally restored and re-mastered from the original 70mm widescreen presentation as well as in full-frame standard frame, English Stereo and English and Spanish subtitles, The Big Trail: Fox Grandeur Special Edition features:
· Commentary with film historian/author Richard Schickel on the 70mm widescreen presentation
· The Creation of John Wayne
· Raoul Walsh: A Man in His Time
· The Big Vision: The Grandeur Process
· The Making of The Big Trail
· Galleries
o Publicity
o Original Posters
o Pressbook Gallery
· Trailers

Garden of Evil Synopsis
An extraordinary cast headed by Gary Cooper, Richard Widmark, Cameron Mitchell and Susan Hayward star in a suspenseful action-thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat until its riveting climax! Directed by Henry Hathaway and shot in gorgeous CinemaScope on location in the lava fields of Mexico, Garden of Evil is a captivating journey through the dark heart of man that is sure to leave you changed forever.
When a ship carrying three American fortune hunters strands them in Mexico, fate deals them a great hand – from the bottom of the deck. In exchange for a fat payday, they must journey into the heart of evil to rescue a trapped miner. With death surrounding them and murderous Apache warriors at their heels, it will take all their cunning, ingenuity and bravery to escape with their payday – and their lives.

Digitally restored and re-mastered in full-frame in English, Garden Of Evil features:
· Commentary by Nick Redman, Steven Smith, John Morgan and William Stromberg
· Travels of a Gunslinger: The Making of Garden Of Evil
· Henry Hathaway: When The Going Gets Tough…
· Restoration comparisons

Rawhide Synopsis
From acclaimed director Henry Hathaway comes this riveting thriller “expertly put together with gripping action” (Daily Variety). Screen legend Tyrone Power eschews his usual heroic persona to give a riveting performance as a mild-mannered mule herder, who finds himself in a battle of wits with a dangerous posse of outlaws in “one of the most intense melodramas to be seen…in any season” (L.A. Times).
With a band of outlaws on the loose, stationmaster Sam Todd (Edgar Buchanan) and his tenderfoot underling Tom Owens (Tyrone Power) force bombshell Vinnie Holt (Susan Hayward) and her infant niece off an incoming coach to wait in the safety of the station until law can be restored. But when the murderous bunch arrives to take control of the station, it will be up to the mild-mannered Owens to outsmart the outlaws before they can execute their deadly plans.

Digitally restored and re-mastered in full-frame in English, Rawhide features:
· Susan Hayward: Hollywood’s Straight Shooter
· Shot It in Lone Pine!
· Theatrical trailer
· Restoration comparisons
· Still gallery

The Gunfighter Synopsis
With its “resounding authenticity [and] great performances” (Los Angeles Times), The Gunfighter is a “terrific, hard-hitting [and] suspenseful” (Variety) western drama featuring a stirring and intense portrayal from the legendary Gregory Peck!
Peck stars as Jimmy Ringo, a notorious killer and the deadliest shot in the Old West. Though his appetite for bloodletting has waned, Jimmy is forced to stay on the run by young gunners determined to shoot him down. After killing an upstart in self-defense, he escapes from the boy’s vengeful brothers to the nearby town of Cayenne. There, he hopes to convince his estranged wife (Helen Westcott) to resume their life together, but his arrival causes a sensation. With more young bucks gunning for him, Ringo’s fate lies within the hands of the sheriff (Millard Mitchell), his old bandit partner.

Digitally restored and re-mastered in full-frame in English, The Gunfighter features:
· Trailers for Bravados, Broken Lace, Drums Along The Mohawk and Warlock
· Theatrical trailer

The Big Trail: Fox Grandeur Special Edition
Street Date: May 13th, 2008
Pre-book Date: April 23rd, 2008
DVD Price: $19.98 U.S. /
$21.98 Canada
Catalog #: 2251930
Total Run Time: 212 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Subtitles: English and Spanish
Closed Captioned: Yes

Fox Western Classic Collection
Street Date: May 13th, 2008
Pre-book Date: April 23rd, 2008
Price: $19.98 U.S. /
$25.98 Canada
Catalog #: 2251258

Garden Of Evil
Total Run Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Subtitles: TBD
Closed Captioned: Yes

Rawhide
Total Run Time: 87 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Subtitles: TBD
Closed Captioned: Yes

The Gunfighter
Total Run Time: 85 minutes
MPAA Rating: NR
Subtitles: TBD
Closed Captioned: Yes

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Craig_Ehr · 02-28-2008, 03:09 PM

So are these coming to Blu-ray Disc then, because I didn't see it mentioned in the PR?

Robert Crawford · 02-28-2008, 03:19 PM

I'm very happy about these releases, but I find it odd that the best film of the bunch doesn't have any real extras. Anyhow, at least it's coming out on DVD.

Crawdaddy

Billy Batson · 02-28-2008, 03:57 PM

Bit of a mistake in the press release, "Garden Of Evil" isn't full frame (well I hope not!).

MarcoBiscotti · 02-28-2008, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford

I'm very happy about these releases, but I find it odd that the best film of the bunch doesn't have any real extras. Anyhow, at least it's coming out on DVD.

Crawdaddy

I agree. I'm thrilled and can't wait to buy this set... but not a single feature, interview, commentary track, retrospective, docu, etc. for The Gunfighter??

Surely it merits more thought, context and consideration than any of the other films included. Still only slightly disappointing in light of it finally being released after so many years!

MarcoBiscotti · 02-28-2008, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billy Batson

Bit of a mistake in the press release, "Garden Of Evil" isn't full frame (well I hope not!).

per the press release description:

"Directed by Henry Hathaway and shot in gorgeous CinemaScope on location in the lava fields of Mexico..."

Surely a flub on the tech specs.

DanMel · 02-28-2008, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford

I'm very happy about these releases, but I find it odd that the best film of the bunch doesn't have any real extras. Anyhow, at least it's coming out on DVD.

Crawdaddy

But the best film of the bunch does have all kinds of special features with a commentary, Making of Garden of Evil, Henry Hathaway doc and restoration comparison's.

Actually I knew this was going to have a making of documentory as my friend John Mulholland was notified about 9 months ago that they needed info on the movie and Gary Cooper in a hurry. It is too bad the Vol 2 box sets on Gary Cooper he was also notified on around the same time from WB and Universial never got to the release stage and may not ever. I am not familar at all with The Gunfighter or the director Henry King but John says it's an excellent western so I am looking forward to seeing it. It also has an interesting Gary Cooper history according to him:

Hey, Dan:

In the previous e-mail, you mentioned the two other westerns in the Fox
set on May 13 -- The Gunfighter and Rawhide.

The Gunfighter is an excellent western, with a fascinating GC pedigree.

Andre de Toth, who wrote the original screenplay, gave it to GC in 1949,
he wrote it for GC. GC read it and loved it, said he wanted to do it and
gave him the okay to use his name in shopping it. De Toth,
who'd directed a very good (if forgotten) western in 1947 -- Ramrod, with
Joel McCrea -- shopped the script around. Fox bought it and de Toth was
very excited.

Six months later, he reads in the trades that it is being made with Gregory
Peck in the title role and directed by Henry King. Fox had both Peck and King
under contract and decided it was far cheaper to use them than GC and
de Toth.

So, The Gunfighter comes out in 1950, huge critical hit (and b.o. flop). And
Peck is now the first choice to play Will Kane in the upcoming High Noon, but he turns it down because it is too similar to The Gunfighter. Peck later said
it is the one script he turned down which he regrets not doing.

GC always felt bad about de Toth being zapped by Fox. They became good
friends during Springfield Rifle (de Toth directed). In late 1952, GC learns
that WB is doing a 3-D horror flick. He brings de Toth in to a meeting with
Jack Warner and gets him the directing job.

It's a neat irony that the best 3-D film of them all -- House Of Wax -- was
directed by a one-eyed man, Andre de Toth.

Best,

John

Richard M S · 02-28-2008, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Crawford

I'm very happy about these releases, but I find it odd that the best film of the bunch doesn't have any real extras. Anyhow, at least it's coming out on DVD.

I could not agree more - in a way it hopefully will become better known as I am sure reviewers will mention it. IMO The Gunfighter is the most "modern" of all of the films; it really ""holds up" well.

Anyway The Big Trail is iconic and stars John Wayne, but it is still not too far removed from the silent era. Hopefully the print - and sound quality of The Big Trail will be vastly improved from the version I saw at the Museum of Modern Art just a few years ago.

Russell G · 02-28-2008, 10:42 PM

Can't wait to see "The Big Trail"! Always heard of that one but have never seen it.

John Hermes · 02-28-2008, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billy Batson

Bit of a mistake in the press release, "Garden Of Evil" isn't full frame (well I hope not!).

+1 One of the first CinemaScope films.

Simon Howson · 02-28-2008, 11:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Hermes

+1 One of the first CinemaScope films.

Garden of Evil makes an interesting to Prince Valiant. Same director, two different approaches to shooting in early CinemaScope.