You're thinking of the "Unconquered" not the "Plainsmen" with Boris Karloff. The "Plainsmen" is a Hickok, Buffalo Bill, and Calamity Jane movie. I'm a Stanwyck fan so I prefer "Union Pacific" and then "Plainsmen" and could go without the "Unconquered". Personally, I had a difficult time with Boris Karloff in the role and that ruined the film for me.
One problem is the separations were optically printed instead of contact printed. This is not how it's normally done...plus they were done two years later. If the separations were just how they should be, there wouldn't be the funkly skintones we are talking about here. Like the guy said in the article, maybe with future technical advances, they will be able to digitally restore the color layers from the original camera negative. It's a shame about the color (even though it isn't horrible or anything), because many shots are as striking as anything on Blu-ray.
smithb: I'm completely with you in being a Barbara Stanwyck fan. +++
Some are hoping that a Big Valley movie might spark enough interest to finish releasing the TV series to DVD. I must have about 20+ of her films. I haven't watched "Cattle Queen of Montana" yet other then to note the DVD release is weak quality wise. But hey, its got Ronald Reagan in it.
Eric: Nice list. Once Upon A Time in the West seems to be close to a consensus pick...
PaulaJ: Wow. Excellent list here. The Big Trail looks surprisingly good today--both in term of pq (on Netflix instant watch) and in terms of still being a good Western. That 70mm Grandeur process was pretty impressive.Originally Posted by PaulaJ /forum/thread/300270/5-westerns-you-d-like-to-see-on-blu/30#post_3687457
In addition to everything already suggested (especially Shane), how about:
Blood on the Moon (cinematography by Nicholas Musuraca)
The Gunfighter
The complete Ford Cavalry trilogy, not just She Wore A Yellow Ribbon
The Tollgate (or another William S. Hart western)
The Iron Horse
The Big Trail
All the Anthony Mann-James Stewart westerns
A John Payne western -- Silver Lode or Rebel in Town. Even better, how about both of them?
True Grit
Broken Arrow
The Long Riders
The Misfits
Shanghai Noon
How about one or some of Errol Flynn's westerns?
I saw the new print of Jubal at the TCM Classic Film Fest and it looks great now. I'd love to see it on Blu-ray.
Restoration and remastering of the Roy Rogers movies and then release on BD. The Golden Stallion on Blu-ray...
If it counts as a modern-day western, The Last Picture Show.
and... The Oklahoma Kid.OK, just kidding about that one.
Hi SAhmed: Thanks for this well written essay. Makes me want to see these films!
I don't fully understand this, but still it's fascinating to me. Why was the safety made two years after the film? Seems quite random. Although given how studios treated their films at the time it's amazing that seps were made at all...
Is there going to be a Big Valley movie?? Hadn't heard that. Is it just talk, or are they actually in pre-production? Who is playing the matriarch? Hard for anyone to equal Stanwyck. Is it possible to post pictures here? If you're a big fan, maybe you have pix or screen captures from some of the films from the 30s you could post...?
Ben --
It's too bad that Grandeur wasn't able to catch on but 1930 was not a good time to introduce a second whole new technology after the conversion to talkies since the Depression had just hit.
Wow. It was in the festival. Must have been a stunner. Wayne was quite the handsome young-un, wasn't he?Originally Posted by PaulaJ /forum/thread/300270/5-westerns-you-d-like-to-see-on-blu/30#post_3687700
Ben --
I have The Big Trail on DVD but just last week I saw it in a theater during the TCM Classic Film Fest, and it's a stunner on the big screen. That Grandeur process is really impressive. And, er, hubba hubba also about John Wayne, age 22.
The Iron Horse is indeed an early (though far from the earliest) John Ford picture. It's a 1924 silent, another epic western, about the construction and completion of the intercontinental railroad. The combination of history lesson (Abraham Lincoln is a character), depiction of the physical struggle through plains and mountains to build the railroad, a couple of really nasty villains, Indian attacks, and an obstacle-filled romance between childhood sweethearts George O'Brien (who is also out to revenge his father's murder) and lovely Madge Bellamy proved to be a winning formula and it was a big hit. It made O'Brien an instant star and he became one of Ford's favorite leading men during his silent era. It's on DVD, either in the massive Ford at Fox box or in the smaller Ford at Fox: The Silent Epics package, and it looks great -- but it would look even more great on Blu-ray.
Heavens Gate was the film that nearly bankrupted United Artists and eventually lead to them being bought by MGM. I don't think the studio heads much cared what Ciminio thought at that point.
The Boetticher/Scott westerns were all shot on Eastman color film as were most of the Mann films. Some, though I don't think all, were printed by Technicolor in the dye transfer process, but you don't actually shoot that way. If these films are being restored, then they are likely going back to the Eastman negative, which is pre-dye transfer in the production process. They may attempt to emulate the Technicolor look, but it wouldn't actually be a dye transfer print that the blu-ray would come from.
Paula J: Thanks for that nice review of the Iron Horse. Sounds like a good flick.Originally Posted by PaulaJ /forum/thread/300270/5-westerns-you-d-like-to-see-on-blu/30#post_3687700
Ben --
I have The Big Trail on DVD but just last week I saw it in a theater during the TCM Classic Film Fest, and it's a stunner on the big screen. That Grandeur process is really impressive. And, er, hubba hubba also about John Wayne, age 22.
The Iron Horse is indeed an early (though far from the earliest) John Ford picture. It's a 1924 silent, another epic western, about the construction and completion of the intercontinental railroad. The combination of history lesson (Abraham Lincoln is a character), depiction of the physical struggle through plains and mountains to build the railroad, a couple of really nasty villains, Indian attacks, and an obstacle-filled romance between childhood sweethearts George O'Brien (who is also out to revenge his father's murder) and lovely Madge Bellamy proved to be a winning formula and it was a big hit. It made O'Brien an instant star and he became one of Ford's favorite leading men during his silent era. It's on DVD, either in the massive Ford at Fox box or in the smaller Ford at Fox: The Silent Epics package, and it looks great -- but it would look even more great on Blu-ray.
Doug: Isn't it likely that the negatives for these films are faded too and and not that good looking at this point? Do you know if there are separation masters for these films? Or is the existence and survival of the seps for The Searchers a fluke?
Yeah, you've got a good point. But they didn't have to throw the bloody things away. Why not just put them on a shelf. They cost $40 million after all--which would be more like $100 million today...If my operation had paid for something like that, even if it was a colossal failure, I wouldn't put it in the trash...I would curse, sure, but I'd put in on the shelf...
