Crawdaddy's "Random Thoughts" about Home Video, Film & TV (3 Viewers)

[Matt Hough]

My Spectrum app on my phone says it's the Extended Edition of Touch of Evil. We'll see. So glad to have Noir Alley back.

 

[Robert Crawford]

More to come later on when I have more time to type out my thoughts. However, I must say that Warner needs to do this fine movie right and release it on 4K disc derived from a new transfer as this 2007 Blu-ray doesn't do it justice. By the way, Elvis blew it when he allowed Col. Parker to turn down the role of Colorado played by Ricky Nelson.

One more thing, how many of you would turn down a 27 year old Angie Dickinson giving you a shave like the Duke did in this movie?

View attachment 97268

• The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Warlock (Blu-ray)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
• Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
• Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Sky (DVD)
• Ambush (DVD)
• Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Tin Star (DVD)
• The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rocky Mountain (DVD)
• Dodge City (Blu-ray)
• They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
• Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
• Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
• Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Night Passage (Blu-ray)
• Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
• Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
• Union Pacific (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
• The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
• Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Westward the Women (DVD)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Vera Cruz (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
• The Plainsman (1936) (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
• Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
• Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD/Upcoming Warner Archive BD)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD/Upcoming Paramount BD)
• The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
• Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
• Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Country (Blu-ray)
• Devil's Doorway (DVD)
• Jubal (Blu-ray)
• Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
• Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
• Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
• Pillars in the Sky (Blu-ray)
• McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Westerner (DVD)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
• Last of the Dogmen (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Western Union (Blu-ray)
• Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
• Kit Carson (DVD)
• The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
• 5 Card Stud (DVD)
• Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Backlash (Blu-ray)
• The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
• Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
• Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
• California (Blu-ray)
• Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
• Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
• Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
• El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
• Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
• The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Pursued (Blu-ray)
• Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
• Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Furies (DVD/HD Digital/Upcoming Criterion BD)
• Walk the Proud Land (DVD)

When I first started watching "Rio Bravo" during my childhood, I never noticed all of the bugs flying around during their night-time shooting in Tucson, Arizona. Those bugs were really attracted to all of that camera lightening. Anyhow, you can't help to notice them now in 1080p even with a video presentation that isn't quite up to the current standards of Blu-ray releases like we're getting from Warner Archive BD releases.

In regard to the movie, it's ironic that film critics back then didn't really appreciate this fine western until years later when film school students and young directors started talking about it's greatness as a film. I think movie audiences always thought it was a very good movie, but the American film snobs that wrote about movies didn't see it's qualities until later on. I'm pretty sure this movie was well received by non-American film critics. Sure, the singing sequence between Dean and Ricky is kind of out of place in this film, but, it's still one of my favorite sequences in the film. It's one of the most entertaining westerns ever made with plenty of humor.

I can't believe that the Production Code people had issues with the ending so they had to reshoot it because they thought the scene was too obvious that the Duke and Angie were going to get it on. However, Hawks was smart enough to film an earlier sequence when it's obvious that Chance and Feathers slept together, after he carries her upstairs with no dialogue and then the next morning, he's walking down the street with a big smile because he got some loving.

By the way, Dean Martin was really good as Dude. So was Walter Brennan as Stumpy. Kudos to Angie as Feathers with the Duke playing the Duke.

 

[Robert Crawford]

This evening's movie was "Monte Walsh" (1970) starring Lee Marvin, Jack Palance, Jeanne Moreau and Mitchell Ryan. This movie about the dying west is listed below as one of my favorite westerns, but it's really a "downer" movie compared to a movie like "Rio Bravo". Westerns like "Will Penny" and "Monte Walsh" are quality films, but they sure don't leave with a happy grin on your face. Cowboy life was rough and hard which was the reality of that profession. The scenes between Marvin and Moreau were quality movie moments with a definite level of poignancy in them. This was another western that I watched during it's theatrical run while I was in high school and didn't really like it, until life experiences matured me as a person and film buff. This was the first time I watched my Kino BD that I got during one of their sales. I thought the video presentation was on par with the German Explosive Media BD release. Not great nor bad, just solid with a 3.5 video grade from me.

• The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Warlock (Blu-ray)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
• Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
• Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Sky (DVD)
• Ambush (DVD)
• Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Tin Star (DVD)
• The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rocky Mountain (DVD)
• Dodge City (Blu-ray)
• They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
• Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
• Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
• Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Night Passage (Blu-ray)
• Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
• Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
• Union Pacific (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
• The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
• Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Westward the Women (DVD)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Vera Cruz (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
• The Plainsman (1936) (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
• Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
• Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD/Upcoming Warner Archive BD)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD/Upcoming Paramount BD)
• The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
• Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
• Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Country (Blu-ray)
• Devil's Doorway (DVD)
• Jubal (Blu-ray)
• Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
• Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
• Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
• Pillars in the Sky (Blu-ray)
• McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Westerner (DVD)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
• Last of the Dogmen (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Western Union (Blu-ray)
• Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
• Kit Carson (DVD)
• The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
• 5 Card Stud (DVD)
• Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Backlash (Blu-ray)
• The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
• Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
• Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
• California (Blu-ray)
• Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
• Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
• Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
• El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
• Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
• The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Pursued (Blu-ray)
• Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
• Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Furies (DVD/HD Digital/Upcoming Criterion BD)
• Walk the Proud Land (DVD)

 

[Robert Crawford]

My Spectrum app on my phone says it's the Extended Edition of Touch of Evil. We'll see. So glad to have Noir Alley back.

It's the same on DirecTV listing. I ended up watching the 108 minute "preview" version during dinnertime.

I know people consider this a great movie, but one thing that always bother me about this movie is how dumb Janet Leigh's character was in this film. Despite that character misgiving, it's great filmmaking with excellent acting performances.

 

[Robert Crawford]

They did show the reconstructed/restored version which I have never watched in its entirety because what I've seen of it looks almost identical to the preview version. I know there are differences so if I have time, I might try to watch today. Eddie Muller's commentary for the most part was dead-on. His comments on Charlton Heston and Ricardo Montalban have long been some of my thoughts about this movie. The only quibble I have with his comments is his failure to mention that Welles and film producer Albert Zugsmith met while they were making "Man in the Shadow" (1957) which I talked about here.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

They did show the reconstructed/restored version which I have never watched in its entirety because what I've seen of it looks almost identical to the preview version. I know there are differences so if I have time, I might try to watch today. Eddie Muller's commentary for the most part was dead-on. His comments on Charlton Heston and Ricardo Montalban have long been some of my thoughts about this movie. The only quibble I have with his comments is his failure to mention that Welles and film producer Albert Zugsmith met while they were making "Man in the Shadow" (1957) which I talked about here.

I also viewed Eddie Muller's intro for the film and thought he did a great job. It's interesting that he said he wished it was another actor being the lead instead of Charlton Heston. I thought Heston acted good in the film and so was Dennis Weaver.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I also viewed Eddie Muller's intro for the film and thought he did a great job. It's interesting that he said he wished it was another actor being the lead instead of Charlton Heston. I thought Heston acted good in the film and so was Dennis Weaver.

Heston playing a Mexican police official is another example of roles being whitewashed, but probably was necessary at that time in order to get the movie made with financial backing. Heston's performance was fine! However, watching it today with my 2021 viewpoint, I think Ricardo Montalban would have been better in that role. If Gilbert Roland was a few years younger, he would've been great too. It's ironic how I mentioned those two Mexican-American actors when I saw both of them playing Cheyenne Indians in "Cheyenne Autumn" just a few weeks ago.

 

[Robert Crawford]

IMO, "Arizona" (1940) starring Jean Arthur, William Holden, Warren William, Porter Hall and Edgar Buchanan is an underrated western. This has been a favorite western since I was a kid. Here are my thoughts from my previous viewing. I love Arthur in this film about a pioneering, but a forward thinking business woman making her way in a western taking place in the Arizona territory in the 1860's. Holden is the young cowboy in love with her while Williams plays his usual smarmy and crooked character. The iTunes HD digital's video presentation is not pristine, but watchable on my OLED. It probably won't happen, but at least I can dream that Sony would release this Columbia western on Blu-ray derived from a new transfer.

• The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Warlock (Blu-ray)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
• Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
• Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Sky (DVD)
• Ambush (DVD)
• Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Tin Star (DVD)
• The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rocky Mountain (DVD)
• Dodge City (Blu-ray)
• They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
• Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
• Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
• Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Night Passage (Blu-ray)
• Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
• Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
• Union Pacific (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
• The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
• Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Westward the Women (DVD)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Vera Cruz (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
• The Plainsman (1936) (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
• Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
• Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD/Upcoming Warner Archive BD)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD/Upcoming Paramount BD)
• The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
• Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
• Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Country (Blu-ray)
• Devil's Doorway (DVD)
• Jubal (Blu-ray)
• Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
• Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
• Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
• Pillars in the Sky (Blu-ray)
• McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Westerner (DVD)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
• Last of the Dogmen (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Western Union (Blu-ray)
• Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
• Kit Carson (DVD)
• The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
• 5 Card Stud (DVD)
• Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Backlash (Blu-ray)
• The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
• Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
• Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
• California (Blu-ray)
• Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
• Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
• Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
• El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
• Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
• The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Pursued (Blu-ray)
• Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
• Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Furies (DVD/HD Digital/Upcoming Criterion BD)
• Walk the Proud Land (DVD)

 

[Robert Crawford]

By the way, for those that missed "Touch of Evil" with Eddie Muller, it's on the TCM app until May 29th.

 

[Matt Hough]

I watched Touch of Evil tonight, and I really enjoyed Eddie's comments. I don't take my Blu-ray off the shelf nearly often enough for this fine film, so I went ahead and watched the TCM presentation I had recorded. Yes, you can certainly tell it's a Welles film.

 

[lark144]

I watched my Blu-Ray last night as well. I also hadn't watched it since I bought it. I had forgotten Joi Lansing, who was so memorable as one of the astronauts' girlfriends in "Queen of Outer Space--"I mean, what will I do if you go off into space? What will I have to live for?"--plays the supposedly "ditsy" blonde in the opening scene who says, "Hey, there's this ticking in my head. Like, I'm serious." The border patrol guards dismiss her as a non-entity because, well, she's a woman, but she's the only one who's actually paying attention. These kind of ironies abound throughout the film. My reading of the Janet Leigh character's predicament is not that she doesn't understand that she's in danger, but she tries to get her husband to help, but he's too preoccupied to pay attention, as well as condescending. I found the whole film really funny, as well as tragic, on a Shakespearean level, sometimes simultaneously. The characters are all exaggerated, especially the criminals, and yet, they manage at the same time, to touch us with their humanity. It's a lot more than a simple crime thriller, much more sophisticated as well as experimental, looking forward in its style to Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" and yet it has a deep human feeling and empathy that Kubrick's film doesn't have, so it's no wonder it went over most people's heads when it came out. It's now considered one of the last great Film Noirs, but no Noir looks or feels like this. It's as if Mad Magazine decided to do a parody combining "Falstaff" with "Ride the Pink Horse" and got Wally Wood, the most Noirish & despairing of EC artists, to illustrate it. I haven't listened to Eddie Muller's comments yet.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The one thing I always liked about "The Gunfighter" (1950) is how Jimmy Ringo/Peck carried his gun and holster as a left-handed draw. To me, it was really cool as something I picked up when I first watched this western as a kid which is similar to how a felt Burt Lancaster in "Vera Cruz". IMO, "The Gunfighter" is probably one of the best westerns ever made about a renowned, but lonely gunfighter trying to hang up his guns and live a peaceable life with his schoolteacher wife and boy. The movie is less than 85 minutes long and moves quickly despite much of it taking place in bar as Ringo tries to stay ahead of three brothers gunning for him after he kills their younger brother. Peck is wonderful in the lead role, but so is Millard Mitchell as the town marshal, who happens to be a friend and former gang member of Ringo. Mitchell's performance is my favorite one in the movie. Karl Malden, Jean Parker and Skip Homeier were also very good. The Criterion Blu-ray is excellent in every regard including bonus material. However, I wish there was an audio commentary as it would've been appropriate for this influential adult western.

More to come about "El Dorado" (1966) another Wayne western that I first viewed during its theatrical run. A semi-remake of "Rio Bravo" and filmed on the same film location as "Rio Bravo" in Old Tucson. Did you guys know that Old Tucson was built for the movie "Arizona" (1940) that I wrote about yesterday?

Again, when I have more time, I have some further thoughts about "El Dorado". The movie is still a favorite of mine, but I must confess I liked it more when I younger than I do now. More to come as to why, later on.

• The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Warlock (Blu-ray)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
• Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
• Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Sky (DVD)
• Ambush (DVD)
• Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Tin Star (DVD)
• The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rocky Mountain (DVD)
• Dodge City (Blu-ray)
• They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
• Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
• Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
• Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Night Passage (Blu-ray)
• Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
• Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
• Union Pacific (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
• The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
• Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Westward the Women (DVD)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Vera Cruz (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
• The Plainsman (1936) (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
• Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
• Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD/Upcoming Warner Archive BD)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD/Upcoming Paramount BD)
• The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
• Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
• Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Country (Blu-ray)
• Devil's Doorway (DVD)
• Jubal (Blu-ray)
• Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
• Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
• Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
• Pillars in the Sky (Blu-ray)
• McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Westerner (DVD)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
• Last of the Dogmen (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Western Union (Blu-ray)
• Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
• Kit Carson (DVD)
• The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
• 5 Card Stud (DVD)
• Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Backlash (Blu-ray)
• The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
• Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
• Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
• California (Blu-ray)
• Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
• Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
• Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
• El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
• Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
• The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Pursued (Blu-ray)
• Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
• Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Furies (DVD/HD Digital/Upcoming Criterion BD)
• Walk the Proud Land (DVD)

 

[bujaki]

Perhaps because El Dorado lacks Angie?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Perhaps because El Dorado lacks Angie?

I love Angie, but Charlene Holt and Michelle Carey were hotties too.

 

[Robert Crawford]

View attachment 97426

The one thing I always liked about "The Gunfighter" (1950) is how Jimmy Ringo/Peck carried his gun and holster as a left-handed draw. To me, it was really cool as something I picked up when I first watched this western as a kid which is similar to how a felt Burt Lancaster in "Vera Cruz". IMO, "The Gunfighter" is probably one of the best westerns ever made about a renowned, but lonely gunfighter trying to hang up his guns and live a peaceable life with his schoolteacher wife and boy. The movie is less than 85 minutes long and moves quickly despite much of it taking place in bar as Ringo tries to stay ahead of three brothers gunning for him after he kills their younger brother. Peck is wonderful in the lead role, but so is Millard Mitchell as the town marshal, who happens to be a friend and former gang member of Ringo. Mitchell's performance is my favorite one in the movie. Karl Malden, Jean Parker and Skip Homeier were also very good. The Criterion Blu-ray is excellent in every regard including bonus material. However, I wish there was an audio commentary as it would've been appropriate for this influential adult western.

View attachment 97427

More to come about "El Dorado" (1966) another Wayne western that I first viewed during its theatrical run. A semi-remake of "Rio Bravo" and filmed on the same film location as "Rio Bravo" in Old Tucson. Did you guys know that Old Tucson was built for the movie "Arizona" (1940) that I wrote about yesterday?

Again, when I have more time, I have some further thoughts about "El Dorado". The movie is still a favorite of mine, but I must confess I liked it more when I younger than I do now. More to come as to why, later on.

• The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Warlock (Blu-ray)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
• Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
• Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Sky (DVD)
• Ambush (DVD)
• Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Tin Star (DVD)
• The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rocky Mountain (DVD)
• Dodge City (Blu-ray)
• They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
• Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
• Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
• Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Night Passage (Blu-ray)
• Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
• Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
• Union Pacific (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
• The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
• Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Westward the Women (DVD)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Vera Cruz (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
• The Plainsman (1936) (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
• Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
• Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD/Upcoming Warner Archive BD)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD/Upcoming Paramount BD)
• The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
• Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
• Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Country (Blu-ray)
• Devil's Doorway (DVD)
• Jubal (Blu-ray)
• Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
• Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
• Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
• Pillars in the Sky (Blu-ray)
• McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Westerner (DVD)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
• Last of the Dogmen (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Western Union (Blu-ray)
• Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
• Kit Carson (DVD)
• The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
• 5 Card Stud (DVD)
• Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Backlash (Blu-ray)
• The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
• Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
• Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
• California (Blu-ray)
• Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
• Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
• Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
• El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
• Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
• The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Pursued (Blu-ray)
• Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
• Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Furies (DVD/HD Digital/Upcoming Criterion BD)
• Walk the Proud Land (DVD)

I think the reason why my opinion of "El Dorado" is less today than when I was a kid is because I see some of the film warts more so now than beforehand. The film's script is nowhere nearly as good as "Rio Bravo". Also, the movie just doesn't flow as well as that 1959 movie. Frankly, besides Wayne and Mitchum, the acting isn't quite up to snuff either. I love Arthur Hunnicutt, but, Walter Brennan was outstanding in "Rio Bravo". I'm not saying the other actors in "El Dorado" are giving poor performances, but, they're not great either. With that said, "El Dorado" is still a fine western that I enjoy watching every 5-10 years. Perhaps, it isn't fair to judge this movie against "Rio Bravo", but it's a natural thought process for me to do so. One thing I noticed since the optical disc era began back in 1997, is that Wayne and Mitchum are not part of the film's end credits like the rest of the cast. Sherlock Holmes, I am not.

One more thing, I remember some people complaining about the video presentation of this Blu-ray, but I thought this disc looked fantastic on my 55" OLED as my sitting position was only about four feet from the screen.

 

[lark144]

I think the reason why my opinion of "El Dorado" is less today than when I was a kid is because I see some of the film warts more so now than beforehand. The film's script is nowhere nearly as good as "Rio Bravo". Also, the movie just doesn't flow as well as that 1959 movie. Frankly, besides Wayne and Mitchum, the acting isn't quite up to snuff either. I love Arthur Hunnicutt, but, Walter Brennan was outstanding in "Rio Bravo". I'm not saying the other actors in "El Dorado" are giving poor performances, but, they're not great either. With that said, "El Dorado" is still a fine western that I enjoy watching every 5-10 years. Perhaps, it isn't fair to judge this movie against "Rio Bravo", but it's a natural thought process for me to do so. One thing I noticed since the optical disc era began back in 1997, is that Wayne and Mitchum are not part of the film's end credits like the rest of the cast. Sherlock Holmes, I am not.

One more thing, I remember some people complaining about the video presentation of this Blu-ray, but I thought this disc looked fantastic on my 55" OLED as my sitting position was only about four feet from the screen.

Thanks so much, Robert, for your thoughts. If you don't mind, I'd like to make some comments, as what you say has piqued my interest as well as my memory. In fact, I might watch this film again tonight.

According to various film historians and books written about Hawks, the original script of "El Dorado" was quite different from the final film. It developed the themes of remorse, mournfulness and fate stated in the first half hour, with no drunken sheriffs or jokey gunfights. In fact, I consider the first half hour of "El Dorado" some of the best material Hawks ever directed in his career, on a level with "Only Angels Have Wings". But Hawks decided the film he was making was so stoic and depressing, no one would pay to see it, so he shifted gears and remade "Rio Bravo." He was probably right, as "El Dorado" turned out to be one of the top grossing films of 1967.

"El Dorado" is beautifully directed and very personal, in terms of the stylistic touches Hawks introduces, as well as the individualistic performances he gets from Wayne and Mitchum. Story-wise, as Robert points out, it doesn't flow so well, because it's trying to tell two opposing narratives at once, as well as maintain two different moods--elegiac and comedic. The story the film starts out with, that of the ranch, the family in it and their struggle, has really nothing to do with the plot of "Rio Bravo" 's drunken lovelorn sheriff and though Hawks tries valiantly to tie the two strands together, the seams show.

However, in terms of the pacing, the amazing cinematography by Harold Rosson (The Wizard of Oz, The Asphalt Jungle) who Hawks convinced to come out of retirement, the use of specific visual motifs that develop through the film, as well as the editing, which snaps and crackles and pops and flows, this film is a masterpiece of late Hollywood studio filmmaking. It works so well as a film and a piece of entertainment, you don't really notice that the story and some of the character arcs don't make a lot of sense. Or if you do notice, it doesn't matter. You're having too much fun.

I really like James Caan. I like his sense of mischief and timing and subtle virility. It's too bad he didn't do more comedies. In fact, I like all the line deliveries in this film. There's a real sense of ensemble acting. It's clear they all liked being around each other and were having a good time, and that pleasure is palpable. I like the rolling, casual rhythm of the dialogue, the sly way different actors pause and wink, almost as if they're inviting the viewer to join in the fun.

When "El Dorado" came out in 1967, I didn't like it, as opposed to all my friends, who did, and now, I like it a lot more. Back then, "Rio Bravo" was my all time favorite film, and I found "El Dorado" lacking by comparison. But I don't think you can compare it to "Rio Bravo". It's quite different, though there's pieces of the same plot. For one thing, Hawks and Wayne are ten years older, and that process of aging, of not being so quick on the draw anymore, and coming to terms with that ebbing of one's powers, of what it really means to be a man, is a theme that's unique to "El Dorado" and it resonates.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thanks so much, Robert, for your thoughts. If you don't mind, I'd like to make some comments, as what you say has piqued my interest as well as my memory. In fact, I might watch this film again tonight.

According to various film historians and books written about Hawks, the original script of "El Dorado" was quite different from the final film. It developed the themes of remorse, mournfulness and fate stated in the first half hour, with no drunken sheriffs or jokey gunfights. In fact, I consider the first half hour of "El Dorado" some of the best material Hawks ever directed in his career, on a level with "Only Angels Have Wings". But Hawks decided the film he was making was so stoic and depressing, no one would pay to see it, so he shifted gears and remade "Rio Bravo." He was probably right, as "El Dorado" turned out to be one of the top grossing films of 1967.

"El Dorado" is beautifully directed and very personal, in terms of the stylistic touches Hawks introduces, as well as the individualistic performances he gets from Wayne and Mitchum. Story-wise, as Robert points out, it doesn't flow so well, because it's trying to tell two opposing narratives at once, as well as maintain two different moods--elegiac and comedic. The story the film starts out with, that of the ranch, the family in it and their struggle, has really nothing to do with the plot of "Rio Bravo" 's drunken lovelorn sheriff and though Hawks tries valiantly to tie the two strands together, the seams show.

However, in terms of the pacing, the amazing cinematography by Harold Rosson (The Wizard of Oz, The Asphalt Jungle) who Hawks convinced to come out of retirement, the use of specific visual motifs that develop through the film, as well as the editing, which snaps and crackles and pops and flows, this film is a masterpiece of late Hollywood studio filmmaking. It works so well as a film and a piece of entertainment, you don't really notice that the story and some of the character arcs don't make a lot of sense. Or if you do notice, it doesn't matter. You're having too much fun.

I really like James Caan. I like his sense of mischief and timing and subtle virility. It's too bad he didn't do more comedies. In fact, I like all the line deliveries in this film. There's a real sense of ensemble acting. It's clear they all liked being around each other and were having a good time, and that pleasure is palpable. I like the rolling, casual rhythm of the dialogue, the sly way different actors pause and wink, almost as if they're inviting the viewer to join in the fun.

When "El Dorado" came out in 1967, I didn't like it, as opposed to all my friends, who did, and now, I like it a lot more. Back then, "Rio Bravo" was my all time favorite film, and I found "El Dorado" lacking by comparison. But I don't think you can compare it to "Rio Bravo". It's quite different, though there's pieces of the same plot. For one thing, Hawks and Wayne are ten years older, and that process of aging, of not being so quick on the draw anymore, and coming to terms with that ebbing of one's powers, of what it really means to be a man, is a theme that's unique to "El Dorado" and it resonates.

Rosson drove Hawks crazy during filming because he took forever before he was ready to shoot a scene.

As to comparison to "Rio Bravo" whether it's fair or not, it will always be compared to that 1959 movie. It's just the way it is.

 

[Matt Hough]

I saw El Dorado at the theater, but I didn't see Rio Bravo until a few years later on television. I liked both but saw their similarities immediately once I saw Rio Bravo. Walter Brennan didn't win three Oscars for nothing; he could steal the fuzz from a peach. He is one of the main reasons I will watch Rio Bravo over El Dorado if I'm given a choice. He really deserved an Oscar nomination, but I'm sure the Actors Branch just thought: "Oh, that's just Walter playing his old cantankerous character again." Yes, and brilliantly.

 

[David Weicker]

I saw El Dorado at the theater, but I didn't see Rio Bravo until a few years later on television. I liked both but saw their similarities immediately once I saw Rio Bravo. Walter Brennan didn't win three Oscars for nothing; he could steal the fuzz from a peach. He is one of the main reasons I will watch Rio Bravo over El Dorado if I'm given a choice. He really deserved an Oscar nomination, but I'm sure the Actors Branch just thought: "Oh, that's just Walter playing his old cantankerous character again." Yes, and brilliantly.

that's kind of like when people complained that John Wayne was only playing 'John Wayne', and I alway thought
"so? What's wrong with that"

 

[Robert Crawford]

This morning I had the hankering to watch another western. I think "Dodge City" (1939) is my third favorite movie in which Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland appeared together behind "The Adventures of Robin Hood" and "The Charge of the Light Brigade". This Michael Curtiz directed western in Technicolor is just wonderful entertainment. A great cast of actors and good storyline evolving around establishing law and order in Dodge City in the early 1870's. This is another western that helped formulated my love in my childhood for the western genre. Ironically, the first time I watched this Technicolor movie it was in Black and White because we didn't have a color TV until around 1966. The 2015 WA Blu-ray delivers an excellent video presentation on my 55" OLED.

• The Gunfighter (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• High Noon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Searchers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Warlock (Blu-ray)
• 3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Wild Bunch (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Ox-Bow Incident (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Last Wagon (Blu-ray)
• Shane (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Hombre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Jeremiah Johnson (Blu-ray)
• Fort Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Sky (DVD)
• Ambush (DVD)
• Open Range (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Professionals (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Winchester '73 (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Tin Star (DVD)
• The Magnificent Seven (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rocky Mountain (DVD)
• Dodge City (Blu-ray)
• They Died with their Boots On (DVD/HD Digital)
• Nevada Smith (DVD/HD Digital)
• Cowboy (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Tall in the Saddle (DVD/HD Digital)
• Apache (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Night Passage (Blu-ray)
• Man Without a Star (Blu-ray)
• Red River (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Rio Grande (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Unforgiven (1960) (Blu-ray)
• Union Pacific (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Canyon Passage (Blu-ray)
• The King and Four Queens (Blu-ray)
• Rio Bravo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• My Darling Clementine (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• South of St. Louis (Blu-ray)
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Angel and the Badman (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Westward the Women (DVD)
• The Outlaw Josey Wales (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Vera Cruz (Blu-ray/Upcoming Kino BD)
• The Horse Soldiers (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Geronimo (1939) (Not on Home Video)
• The Plainsman (1936) (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• 3 Godfathers (1949) (DVD/HD Digital)
• Blood on the Moon (Blu-ray)
• Stagecoach (1939) (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Unforgiven (4K/UHD/4K Digital)
• Escape from Fort Bravo (DVD/Upcoming Warner Archive BD)
• Last Train from Gun Hill (DVD/Upcoming Paramount BD)
• The Fastest Gun Alive (DVD)
• Virginia City (DVD/HD Digital)
• Hondo (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Bravados (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Big Country (Blu-ray)
• Devil's Doorway (DVD)
• Jubal (Blu-ray)
• Hud (DVD/HD Digital)
• Monte Walsh (Blu-ray)
• Will Penny (DVD/HD Digital)
• Pillars in the Sky (Blu-ray)
• McLintock! (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Westerner (DVD)
• The Last of the Mohicans (1992) (DVD/Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Lonely are the Brave (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Arizona (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Alamo (1960) (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Proud Ones (DVD/HD Digital)
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Blu-ray/4K Digital)
• Last of the Dogmen (DVD/Upcoming Kino BD)
• Western Union (Blu-ray)
• Yellow Sky (Blu-ray)
• Kit Carson (DVD)
• The Shootist (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Sons of Katie Elder (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Buffalo Soldiers (1997) (DVD)
• 5 Card Stud (DVD)
• Destry Rides Again (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• The Tall Men (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Backlash (Blu-ray)
• The Last Hunt (Blu-ray)
• Four Faces West (Blu-ray)
• Ride the High Country (Blu-ray)
• California (Blu-ray)
• Comanche Station (Blu-ray)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (Blu-ray)
• Broken Lance (Blu-ray)
• Joe Kidd (Blu-ray)
• El Dorado (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Only the Valiant (Blu-ray)
• Death Hunt (Blu-ray)
• The War Wagon (Blu-ray/HD Digital)
• Pursued (Blu-ray)
• Santa Fe Trail (Blu-ray)
• Cheyenne Autumn (DVD/HD Digital)
• The Furies (DVD/HD Digital/Upcoming Criterion BD)
• Walk the Proud Land (DVD)