Announcement: Nicholas Ray's 'Johnny Guitar' and John Ford's 'Rio Grande' on DVD and Blu-ray from Ol (1 Viewer)

Two more Olive Releases from the Republic catalog announced for release in August: Nicholas Ray's Johnny Guitar and John Ford's Rio Grande.

Press releases and cover art below.



[SIZE= 20pt]FROM THE DIRECTOR OF IN A LONELY PLACE & ON DANGEROUS GROUND[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 18pt]REMASTERED[/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt] IN HD FROM AN ARCHIVAL 35MM PRINT[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 20pt]FIRST TIME ON DVD AND[/SIZE][SIZE= 20pt] [/SIZE]Blu-ray©
[SIZE= 18pt]JOAN CRAWFORD | STERLING HAYDEN | MERCEDES McCAMBRIDGE
SCOTT BRADY | WARD BOND | ERNEST BORGNINE | JOHN CARRADINE[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 36pt]JOHNNY GUITAR [/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt](1954)
Directed by NICHOLAS RAY (THEY LIVE BY NIGHT)
Written by PHILIP YORDAN (THE BIG COMBO)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]PREBOOK[/SIZE][SIZE= 16pt] 7/10/12 STREET 8/7/12[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]DVD[/SIZE] UPC# 887090044707 CAT# OF447 $24.95srp
BLU-RAY UPC# 887090044806 CAT# OF448 $29.95srp
[SIZE= 11pt]This one-of-a-kind western stars Joan Crawford as a saloon owner battling the local townspeople headed by Emma (Mercedes McCambridge), the local sexually repressed, lynch-happy female rancher out to frame her for a string of robberies. The title character played by Sterling Hayden is a guitar-strumming drifter with a dark past who was once in love with Crawford and has been offered a job in her saloon. Nicholas Ray’s epic western is considered on the most original westerns of all time – the women are far tougher than the men and some saw in the film a bizarre allegory for the McCarthy era Red Scare. In addition to the stars, Johnny Guitar is well stocked with great supporting players, including Ernest Borgnine, Scott Brady, Ward Bond, Paul Fix, Royal Dano and John Carradine. Classic score title song written by Peggy Lee and the film’s composer Victor Young and sung by Peggy Lee.[/SIZE]
1954 | Color | 110 Minutes | Not Rated
[SIZE= 14pt]SPECIAL FEATURE:[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 11pt]INTRODUCTION BY MARTIN SCORSESE[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt] (1995)[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12pt]JOAN CRAWFORD in “JOHNNY GUITAR” STERLING HAYDEN MERCEDES McCAMBRIDGE[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12pt]SCOTT BRADY with WARD BOND BEN COOPER ERNEST BORGNINE JOHN CARRADINE
Screenplay by PHILIP YORDAN Based on a novel by ROY CHANSLOR
Produced by HERBERT J. YATES Directed by NICHOLAS RAY[/SIZE]

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JOHNNY GUITAR © 1954 Melange Pictures LLC. All Rights Reserved.






[SIZE= 20pt]FROM THE DIRECTOR OF THE SEARCHERS & SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 18pt]REMASTERED[/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt] IN HD FROM AN ARCHIVAL 35MM PRINT[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 20pt]FIRST TIME ON[/SIZE][SIZE= 20pt] [/SIZE]Blu-ray©
[SIZE= 18pt]DAY & DATE (DVD and [/SIZE][SIZE= 22pt]Blu-ray[/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt])[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 22pt]JOHN WAYNE | MAUREEN O’HARA [/SIZE][SIZE= 14pt]in[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 36pt]RIO GRANDE [/SIZE][SIZE= 18pt](1950)
Directed by JOHN FORD (THE GRAPES OF WRATH)[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 14pt]with[/SIZE][SIZE= 16pt] BEN JOHNSON | VICTOR McLAGLEN | HARRY CAREY JR. | CHILL WILLS[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]PREBOOK[/SIZE][SIZE= 16pt] 7/10/12 STREET 8/7/12[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 16pt]DVD[/SIZE] UPC# 887090044905 CAT# OF449 $19.95srp
BLU-RAY UPC# 887090045001 CAT# OF450 $29.95srp
[SIZE= 11pt]In the John Ford (The Quiet Man) classic, John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara (First of five films together) are embroiled in an epic battle with the Apaches and each other. Wayne leads his Calvary troops to the Rio Grande to fight a warring tribe. His toughest battle lies ahead when his unorthodox plan to outwit the elusive Apaches leads to a possible court-martial. Locked in a bloody war, he must fight not only to save his family, but also to redeem his honor. This was the third and final of the John Wayne/John Ford Cavalry films, which started with Fort Apache and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon. The great supporting cast includes Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen and Chill Wills.[/SIZE]
1950 | B&W | 105 Minutes | Not Rated
[SIZE= 14pt]SPECIAL FEATURES:
• [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]THE MAKING OF RIO GRANDE[/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt] [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt](1993 – 23 MINUTES) - NARRATED BY LEONARD MALTIN
Includes Interviews with MICHAEL WAYNE | BEN JOHNSON | HARRY CAREY JR.[/SIZE]
[SIZE= 14pt]• [/SIZE][SIZE= 11pt]THEATRICAL TRAILER[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 10pt]An Argosy Production[/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt] JOHN WAYNE MAUREEN O’HARA [/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt]in[/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt] “RIO GRANDE” [/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt]co-starring[/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt] BEN JOHNSON[/SIZE]

[SIZE= 12pt]CLAUDE JARMAN JR. HARRY CAREY JR. CHILL WILLS J. CARROLL NAISH VICTOR McLAGLEN
[/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt]Screenplay by[/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt] JAMES KEVIN McGUINNESS [/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt]Based on a Saturday Evening Post Story by[/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt] JAMES WARNER BELLAH
[/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt]Produced by [/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt]JOHN FORD[/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt] and [/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt]MARIAN C. COOPER [/SIZE][SIZE= 10pt]Directed by[/SIZE][SIZE= 12pt] JOHN FORD[/SIZE]

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RIO GRANDE © 1950 MELANGE PICTURES LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.



* Supplements on Rio Grande corrected, following corrected E-mail from Olive.

That's clearly not going to be 'The Making of High Noon' but no Maureen O'Hara commentary carried over from the DVD release?

Finallly getting Johnny Guitar released and the Olive Rio Grande, even the DVD, should blow away the previous edition in terms of picture quality. I have high hope a good home video release of The Quiet Man is right around the corner.

Olive Films is shaping up to potentially be the best thing that ever happened to collectors of classic films on Blu. Color me impressed. I've already pre-ordered these.

John Hodson is, of course, correct. Olive sent an amended press release with the correction, and I corrected the post accordingly. The supplement on Rio Grande is "The Making of Rio Grande."

I will not get excited until I've seen them. There is nothing about "mastered from an archival 35mm print" that gives me any hope whatsoever that these will be new transfers or, should they be, that they will be any good. Prints? Generations away from a negative? I will wait.

Very excited to hear this news, and will certainly be picking up both!

A little side-note of whoever decided on the cover artwork for Rio Grande...John Wayne sports a mustache in this film.

I saw Rio Grande on HD a while back & thought it looked very nice, mind you it didn't have to look that good to look better than any transfer I've seen on the telly (it's never looked that good). As for transfered from a 35mm archival print...well if that's all they have. Hopefully the next stop... She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, & I think the colour on the DVD looks very nice, hows that for a controversial view!

jim_falconer said:

Very excited to hear this news, and will certainly be picking up both!   
A little side-note of whoever decided on the cover artwork for Rio Grande...John Wayne sports a mustache in this film.

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Indeed he does; that appears to be from original South American poster art for the film. I've seen it broadcast in HD; as a transfer it was...okay.

Let's hope for the best on these releases, especially Rio Grande.

Billy Batson said:

Hopefully the next stop... She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, & I think the colour on the DVD looks very nice, hows that for a controversial view!

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Warner Home Video's DVD of She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is too bright and too yellow. Let's hope when they get around to the Blu-ray the arbitrary and purely personal color timing will be corrected by a different pair of eyes than the usual pair.

SeanAx said:

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Republic seems to overlooked the mustache in its promotional art in 1950:

(theater lobby standee)

John Hodson said:

Indeed he does; that appears to be from original South American poster art for the film. I've seen it broadcast in HD; as a transfer it was...okay.

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I hope the Blu-ray transfer will be better than "okay."
Two Italian posters, sans mustache:

In fact, all of the advertising avoids suggesting that Wayne plays an older man in the film. They promote the young, romantic, athletic Wayne. Olive's artwork is not necessarily reflective of the film, but it is true to the original promotional campaign.

Chances of these being region free?

Originally Posted by Ransom Stoddard /t/320663/announcement-nicholas-rays-johnny-guitar-and-john-fords-rio-grande-on-dvd-and-blu-ray-from-olive#post_3925171
Chances of these being region free?

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There's a small chance, but most of Olive's releases have been Region A.







Crawdaddy

Republic announced their widescreen house ratio on August 18, 1953. Their ratios ranged from 1.66:1 to 1.85:1.

JOHNNY GUITAR began filming for widescreen on October 19, 1953.

When released in August 1954, Exhibitor listed the AR as 1.85:1 and Variety listed 1.66:1.

Definitive announcements like that will end debates and confusion over which films should be in which aspect ratio. A lot of DVDs and Blu-rays are going to have to be redone when you're finished, Bob.

Thanks, Richard.

I'm more confused than ever. Based on the two news clippings, it sounds like Republic had a non-definitive OAR. Films would be shot in 1.66 to 1 and composed with a safe 1.85 to 1 area. However, "can be projected on either wide-screen or the conventional style screen" and "Theatres will find that they can choose ... aspect ratios of 1.66 to 1 up to 1.85 to 1" Since the second clipping just says "widescreen", what is the aspect ratio - 1.66, 1.85, or somewhere in the middle? And would some people have seen it in conventional, based on what theatre they went to?
David

It can be confusing but bear in mind the amount of grief and aggravation among exhibitors at that time. Republic, like all other studios (they were actually the last to go widescreen) would shoot open matte 1.33:1 and compose loosely for 1.66:1. However, theaters with widescreens could also run their product 1.85:1 if that was the lens/aperture plate configuration they had in the booth. They were trying to stress flexibility to the frustrated exhibitor.
It was basically the same announcement Paramount would make the following year with VistaVision: protected for 1.33:1, can be presented as wide as 2.00:1 but is ideally shown at 1.85:1.
They were trying to appease all theaters, both large and small. There was a tremendous amount of concern at the time among small-town exhibitors who were afraid of a product shortage. With the added expenses of 3-D, CinemaScope and stereophonic sound, they feared there would be little to run. That's why all the cinematographers continued to compose for widescreen and protect for Academy. By the end of 1953, 58% of all U.S. theaters had installed widescreen. The conversion to widescreen was particularly slow in both the Southern and North Central parts of the country.
A 12/5/53 survey of 16, 753 operating indoor domestic theaters showed that 80% of downtown theaters and 69% of neighborhood theaters had installed widescreens.
The sad irony is because we've lived in a 4x3 world, that's the way these films have been seen ever since their original theatrical play-dates. Now with the new 16x9 displays, it seems a shame to keep recycling the same old open matte versions.
I hope I've explained it a little better!
Bob

So, based on these discussions, Rio Grande should be in Academy Ratio, since it is from 1950 (before the 1953 policy).
And Johnny Guitar should be in some type of widescreen (post 1953 policy). But anything from 1.66 to 1.85 would be the 'correct' OAR - because there isn't a true OAR
David